The Call of Divine Beauty...

+JMJ

A reflection for the day---

In our lives as Catholics, and especially for those in the priestly and religious life, beauty leads us ever closer to to our Beloved, Jesus Christ.  As the Holy Father continues to emphasize in his "Reform of the Reform," it is this focus on renewing the Church's liturgy that will revitalize the Faith...  The Most Holy Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our lives as believers!  Therefore, it is only fitting that give our best to the Lord and show Him the reverence He is due.  As a seminarian studying for the Priesthood of Jesus Christ, it is only in humble and joyful submission to His will that I can be faithful to He who has called me to Himself.

Today, one danger regarding priestly ministry from both laity and clergy is to think that the focus during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is on the priest himself.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is not Father So and So's  Mass, or the English Mass, or the Spanish Mass or the 9 o'clock Mass, etc... as if we have a claim to it ourselves.  The Holy Mass is not our own- we do not own it. This is not simply an issue of terminology or mere semantics, for as you know, in the Catholic Faith, our words and deeds are rich in symbolism and convey much weight and power.  As noted previously, the Holy Mass is not ours as it is a gift, freely given, from the storehouses of heaven.  Most importantly, it is simply the one Holy Mass, celebrated in eternity by the Son to the Father, celebrated here on Earth at various times and in various legitimate forms.

Our job as seminarians and future participators in the priesthood of Jesus Christ is to the Holy Father as he embraces the words of Christ Himself in Mat 13:52, "He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old."     


In light of the above reflection, here are some quotes to meditate upon:

"...beauty is one of mankind's greatest needs; it is the root from which the branches of our peace and the fruits of our hope come forth. Beauty also reveals God because, like Him, a work of beauty is pure gratuity; it calls us to freedom and draws us away from selfishness."(Benedict XVI, Homily at La Sagrada Familia)

"Beauty... has the subtle power of attracting and calling us. The Greeks knew this so well that they named the beautiful to kalon [τň καλόν], from the verb kaleo [καλέω] meaning to call or beckon." (Armand Maurer, About Beauty)

"...the beauty of psalmody, sacred chants and texts, candles, harmony of movement and dignity of bearing. With sovereign art the liturgy exercises a truly seductive influence on souls, who it touches directly, even before the spirit perceives its influence." (Dom Gerard Calvet, Four Benefits of the Liturgy)

"The whole priestly influence is exercised on the members of the Church only by means of sensible, authentic forms, which are its vehicle. Formulas, readings, chants, rites, material elements, in short, all the externals of the Liturgy, are indispensable for sharing in the thoughts, the teachings, the acts of adoration, the sentiments, the graces which Christ and His visible priesthood destine for us. Hence, to minimize this visible contact under the pretext that the soul can then better achieve something interior, or that invisible communion suffices, is at the same time to diminish the priestly influence of the hierarchy and consequently the action of Christ in our souls." (Dom Lambert Beauduin, Liturgy the Life of the Church)

  


God Love You!