Daily Archives: 18 February 2006

EXCERPT:
We are living in very difficult times. In wealthy countries there is a pervasive undercurrent of selfishness and self-centeredness. We live in a time when “I… me… my… mine…” permeates the common worldview. Have we come to the point also in which we as comfortable Catholics are saying, “Gimme!” in reference to the Eucharist? Of course, you say, “I now take!” need not be “Gimme!” But observe. If anything were needed today, it seems to me, is a way of underscoring even to the extent of using even dramatic physical gestures, what we believe taking/reception of the Body and Blood of the Lord really is for us. In a time when to kneel is considered lowly, then kneeling is a dramatic gesture. It is counter-cultural. It is a “sign of contradiction” in the face of “I… me… my… mine….” By kneeling my body cries out: “You…. You… Your… Your….” Continue reading →

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EXCERPT:
Depictions of things help to illuminate our minds. A picture is, as they say, worth a thousand words. The paintings of Beato Angelico are repleat with a luminuous radiance which help to illustrate for us the mysteries they depict. Thus, they illumine also our hearts and minds, given us a grasp of something that words fail to offer. Music and painting are similar in this respect: physical things (the medium of paint and surface, the sound waves and harmonics) bring a different part of our power to apprehend to bear on the object, the affective together with the intellective. So, in his holiness of life, Beato Angelico became God’s canvass, upon which He drew (and drew forth) His virtues, His beauty, so that it could radiate into the hearts and minds of those around him. By his intercession, we ask that God will do the same for us. Continue reading →

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