The New Creation, an Easter Meditation Reply

The new creation sharpened 11X14 with copy right

Alison Batley Stone, “The New Creation,” collagraph and intaglio print

“The New Creation,” a collagraph and intaglio print, is a meditation on the whole of salvation history, which we are called to reflect upon at Easter. The six days of creation are illustrated in a womb like structure surrounding the central figures. In the Genesis narrative, the Tree of Life was placed in the center of the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve had open access to this vital fruit. Instead, they chose to partake of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, bringing about their expulsion and death. Man and woman became trapped within this spoiled produce, losing their communion with God, themselves, each other, and all of creation. More…

Hearts of Love: A Cordial Reflection 10

by Alison Batley

Adorable Sacred Heart of Jesus, which so greatly loved men and has not spared anything for them, unite with the Immaculate Heart of Your loving Mother, so full of merciful love, and together be my help, my comfort, and my salvation. Amen.

Wrestling with moments of dark and light within the human experience is what theologian Alejandra Garcia-Rivera calls “wounded innocence.” More…

The Eucharist is Food for the Journey: A Pilgrim’s Reflection Reply

By Alison Batley

“I now receive you who are the price of my soul’s redemption, I receive you who are the food for my final journey, and for the love of whom I have studied, kept vigil, and struggled; indeed, it was you, Jesus, that I preached and you that I taught.” Thomas Aquinas as he received Viaticum, his last Eucharist

Alison Batley

Alison Batley

An earnest probing of the human heart will find an internal longing for a desire that cannot be quenched by any earthly substance or worldly pleasure. As St. Augustine professes, “Our hearts are restless until we rest in You, Lord.” More…

Unintentionally Pro-Life Video? 6

World's largest water mosaic -- unintentionally pro-life?

World’s largest water mosaic — unintentionally pro-life?

“To raise awareness among the general public about the global clean water crisis, the artist Belo created an image composed of 66,000 cups of colored rainwater simulating levels of impurities found in water all over the planet. This major work of 3,600 square feet, representing a fetus in the maternal womb, emphasizes the necessity of water, even before birth, for each living person.” — from the Youtube video description

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“I Thirst”… “I Pour” 2

"We are only pencils in the hand of God." -- Mother Theresa

“I Thirst…”

By Alison Batley

“We are only pencils in the hand of God.” — Mother Theresa

In one my favorite books, The Reed of God, Carol Houslander asks each of us to discover what kind of empty form has God shaped us to be?

In reflecting on our Lady’s virginal emptiness, Houslander invites us to and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to each one of us the purpose for which we were made. Energized by this challenge, I push through my fear and started asking God to show me the form of my purposeful emptiness. More…

The Tree of Life: Art, Salvation History, and the New Evangelization 2

The Tree of Life, Alison Batley Stone, Intaglio Print, 2014

This Tree of Life, intaglio print, is a meditation on the whole of salvation history. In the Genesis narrative, the Tree of Life was placed in the center of the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve had open access to this vital fruit. Instead, they chose to partake of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, bringing about their expulsion and death. More…