At the beginning to this year, I joined a local art class which met once a week. There were 10 of us altogether, including our art teacher. I didn’t share with anyone in the group that I was a missionary priest: to them I was known simply as 'Brian'. After about two months of coming regularly to the class, one of the women in the group came up to look at one of paintings and asked: 'What does your wife think of your paintings?' At first I wasn’t quite sure what to say; but after a few moments, I thought that honesty was the best course of action. I replied that I wasn’t married and that I was a Catholic missionary priest. She initially looked rather surprised – but my reply also signalled the end of the conversation!
About one month later, one of the other artists in the group – a man called John- shared with me that he was going to shortly go on a course on painting Icons. I asked him if he could show me some of the icons he would paint after the course. Several weeks later, John brought along a lovely painting he had done of the Madonna and Child. We had a short discussion about the Icon – the techniques and materials he had used- and I then asked John if he would like to look at my own religious paintings. I showed him four that I had recently done, all based on works I had seen in Lourdes. John was fascinated by them. I then shared with him that I was a missionary priest. He then shared with me his own Christian story: how he was an Anglican who went regularly on retreats and how he was keen to paint more Icons. During the following weeks, our chats during class ranged from different painting techniques to prayer and the monastic life. Seeing that he was keen to develop his prayer life, I asked him if he would like to borrow a book on prayer which I myself had found very helpful. He agreed and the following week I lent it to him. We will be meeting next month to have a chat about how he found this book.
Another artist in the group overheard one of my conversations with John and learning that I was a Catholic priest, has asked for my contact details so that her parish priest – an Anglican vicar – could get in touch with me. I am still waiting for the phone call. No doubt we will meet in the near future.
My experience of being in this art class has taught me several truths about mission – how mission can take the form of inter-faith dialogue and even sharing ones experience of prayer. Perhaps the most important message for me has been the following one: that you don’t have to go abroad to be engaged in mission. You can do mission in your present situation and circumstances, and allow it develop in whichever way the spirit leads you. Good News indeed!
Fr Brian Oswald MHM
Diocesan Organiser, Arundel & Brighton