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GOOD MORNING.聽 When I was at university in the 1980s, the posters most likely to be found on the walls of student rooms were: The Smiths, Che Guevara or Edvard Munch鈥檚 painting, The Scream.聽 The original was stolen from Oslo鈥檚 National Art Museum on this day in 1994.

Munch鈥檚 depiction of a skull-like face, wide-mouthed in agony very much appealed to us undergraduates then, less, perhaps, for its haunting meditation on human anguish 鈥� more, I suspect, because it touched something of our angst at learning to navigate life away from home.

Now I believe it is a masterpiece; but, then, I couldn鈥檛 help but prefer the more consoling images of my childhood faith: the calm face of the Virgin; the warmth of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with, in most homes, a lamp lit constantly before it emitting a red light that made me feel, whenever I would wake in the night, safe in a womb-like glow.聽

Critics of religion as an escape into a world of illusion might see this as evidence; but the art of Christian faith brings the viewer face to face with brutal reality as often as serene countenances.聽 It has often seemed to me that the first purpose of religious art is not first to console or to challenge but to evoke.聽 Some years ago, I attended a marvellous and striking exhibition at the National Gallery in London: an assemblage of Spanish religious art called, 鈥淭he Sacred Made Real.鈥澛� Critics praised its freshness; but what struck me was the familiarity of the images.聽 Similar artistic expressions of faith 鈥� statues, stained-glass and paintings 鈥� form the backdrop of many churches closer to home.聽

Creator of colour, monochrome and form, guide the imagination of artists today; may their work enhance the beauty of life; touch its anguish; be sources of inner strength.聽 AMEN.