St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church in Lewes unveiled and blessed a refurbished statue of the Holy Family on Dec. 3 to help commemorate the first Sunday of Advent.
Local artist Susan Short repainted the statue, which had been stored in a closet for a number of years.
Restoring the statue with vivid colors, she spoke to about 140 people, mostly children in the religious education program, during a brief ceremony.
Short, who has an art degree from Rutgers University, urged the students to never hide their God-given talents. She said 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 the audience that they are all made in the image of God, regardless of skin color.
