James Tissot: The Appearance of Christ in the Cenacle or Upper Room
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Can we believe that Jesus is waiting for us on the shore of our lives as we row homeward?
Can we believe that the love of the Creator is so enormous that all is forgiven?
Can we believe that the Spirit resides in and with us as we strain against the oars that take us home?
We might spend time with the images of James Tissot as he describes the arc of Jesus’ life among us. We might focus on a particular event and ask the risen Christ to speak to our hearts. And we might open ourselves to the enormity of the Spirit’s presence as we reflect on God’s goodness today.
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)
Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. (John 6:15)
And after leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. (Mark 6:46)
The Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. (Matthew 12:14-15)
Jesus withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village named Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. (John 11:54)
When Jesus heard what had happened [to John the Baptist], he withdrew privately by boat to a solitary place. (Matthew 14:13)
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. (Mark 3:7)
James Tissot: Jesus Commands his Disciples to Rest
Recently in our Noontimejourney we have examined how to best survive the ups and downs of a life lived in discipleship. We have reflected on how to best withstand the plots and schemes devised by the discontented. We have focused on how to best respond to God’s call. And through all of this we may find ourselves exhausted. If this is so, we must do as Jesus and his companions did . . . we must go apart for a time.
If you are able, make the intentional effort of leaving one day a week to re-connect with the treasure of yourself. If you have spent much time with chores and tasks, put them aside and go out into the world to experience the gift of connecting with others. If you need time on your own, set yourself apart for a time either alone or with someone with whom you need to re-connect. Put away anything that takes you away from restoring your soul and re-filling your well. Our world draws us into or out of ourselves in such alluring ways that before we notice, we have either detached ourselves from human community or we have thrown ourselves entirely into it without listening to our hearts. What we seek today is a bit of balance for with balance comes wisdom and peace.
To help us reflect, let us look at some of the images created by James Tissot, and let us remind ourselves that we are in each of these scenes. Let us thank Christ for walking with us each day even when we forget his presence. And let us carry Christ to others as we have been asked to do.
James Tissot: Jesus Teaching by the Seashore
If you have a favorite citation from scripture in which Jesus withdraws for a time either alone or with his disciples, insert it in the comment box below. If you are more visual, search the net for another of Tissot’s scenes from The Life of Christ and share that link in the comment box.
May each of us come away with Christ for a time, may each of us restore the soul and settle the heart, and may each of us enjoy a day of peace and balance.
James Tissot (1833-1902) was “a nineteenth-century French painter who for the first part of his career had a reputation as a ‘French society painter [whose subjects were] the costumes and manners, occupations and pleasures of the French capital’s elegantes.’ This all changed in the early 1890s when Tissot renewed his ties to the Catholicism of his youth after experiencing a vision during a Mass when the priest raised the host. For the rest of his life, he devoted himself to the series of religious paintings numbering in the hundreds given here. Tissot’s lasting reputation rests on this series The Life of Christ on all periods of Jesus Christ’s life from the Annunciation to the Resurrection”. (Berry)
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