| Notes: | PLEASE USE THIS BRIEF CREDIT INFORMATION FOR FREE, NON-COMMERCIAL CONGREGATIONAL PRINTING: Cara B. Hochhalter, Communion/Eucharist. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57515
FOR OTHER USES: Full credit information can be found below in the Copyright Source field.
COMMENTARY BY THE ARTIST:
Communion/Eucharist
Mark 14:22-25
"Communion (also called Eucharist, which means 'thanksgiving') is a Christian ritual that has its roots in the stories of Jesus. He shared bread and wine with his disciples before his crucifixion, asking that they remember him— asking that they take into their very being, the story of his life and what he asks of them. And in Communion, we might remember the great commandments that Jesus described as loving God with our whole selves, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. We might remember the forgiveness that Jesus demonstrated through the love of an infinite God. We might remember that we, too, are to live in this way—advocating for the poor and the oppressed. People receive the Eucharist from a variety of traditions and it is a different experience for each person. It is one of our Christian rituals that is filled with mystery and beauty if we approach it with an openness that allows for new ways of seeing and being in the world. It is a tangible reminder that reinforces our commitment to the work of peace in our world...as Christ is 're-membered' through us..." The Rev. Cara B. Hochhalter is a United Church of Christ (UCC) minister. She received her Masters of Divinity from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, where she studied the intersections of art, theology and justice. She served the Charlemont Federated Church in Massachusetts for ten years and now lives in Hyde Park, New York.
“Over the last thirty years, through my work as a Christian Educator, a seminary student and UCC minister, I have created images that interpret the powerful stories around the life of Jesus. These stories hold universal truths not limited to Christianity but relevant for all our lives and times. I find that art provides a very special means to break into these texts.”
The images in her book, A Challenging Peace in the Life and Stories of Jesus were created through the simple print-making process of carving out a block, applying ink and pulling a print. Cara says, “The interaction of light and dark is important in each image as we cannot have one without the other. The dark defines the light, and vice versa. I find this to be theological as we look to the whole—the light and the dark, the joy and the despair, the peace and the conflict—all under an umbrella of Divine Love that yearns for wholeness.”
Using her book, Cara also offers three online discussion groups: Jesus and Justice, Parables and Peace-making, and The Paradox of Humility in the Stories of Jesus.
To contact Cara B. Hochhalter for information about her art, to purchase signed prints of the images, or her book, A Challenging Peace in the Life and Stories of Jesus, please email: hochhalter.cara@gmail.com |
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