Re-Defining Beauty

Yes. This is, in fact, a new blog post. (What? Quick, check the date. September. What year? This year! Nice.) Our lives have been busy (as all lives are) but we here are feeling called to once again take to our keyboards and write about our lives, our faith, and the beauty we see (and try to be) in this world. I was thinking about beauty and what to write and I remembered hearing a quote from Pope Benedict about how the world needs beauty, and how true beauty always leads to God. But I guess I forgot to pin it, so in searching for it, I found this: 

"What is capable of restoring enthusiasm and confidence, what can encourage the human spirit to rediscover its path, to raise its eyes to the horizon, to dream of a life worthy of its vocation -- if not beauty?" 

Still Pope Benedict. He said it in his Address to Artists. And really - I think this says what I wanted to say about this blog. I think we all write not just to get our thoughts down, or to help us keep ourselves thinking about the different aspects of beauty (when I know I'm going to write soon, I tend to think about what I could say when my mind wanders. And since it wanders a lot - it's nice to be almost continually thinking about beauty). But I think we write to help restore enthusiasm and confidence. To encourage ourselves and others to find/rediscover our path. To raise our eyes to the Son on the horizon and to dream and then act on what our lives would be like if we truly fulfilled our vocations. I thought it was a nice thought. Maybe nicer than the original one I had been thinking of. And so I think I'll end this post how Pope Benedict ended his talk:

"Let the beauty that you express by your God-given talents always direct the hearts of others to glorify the Creator, the source of all that is good. God's blessings upon you all!"

Tweeting for Jesus

I was reading through my Summer issue of Faith and Family magazine, and came across an interesting article about the Pope's message for World Communication's Day from 2009.  In it, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the young "digital generation", and the increasing popularity of texting and social networking.  I decided to look up and read the message for myself.

I have to admit that I almost expected this message to be of a warning-nature of some kind, but instead it was more encouraging than anything.  Obvious benefits that he describes from technologies such as blogs, facebook, twitter, email include being able to stay in contact with family across great distances, helping students and researchers access documents, working collaboratively from remote locations, and producing new ways to learn and communicate. 

He discusses that what young people are drawn to more than just gadgetry, is the desire to know and to be known.  We desire communion with each other, and by reaching out and being open to others we fulfill "our deepest need and [become] more fully human".  Moreover, the Pope describes these technologies as a "gift to humanity" and encourages us to use them for a greater purpose; by promoting a culture of respect, dialogue and friendship. 

As Christians, we must use these technologies to promote respect and dignity of all human beings.  We should avoid using them to spread hate, intolerance, objectification, exploitation ect.

In addition, he mentions that we should take advantages of technology to share fruitful dialogue between people. With the click of a mouse we can communicate with people from other countries, cultures and faiths.  We should always be spreading peace, truth, beauty and goodness.  This concept reminds me of St. Maximillian Kolbe's mission to spread the love of God through modern tools like the media.  It is also what I hope Defining Beauty will continually reflect.

Lastly, the Pope discusses the idea of "friendship" and mentions that we should be aware of the casual term that "friend" has become in cyberspace ect.  He talks about how friendship is one of the highest achievements of human culture, and that although networking may faciliate some of our friendships, we should always keep our real relationships a priority over virtual ones.

He finishes with this beautiful message that I could not even put into my own words:

"I would like to conclude this message by addressing myself, in particular, to young Catholic believers: to encourage them to bring the witness of their faith to the digital world. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I ask you to introduce into the culture of this new environment of communications and information technology the values on which you have built your lives. In the early life of the Church, the great Apostles and their disciples brought the Good News of Jesus to the Greek and Roman world. Just as, at that time, a fruitful evangelization required that careful attention be given to understanding the culture and customs of those pagan peoples so that the truth of the gospel would touch their hearts and minds, so also today, the proclamation of Christ in the world of new technologies requires a profound knowledge of this world if the technologies are to serve our mission adequately. It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this "digital continent". Be sure to announce the Gospel to your contemporaries with enthusiasm. You know their fears and their hopes, their aspirations and their disappointments: the greatest gift you can give to them is to share with them the "Good News" of a God who became man, who suffered, died and rose again to save all people. Human hearts are yearning for a world where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. Our faith can respond to these expectations: may you become its heralds! The Pope accompanies you with his prayers and his blessing."

January 24 2009

The Pope's message to Young Adults

Pope Benedict addressed 10,000 young people in Prague this morning, and delivered an awesome message regarding vocations. Here are some highlights from his talk.

"In every young person there is an aspiration towards happiness, sometimes tinged with anxiety: an aspiration that is often exploited, however, by present-day consumerist society in false and alienating ways. Instead, that longing for happiness must be taken seriously, it demands a true and comprehensive response. At your age, the first major choices are made, choices that can set your lives on a particular course, for better or worse."

“Many of you He calls to marriage...the preparation for this Sacrament constitutes a real vocational journey...Consider seriously the divine call to raise a Christian family, and let your youth be the time in which to build your future with a sense of responsibility. Society needs Christian families, saintly families!"

"And if the Lord is calling you to follow Him in the ministerial priesthood or in the consecrated life, do not hesitate to respond to His invitation. In particular, in this Year for Priests, I appeal to you, young men. ... The Church in every country, including this one, needs many holy priests and also persons fully consecrated to the service of Christ, Hope of the world.”

Our Holy father challenges us to become messengers of Hope in the world, by responding to the vocation God gives us. We must strive to “live [our] faith with joy and enthusiasm; to grow in unity among [ourselves] and with Christ; to pray and to be diligent in frequenting the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Confession," Pope Benedict said.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=17243

CARITAS IN VERITATE

Our Holy Father's newest encyclical is here! It's focus is a topic we've discussed recently, truth in love, and his insights are brilliant. I haven't finished it myself, but once I started, I could hardly stop, and I can't wait to read more.

He begins by discussing the need for charity to always include truth, and vice-versa. He states, “Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity.” Without seeking to share the truth and enlighten those around us, we are not truly loving anyone. “Without truth, charity is confined to a narrow field devoid of relations."

He discusses the need for development of the human person in a world where the focus is on development in science and technology. In the context of this development, he stresses the importance of fraternal love, “Underdevelopment has an even more important cause than lack of deep thought: it is “the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples”[52]. Will it ever be possible to obtain this brotherhood by human effort alone? As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbours but does not make us brothers.” The brotherhood needed is one of love in truth. Our Holy Father wishes us to develop friendships where we call one another to higher virtue, where we push each other to become better human beings, to become what the Lord wants us to be: His saints. As my friends, please always call me on my vices, for that is what sisters in Christ do.

That's just the first few chapters, so I can't wait to read the rest, as I'm sure he'll have so much more insight into this subject, and how we can impact the world, spreading love in truth.

Papal Advent Reflection

"But in the original text we read 'in' the coming -- 'en te parousia' -- as if the coming of the Lord were, more than a future event, a spiritual place in which we already walk in the present, during the wait, and in which we are perfectly vigilant in every personal dimension," the Holy Father explained. "In effect, this is exactly what we live in the liturgy: celebrating the liturgical seasons, we actualize the mystery -- in this case the coming of the Lord -- in such a way as to be able, so to speak, to 'walk in it' toward its full realization, at the end of time, but already drawing sanctifying virtue from it from the moment that the last times have already begun with the death and resurrection of Christ."

"Advent is the spiritual season of hope par excellence, and in this season the whole Church is called to be hope, for itself and for the world," he said. "The whole spiritual organism of the mystical body assumes, as it were, the 'color' of hope." Pope Benedict XVI