A Sunday Thought to Start 2015 Off Right
Now that we've started 2015 off right (HERE and HERE), let's keep the momentum going by freshening up those fundamentals that should guide our minds and hearts as Catholics.
We remind ourselves today of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. Our Holy Religion brings us all that is true, good, and beautiful in its teachings and under the wings of its pastoral care. While dogmatic teachings are often belittled by those who claim the Catholic Religion restricts or constrains our freedom, dignity, even our creativity, we know - or should know - that the opposite is the case. We derive our freedom and dignity from the true teachings of the Church, which teachings tells us that we were created in the image and likeness of God Himself. This alone should cause us to pause each day in gratitude to a Loving God - indeed a Father - Who would create us to be like Himself. As for our creativity, we only have to look to the great works of art - painting, sculpture, music, etc. - that adorn many European churches, works whose profound beauty was intended to not only delifht us, but to help us to pray and meditate in the Divine Presence.
If we simply recall this awesome reality - and it doesn't take any special "technique" to take a few minutes to meditate on this - perhaps over time it might color everything we do throughout the day. Imagine a life filled with the True, the Good, and the Beautiful!
Think of what you think, do, and say each day. I don't know about you, but this exercise causes me to shake my head in disbelief. Besides fulfilling the duties of my state of life (married, children), too much of my time winds up slipping between the cracks of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful into that great abyss of popular culture that permeates every nook and cranny or our world. While I'm not saying you should come home from work and listen to Beethoven's Ninth every day, do you really need the din of news, sports and pop music that soaks our senses and numbs our minds 24/7?
May I humbly propose that we spend some time right now on this Sunday, the Lord's Day, with the True, the Good, and the Beautiful? How about something from the very heart of our Catholic Religion composed by Mozart? Not only one of my favorite Mozart compositions, but one of my favorite pieces of music period, I believe this performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein shortly before his death in 1990 captures the profound and sacred beauty of the piece. Sung in Latin, here are the words in English. In just a few minutes, you'll be transported from this "pop" world of ours to the borders of Heaven.
We remind ourselves today of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. Our Holy Religion brings us all that is true, good, and beautiful in its teachings and under the wings of its pastoral care. While dogmatic teachings are often belittled by those who claim the Catholic Religion restricts or constrains our freedom, dignity, even our creativity, we know - or should know - that the opposite is the case. We derive our freedom and dignity from the true teachings of the Church, which teachings tells us that we were created in the image and likeness of God Himself. This alone should cause us to pause each day in gratitude to a Loving God - indeed a Father - Who would create us to be like Himself. As for our creativity, we only have to look to the great works of art - painting, sculpture, music, etc. - that adorn many European churches, works whose profound beauty was intended to not only delifht us, but to help us to pray and meditate in the Divine Presence.
If we simply recall this awesome reality - and it doesn't take any special "technique" to take a few minutes to meditate on this - perhaps over time it might color everything we do throughout the day. Imagine a life filled with the True, the Good, and the Beautiful!
Think of what you think, do, and say each day. I don't know about you, but this exercise causes me to shake my head in disbelief. Besides fulfilling the duties of my state of life (married, children), too much of my time winds up slipping between the cracks of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful into that great abyss of popular culture that permeates every nook and cranny or our world. While I'm not saying you should come home from work and listen to Beethoven's Ninth every day, do you really need the din of news, sports and pop music that soaks our senses and numbs our minds 24/7?
May I humbly propose that we spend some time right now on this Sunday, the Lord's Day, with the True, the Good, and the Beautiful? How about something from the very heart of our Catholic Religion composed by Mozart? Not only one of my favorite Mozart compositions, but one of my favorite pieces of music period, I believe this performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein shortly before his death in 1990 captures the profound and sacred beauty of the piece. Sung in Latin, here are the words in English. In just a few minutes, you'll be transported from this "pop" world of ours to the borders of Heaven.
"Hail, true Body,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Who having suffered, was sacrificed
On the cross for mankind,
Whose pierced side
Flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of Heaven]
In the test of death."
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Who having suffered, was sacrificed
On the cross for mankind,
Whose pierced side
Flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of Heaven]
In the test of death."
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