Fourth Sunday after Epiphany “Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith” (Matt. 8:23-27)?

By Father Scott Archer

2-3-19

A great tempest arose on the sea while our Lord slept, and His disciples grew in their fear of certain disaster. This was all in the divine plan, of course, as Christ taught them that they must put their faith in Him and be without fear, as fear arises from a lack of faith. He asked them, “Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?” He slept that they might know their need for Him. Had our Lord been awake, it is doubtful they would have been so afraid of the tempest.

In the 2000-year history of the Church there have often been times that the Church, represented by the boat in today’s gospel, has been tossed about by the winds and the waves. I hear many stories of why people leave the Catholic Faith; for example, a religious sister was mean, a priest was unfriendly, the people who go to Mass are hypocrites, or God allowed something to happen. There is very little supporting our faith in society, so we must be as strong as many in the past who experienced worse than we do yet did not blame God or lack in faith.

I recently read the story of a young woman, a life I had not known before, yet I have a bust of her in the rectory. She was born in 1909 in Bavaria, Germany, and from a young age she was a gifted and promising artist, so much so that she was able to study at the Academy of Applied Arts in Munich. However, unlike most other students, she chose to live at a Catholic residence run by religious sisters. Also studying at the school were two Franciscan Sisters from Württemberg, Germany with whom she made friends. The congregation was a teaching order which placed an emphasis on the role of art in education. In 1931, after graduating with honors, she entered the Order, taking the name Sister Maria Innocentia.

She was assigned as an art teacher and continued with her own works, mainly religious subjects and children. She made her final profession of vows in 1937 and painted The Volunteers that same year, provoking the anger of one man who had no time for the anti-Nazi Sister Maria Innocentia. That man was Adolf Hitler. Hitler condemned what he called the depiction of German children with “hydrocephalic heads,” and one Nazi magazine wrote, “There is no place in the ranks of German artists for the likes of her. No, the 'beloved Fatherland' cannot remain calm when Germany's youth are portrayed as brainless sissies.” Although allowed to continue with her art, it was forbidden to be distributed in Germany.

The outbreak of World War II brought great suffering to religious congregations. In 1940, religious schools were closed, and the Nazis took control of the convent of the Franciscan Sisters. Of the 250 sisters, only forty were allowed to remain and were confined to a small area of the convent without heat or a way to support themselves. Sister Maria Innocentia was forced to go home; however, within three months she was longing for her life with her fellow sisters. She was allowed to return to the convent, confined to a small room which served as her sleeping quarters and her art studio. We can only imagine the suffering endured by these sisters.

She contracted tuberculous in 1944, and while the man who loathed her, Adolf Hitler, ended up shooting himself in a bunker in Berlin, she died a most devout death at the age of thirty-seven in her convent on November 6, 1946, fortified by her love of God. Through all the hardships she endured, Sister Maria Innocentia persevered to the end, strong in faith. Faith demands sacrifice, yet Christ will strengthen us while we are being tossed by the winds and waves of life.

Perhaps the next time you look a quaint Hummel figurine, you will think of the courageous life and enduring faith of the artist responsible for them – Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel.