Perth Archdiocese’s Aboriginal Catholic Ministry (ACM) Pastoral Worker the late Reg Carnamah produced 14 paintings of Jesus’ journey to Calvary, as part of his Lenten offering, during the 2020 Holy season.
The paintings, each depicting the Stations of the Cross, was accompanied with a video Take a Walk with a Yamatji Man, The Way of the Cross – A Healing Journey, designed to inspire others to enter a relationship with God and encourage reconciliation between the Catholic and indigenous communities here in Perth.
This year, the Archdiocese Centre for Liturgy re-released the 18-minute video without spoken words, accompanied by Carnamah’s art, words and a reflective background music.
Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton said the acknowledgement of the journey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, owning the mistakes of the countries past, creates new beginnings in the present, in order that healing can occur in the future.
“This Way of the Cross painted by Reg Carnamah, is one man’s remarkable journey, his struggles, his new growth, and his healing,” Bishop Don stated.
“May Reg’s story inspire you as it has inspired me in acknowledging God with us on our journey.”
In an interview to talk about the artwork, Carnamah explained that each painting helped him to confront his struggles with addiction and fallouts in life, including reconciliation with his mother.
“When I paint, I wonder how other artists mix their colours. For me, when I paint, I dip my fingers into my heart so that the colours would come from my heart onto the canvas,” Carnamah expressed.
“My life was just black and white, especially when I was going through [hard times] and I could not see myself coming out of it for a long time. But once I came out of it, the colours of my life changed. This is like my paintings.”
“I never told my mother that I loved her. I never came to terms with not telling her I was sorry for all the grief that I had brought her,” he added.
There are five stand-alone station reflections available which can be used prior to Mass, for personal reflection, to open meetings or in other creative ways.