June 3

CHARITY is sharing God’s gift with the world

… Be rich in good works…  ~ 1 Timothy 6:18

Although Henri Matisse was nearly 28 years younger than Auguste Renoir, the two great artists were dear friends and frequent companions.  When Renoir was confined to his home during the last decade of his life, Matisse visited him daily.  Renoir, almost paralyzed by arthritis, continued to paint in spite of his infirmities.

One day as Matisse watched the elder painter working in his studio, fighting torturous pain with each brush stroke, he blurted out:

“Auguste, why do you continue to paint when you are in such agony?”

Renoir answered simply:

“The beauty remains; the pain passes.”

And so, almost to his dying day, Renoir put paint to canvas.  One of his most famous paintings, The Bathers, was completed just two years before his passing, 14 years after this disabling disease struck him.  ~ Mark Link, S.J.

Is our council aware of the God-given talents of its brethren?  Do we use them toward the greater honor and glory of God?

Man’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.  ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

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