So, I was listening to some High School Musical songs earlier today, and one of the songs I listened to was "Can I have this dance?" Well, wouldn't it be more amazing if I could dance with the Him who pursued me all my life? So I wrote this in response. St. Valentine's Day just can't get here any faster!
Take me into Your arms, O Lord, and swing me with the music of Your creation.
Pull me into Your holy dance, and drive me into the love of Your Spirit.
Touch me with Your tender mercy, and whisper with the winds of Your grace.
Draw me by the scent of the sweat upon which You bore the holy Cross so heavy,
And open my eyes to the majesty of the glory of Your Holy Trinity.
Enrapture my heart with the carpentry of the woodwork You hang upon,
And feed my body with the Bread and Wine which you so willingly given me.
I love You, Jesus. More and more each day.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
True Beauty
“Yet in the enjoyment of all such things we commit sin if through immoderate inclination to them—for though they are good, they are of the lowest order of good—things higher and better are forgetten, even You, O Lord our God, and Your Truth and Your Law. These lower things have their delights but not such as my God has, for He made them all: and in Him doth the righteous delight, and He is the joy of the upright of heart.”
--St. Augustine
One of the most beautiful things about sin is that it’s just so good! I mean, who can say no to all the beer in the world? Who can refuse all the pleasures this world has to offer? What Satan says in Paradise Lost rings true for almost everyone, “Evil, be thou my Good.”
Augustine saw this quite well. There is a certain show of beauty in sin. “Thus pride wears the mask of loftiness of spirit, although You alone, O God, are high above all.
“Ambition seeks honor and glory, although You alone are to be honored before all and glorious forever.
“The caresses by which the lustful seduce are a seeking for love: but nothing is more caressing than Your charity, nor is anything more healthfully loved than Your supremely lovely, supremely luminous Truth.
“Curiosity may be regarded as a desire for knowledge, whereas You supremely know all things.
“Ignorance and sheer stupidity hid under the names of simplicity and innocence: yet no being has simplicity like to Yours: and none is more innocent than You, for it is their own deeds that harm the wicked.
“Sloth pretends that it wants quietude: but what sure rest is there save the Lord?
“Enviousness claims that it strives to excel: but what can excel before You?
“Anger clamors for just vengeance, but whose vengeance is so just as Yours?
“Fear is the recoil from a new and sudden threat to something one holds dear, and a cautious regard for one’s own safety: but nothing new or sudden can happen to You, nothing can threaten Your hold upon things loved, and where is safety secure save in You?
“Grief pines at the loss of things in which desire delighted: for it wills to be like You from whom nothing can be taken away.
“Thus the soul is guilty of fornication when she turns from You and seeks from any other source what she will nowhere find pure and without taint unless she returns to You. Thus even those who go from You and stand up against You are still perversely imitating You. But by the mere fact of their imitation, they declare that You are the creator of all that is, and that there is nowhere for them to go where You are not.”
True beauty lies within the source of Beauty. “Ad fontes,” cried the Renaissance man. “To the sources,” says the Born-again man. Look, therefore, not in gifts given, but the Giver who gives us Himself. That’s why in marriage, the most beautiful thing isn’t the wedding party. It’s not even the ring! No, it’s where the Bridegroom and Bride give up themselves for each other. The image of the marriage feast is perhaps the best one to describe the relationship between God and His People. That is True Beauty.
St. Augustine of Hippo, pray for us.
*Augustine, Aurelius. Confessions. Ed. F.J. Sheed. 2nd Ed. Book Two, ch. V-VI. pgs. 30-32. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2006.
--St. Augustine
One of the most beautiful things about sin is that it’s just so good! I mean, who can say no to all the beer in the world? Who can refuse all the pleasures this world has to offer? What Satan says in Paradise Lost rings true for almost everyone, “Evil, be thou my Good.”
Augustine saw this quite well. There is a certain show of beauty in sin. “Thus pride wears the mask of loftiness of spirit, although You alone, O God, are high above all.
“Ambition seeks honor and glory, although You alone are to be honored before all and glorious forever.
“The caresses by which the lustful seduce are a seeking for love: but nothing is more caressing than Your charity, nor is anything more healthfully loved than Your supremely lovely, supremely luminous Truth.
“Curiosity may be regarded as a desire for knowledge, whereas You supremely know all things.
“Ignorance and sheer stupidity hid under the names of simplicity and innocence: yet no being has simplicity like to Yours: and none is more innocent than You, for it is their own deeds that harm the wicked.
“Sloth pretends that it wants quietude: but what sure rest is there save the Lord?
“Enviousness claims that it strives to excel: but what can excel before You?
“Anger clamors for just vengeance, but whose vengeance is so just as Yours?
“Fear is the recoil from a new and sudden threat to something one holds dear, and a cautious regard for one’s own safety: but nothing new or sudden can happen to You, nothing can threaten Your hold upon things loved, and where is safety secure save in You?
“Grief pines at the loss of things in which desire delighted: for it wills to be like You from whom nothing can be taken away.
“Thus the soul is guilty of fornication when she turns from You and seeks from any other source what she will nowhere find pure and without taint unless she returns to You. Thus even those who go from You and stand up against You are still perversely imitating You. But by the mere fact of their imitation, they declare that You are the creator of all that is, and that there is nowhere for them to go where You are not.”
True beauty lies within the source of Beauty. “Ad fontes,” cried the Renaissance man. “To the sources,” says the Born-again man. Look, therefore, not in gifts given, but the Giver who gives us Himself. That’s why in marriage, the most beautiful thing isn’t the wedding party. It’s not even the ring! No, it’s where the Bridegroom and Bride give up themselves for each other. The image of the marriage feast is perhaps the best one to describe the relationship between God and His People. That is True Beauty.
St. Augustine of Hippo, pray for us.
*Augustine, Aurelius. Confessions. Ed. F.J. Sheed. 2nd Ed. Book Two, ch. V-VI. pgs. 30-32. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2006.
The End of this Blog
Although I am interested in theology, political philosophy, and law, let me make some things clear here: As a departure from my previous blogs, this is will not be a political blog. I’m quite sure you can find plenty good ones out there that cater to your tastes.
Neither will this blog be on apologetics. I think there are plenty of great sites, and even greater books out there that make arguments better than I can ever dream of.
The purpose of this blog, isn’t clear to me yet. But let me sketch it along these lines to show you what my intentions are.
If this blog helps you come closer to God of the universe, then I have succeeded. But I don’t think that’s clear enough either. Anyone could read this and say they feel closer to “God.” For example, a Pantheist would agree with the statement “God exist” just as much as a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist, etc. would agree. “Of course I believe Jesus is God. I’m God. And so are you. The keyboard upon which you type is God.” I’m sure you get what I mean.
No, if this blog helps you conform into the image of Jesus the Christ, the New Adam, the image of the invisible God, revealed to us by His Incarnation, and passed down on to us through the Holy Scripture and Sacred Traditions of the Apostles by the Church Universal, then I have succeeded beyond imagination. So that’s what this blog is about. It’s about getting a face, becoming real, taking off your mask.
So let’s dive into it shall we? Instead of playing around in the wading pool and talking about trivial stuff, let’s really jump in. Let’s be fools and rush in where angel fear to tread, shall we? And if nothing comes out of this search, at least we know we weren’t living a lie and actually did something to find out whether or not we are living in the Matrix.
Neither will this blog be on apologetics. I think there are plenty of great sites, and even greater books out there that make arguments better than I can ever dream of.
The purpose of this blog, isn’t clear to me yet. But let me sketch it along these lines to show you what my intentions are.
If this blog helps you come closer to God of the universe, then I have succeeded. But I don’t think that’s clear enough either. Anyone could read this and say they feel closer to “God.” For example, a Pantheist would agree with the statement “God exist” just as much as a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist, etc. would agree. “Of course I believe Jesus is God. I’m God. And so are you. The keyboard upon which you type is God.” I’m sure you get what I mean.
No, if this blog helps you conform into the image of Jesus the Christ, the New Adam, the image of the invisible God, revealed to us by His Incarnation, and passed down on to us through the Holy Scripture and Sacred Traditions of the Apostles by the Church Universal, then I have succeeded beyond imagination. So that’s what this blog is about. It’s about getting a face, becoming real, taking off your mask.
So let’s dive into it shall we? Instead of playing around in the wading pool and talking about trivial stuff, let’s really jump in. Let’s be fools and rush in where angel fear to tread, shall we? And if nothing comes out of this search, at least we know we weren’t living a lie and actually did something to find out whether or not we are living in the Matrix.
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