12 Reflections on Paintings for Faith Formation (Painting #12 – “The Caring and Sharing hands”)

Fr. Roy M. Thottam, SJ, Jesuit in Kerala Province, in India, shares 12 of his beautiful paintings and reflections, with teachers in our global community, as a set of resources for Faith Formation. Here is the final painting and reflection of this series, painting number 12.

To read an introduction shared by Fr. Roy on his work, and also see the complete series of paintings and reflections that have been shared, please click on this link 12 Reflections on Paintings for Faith Formation

We hope you enjoy using these extraordinary and unique resources in your Faith Formation programs with other educators and / or with your students in your classrooms.

12 Reflections on Paintings for Faith Formation – Painting #12 “The Caring and Sharing hands”, and Reflection #12 “Caring and Sharing hands”.

Caring and Sharing hands

“The Indian Jesuit artist Roy Thottam has painted a mesmerizing androgynous Christ by playing with  masculine and feminine facial contours, together with other complementary symbols such as yin and yang, loaves and fishes, light and shadow, offering a holistic portrait in which the masculine embraces the feminine  and vice versa. Such an image can be brought into Ignatian contemplations, acknowledging and fostering the interplay of masculine and feminine energies in all of life. If the Christ we seek has such a compassionate face it will help us to enter a new era of collaboration between church and laity (especially women), to become peacemakers in a patriarchal world of violence”

(Prashant Olalekar, ‘ Come Play With Me’, Exploring New Frontiers of Body Wisdom, The Way, October 2014)