The 2014 edition of the Columban Calendar is now off the press!
The Columban Calendar has been a part of Catholic life in Australia and New Zealand for over 90 years and has gained almost iconic status. When I went to see the show "Late Night Catechism" in Sydney some years ago and saw a Columban Calendar among the props it seemed to confirm its position in the Catholic imagination. Many people have told me over the years that a Columban Calendar has always been a warm part of the furniture in their Catholic home.
So I sat with the new calendar and pondered some of the things that it provides beyond telling us about days and months:
1) We tend readily enough to identify God with goodness, truth and unity but beauty is also one of the faces of God. Our God is an artist and the beauty of the world around us is a reminder of the image of God. Human creativity reflects the divine. Art enrichs our lives in so many ways. A focus on art and beauty reminds us that we are God’s work of art. We are special, unique and priceless in the eyes of God.
2) The Columban Calendar draws on art work that comes from the old masters. In a world where new technology continues to speed up the process of change and the desire for novelty, it is good to be reminded that there is great value in the old, a history and past. Jesus has particular praise for the "wise house holder who can draw from the storeroom things old and new".
3) Information about the liturgical year – the cycle of seasons, feasts, saint’s days – has been an enduring feature of the Columban Calendar. Over the course of a year the Church retells its story beginning in Advent, the season of promise, moving through to Christmas and on to Lent and Easter, when the promise is fulfilled. The most important events covered in the Calendar are marked in red letters. In everyday life we talk of red letter days and calendars are commonly used to remember birthdays, special anniversaries and significant events. So I say, Thank you, rejoicing God, for all the special times in our lives, for all the events and occasions that bring people together to celebrate and for storytellers who preserve and pass on precious memories.
4) The Calendar features the phases of the moon which have traditionally been important for farmers and gardeners. It is believed that when a large piece of earth was dislodged to become our moon it caused the earth to tilt on its axis and so made possible the seasons we now experience. The moon not only produced the tilt but it acts now to keep it stable. The gravitational pull of the moon also affects tides and perhaps the moods of the human heart. To ponder the moon and its phases is to wonder at all of the things that tug on our hearts and in particular the pull of the divine. St Augustine spoke of the restlessness in us that can only be satisfied by God.
There is much more to be pondered in each of the individual art works in the 2014 Columban Calendar. The Art Guide booklet is now available that can also help to deepen our response to these works of art.
Columban Fr Pat O'Shea SSC lives at St Columbans Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
2014 Columban Calendar - Art Guide...
00:29:35 | Aug 21, 2013
The following artwork descriptions have been compiled by Claire Renkin, well-known art historian and lecturer at Yarra Theological Union. The Art Guide has been recorded by Dr Rachael Kohn, author and public speaker, and most well known for her ABC Radio National program, The Spirit of Things.
Download - 2014 Columban Calendar - Art Guide
Order the 2014 Columban Calendar online
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Download the 2014 Columban Calendar order form
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