Fourth Reflection on the Painting of Jesus with the Apostles
But I call upon God; and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he will hear my voice. He will deliver my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
Psalm 55:16–18
In this lunette, painted directly onto the stone by Giuseppe Calì in 1902, the central figure is Jesus, the Master, surrounded by his disciples. He is clothed in the traditional colours of red and blue, symbolising his humanity and his divinity—the very heart of the Good News that must be proclaimed to humanity so that salvation may reach all.
On 9 April 1942, during an air raid by the Axis, the Rotunda was struck when a bomb pierced the dome. Before falling to the floor, it struck the face of Christ in this very image. By God’s providence, the bomb did not explode. However fiercely sin seeks to attack and disfigure it, it can never completely erase the image of Christ within us. No matter how deeply we may fall, grace can always rescue that image from destruction. Yet grace must be willfully received and allowed to work within us, for there is always the danger that, even when we imagine ourselves to be safe and secure, we may still find that we are losing everything.
As you meet the steady gaze of Christ, looking directly towards you from this painting, make St Paul’s words your own: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:10). At the same time, choose to turn away from all that is evil and make ever greater room for his grace to accomplish its work within you.
