St. Jude parishioner refurbishes Holy Family statue

St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church in Lewes unveiled and blessed a refurbished statue of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Holy Family, to help commemorate the first Sunday of Advent Dec. 3.

Using vivid colors, local artist Susan Short repainted the statue, which had been sitting in a closet for a number of years. During a brief ceremony, she spoke to about 140 people, mostly children in the religious education program.

Short, who has an art degree from Rutgers University, urged the students never to hide their God-given talents. She made a point of using more realistic flesh tones for the statue to reflect the Middle Eastern heritage of the Holy Family and told those in attendance that they are all made in the image of God, regardless of skin color.