I have been seeing this sort of theme going on the last few days and as my week culminated in an outing with my husband to see "Beauty and the Beast" in 3-D, one of my absolute favorite Disney animated films, it dawned on me, I feel a blog coming on. So here it goes.
Last week I had a little time after a doctor's appointment while I was in "the big city" and decided to go see a parish that my mother and I attended while I was growing up. They have recently re-done the sanctuary and after seeing pictures I couldn't wait to see it in person. There was no one present at the time and the main lights were down, just spotlights on the altar. As I slowly walked in, I gasped and unexpected tears filled my eyes. Compared to its former state, it was absolutely breathtaking. Great care had been taken to insure that every detail from the candle stands to the huge stainglassed window wall behind the tabernacle was a glorious testimony to the purpose of this place of worship.
Stay with me, because I am skipping forward to today. Today was the fortieth anniversary of the ordination of a dear priest who happens to be my pastor, Msgr. Victor. The mass we attended was meant to be a celebration in honor of this. Our choir made special efforts to provide beautiful music in honor of such an occassion. There were beautiful flowers on the altar, beautiful vestments. But the truly beautiful part was the priests up on the altar. With Monsignor was another young priest newly ordained and our deacon at our parish. As Msgr. Victor was giving his homily I was overwhelmed with gratefulness. That God had given us the Church, the sacraments, and in particular the Sacrament of Holy Orders that made these men ministers to us. By virtue of the grace of the sacrament, He takes ordinary men and allows them to be empty vessels for Christ. And because they are willing, what grace flows to me through the sacraments they administer! During a time when it is not popular to speak truthfully about what the Church teaches, Msgr. Victor is one of those priests that has never minced words or pussy footed around. It takes a good deal of courage and resolve to do that. He is also a humble man and truly exemplifies what Christ can do through you if you forget yourself. So guess what I did during the entire mass on and off that is? I cried.
Beauty makes me cry. I have been thinking alot about beauty today. Why does true beauty move us? Because deep down we long for it. And we long for it because we were created by Beauty Himself. And somehow we know, that whatever we are seeing is not all there is to see, it is only a taste. Even a poor soul like Gaston could recognize true beauty (Belle) versus cheap beauty (the little trio), and he wanted it.
I have to confess, I have never seen the Beatific Vision (face to face with God) as Moses and some of the saints have, but I have seen glimpses of it.
and there are many things about God I long to see, but I believe what I long for more than anything is to behold the source of all Beauty Himself, because if a beautiful church makes me cry, and a beautiful priest makes me cry, well I just can't even imagine what it will be like, and my heart swells just to think about it.
Last week I had a little time after a doctor's appointment while I was in "the big city" and decided to go see a parish that my mother and I attended while I was growing up. They have recently re-done the sanctuary and after seeing pictures I couldn't wait to see it in person. There was no one present at the time and the main lights were down, just spotlights on the altar. As I slowly walked in, I gasped and unexpected tears filled my eyes. Compared to its former state, it was absolutely breathtaking. Great care had been taken to insure that every detail from the candle stands to the huge stainglassed window wall behind the tabernacle was a glorious testimony to the purpose of this place of worship.
Stay with me, because I am skipping forward to today. Today was the fortieth anniversary of the ordination of a dear priest who happens to be my pastor, Msgr. Victor. The mass we attended was meant to be a celebration in honor of this. Our choir made special efforts to provide beautiful music in honor of such an occassion. There were beautiful flowers on the altar, beautiful vestments. But the truly beautiful part was the priests up on the altar. With Monsignor was another young priest newly ordained and our deacon at our parish. As Msgr. Victor was giving his homily I was overwhelmed with gratefulness. That God had given us the Church, the sacraments, and in particular the Sacrament of Holy Orders that made these men ministers to us. By virtue of the grace of the sacrament, He takes ordinary men and allows them to be empty vessels for Christ. And because they are willing, what grace flows to me through the sacraments they administer! During a time when it is not popular to speak truthfully about what the Church teaches, Msgr. Victor is one of those priests that has never minced words or pussy footed around. It takes a good deal of courage and resolve to do that. He is also a humble man and truly exemplifies what Christ can do through you if you forget yourself. So guess what I did during the entire mass on and off that is? I cried.
Beauty makes me cry. I have been thinking alot about beauty today. Why does true beauty move us? Because deep down we long for it. And we long for it because we were created by Beauty Himself. And somehow we know, that whatever we are seeing is not all there is to see, it is only a taste. Even a poor soul like Gaston could recognize true beauty (Belle) versus cheap beauty (the little trio), and he wanted it.
I have to confess, I have never seen the Beatific Vision (face to face with God) as Moses and some of the saints have, but I have seen glimpses of it.
Here.....
And here...
And here.....
and here...
and there are many things about God I long to see, but I believe what I long for more than anything is to behold the source of all Beauty Himself, because if a beautiful church makes me cry, and a beautiful priest makes me cry, well I just can't even imagine what it will be like, and my heart swells just to think about it.
Post a Comment