Life, Death, and My Favorite Painting

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

A couple of weeks ago, I got to visit my hometown, St. Louis. It was a truly wonderful visit. We spent time with old friends and family. We visited old haunts. One of the places we went was the art museum. While there I had the opportunity to see my favorite painting, St. Francis of Assisi contemplating a skull by Francisco de Zurbaran. When I was a teen, every time I would visit the art museum I would stop by this painting and just look at it. I would look at it and wonder what St. Francis was thinking about as he contemplated the skull cradled in his hands. Was he analyzing it from a scientific standpoint, trying to understand how the human body worked? Or, was he looking at it from a philosophical standpoint asking the question: How is it that life comes into being and what happens in death? Maybe he was looking at it with a theological standpoint: Is this man's soul in heaven or hell, and what is going to happen to my soul?

I imagine St. Francis contemplating two things as he gazes upon the skull in his hands. I think that the first thing that St. Francis is contemplating is life. He is looking the detail in the work that God put into His creation. He is contemplating that each body, each skull is unique and beautiful. He sees this as a proof for the existence of God, as no man nor random series of events could create something so intricate and unique.

The second thing I imagine St. Francis contemplating is death. I see him asking the question, "Am I prepared to die?" He's not questioning whether or not he fears death, but he is questioning whether his soul is ready to receive eternal life. He is asking, "If I die today, will I join my Father in heaven?"

In this Sunday's Gospel, we hear about the sheep and the shepherd. Jesus says:

My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one. (John 10:27-30)

 We must contemplate the same things that St. Francis is contemplating. We must consider life. Do we see the beauty that God created? Do we believe that He gave us life? If we believe this, then we must ask ourselves if we are his sheep. Just prior to this statement of Jesus was being questioned by the Jewish authorities about the claim that he was the Messiah. His response was, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep." (John 10:25-26)

Do you believe? Are you among his sheep? Do you hear his voice? I don't always hear his voice. I don't always follow him. I'd like to say that I am among his sheep, but sometimes I stray. You see, it's one thing to believe it in my mind. Yet, it is another thing altogether to believe it in my heart, in the depths of my soul. And that is where I fail to believe. If I truly believed that God gave me this life out of love for me then I wouldn't stray.

The second thing we must contemplate is death. Are we ready to receive the eternal life that only the Good Shepherd can give? Are we ready to hear his voice and follow him? If we are, then we must be willing to do whatever it takes to follow him. If we follow him, then we will not perish, we cannot be taken out of his hands. Following him is a choice. We can choose in one moment to follow him and in the next choose to stray from him. We must remain vigilant in listening to the voice of the Shepherd. We must keep our eyes focused on the skull.