"Nothing More Beautiful"

Today, instead of doing much work, I was encouraged by my immediate superior to attend the Pastoral Assistants day that was going on at the Pastoral Centre. I went last year, and it's a pretty good time. I sat with the St. Theresa's crowd again, because I'm generally timid about meeting new people, and although there were definitely familiar faces, it's still largely a crowd I don't know.

In the afternoon, Archbishop Smith gave a presentation on his five year plan for the New Evangelisation, which is to commence this fall. I'd already heard it once, about a month back when he gave it to a large group of "influential" (by which I mean high involved as youth ministers and the like) young adults, but it was still awesome to hear it again. The first time was awesome, since it came at unawares, and the vibe in the room was ecstatic, but the second time was good too, as a refresher. I'm not sure the pastoral assistants had the same excited feeling, but my eagerness for getting this underway was boosted again after having been largely forgotten in the midst of a million and one other things that have passed since the start of May.

The New Evangelisation, since probably no one is familiar with the concept, is the idea of revitalising the faith of the Catholic community in our archdiocese, over the course of the next five years, and then putting this into practice as we witness, as a diocese, to the world. This does not mean, as the Archbishop was quick to clarify today, that regular church efforts will be put on hold for five years. No, everything continues according to normal, but in the midst of all this normal there will be a concerted plan to re-educate, rekindle, and reinvigorate the faith of Catholics. It will be a simple plan, not intended to add "yet another thing" to the list of the programs and events that are ongoing. Instead, it is intended to fit into all those things already ongoing.

Anyway, the exact details of HOW it's going to work are still under "construction", and I'm not the best at visualising such things anyway. What chiefly has me, in particular, thrilled about is the theme: "Nothing More Beautiful".

"Nothing More Beautiful" is from a line in Pope Benedict's homily at his inaugural Mass as Pontiff, a line that apparently resonated with the Archbishop, and I must admit is rather cool indeed. The line goes: "There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him."

"There is Nothing More Beautiful."

While I would definitely agree regarding the truth of this statement in any case, the ideas and thoughts that have played across my mind in the last couple years have made this resonate loudly throughout my mind since I first heard the Archbishop's presentation. One thing that has become crystal clear about my faith, the Catholic faith, since coming to seminary, is the immense respect we have for symbolism, and the great usage of it that our tradition holds.

In large part, this stems back to the Catholic notions regarding the physical universe. We do not have a Protestant viewpoint, which tends to see the material world as "evil" and to be avoided. This stems, I think, largely from a very literal reading of the epistles of St. Paul, who certainly does speak about the evils of the flesh-- but it should be noted that this does not mean that St. Paul is speaking of physical bodies, and thus the physical world, as inherently evil, but rather that he is using the word to indicate the inclinations and temptations that the world, in its fallen state, can present to us, and which certainly is in contraposition to the Word of God.

It has been, however, always the contention of the Church that the world is inherently good, going right back to Genesis, where it says quite clearly about every part of creation: "and God saw that it was good". This understanding of the fundamental goodness of creation is present throughout Catholic theology. Our understanding of marriage and sex is coloured with the understanding that this physical, bodily action is an inherently good and beneficial gift--albeit prone to much corruption since the Fall. The importance of physical matter is key to an understanding of how Catholics view the sacraments. Indeed, some sort of a physical element is necessary for them to even be a sacrament, be it a touch, or an anointing, or food (incidentally, the sacrament of marriage's physical touch is... you guessed it... sex). And, of course, there is our much maligned fondness toward building beautiful cathedrals, wearing gorgeous vestments, using gilded chalices, and rich decoration of every sort. We understand, and express it in the very symbolism of our incredibly rich liturgy, that symbolism, physical symbols, have immense power. We acknowledge and celebrate the fact that humans are material beings, not purely spiritual. It is at the very heart of Catholicism to use symbols.

With this in mind, and with this being very dear to my heart, the theme "Nothing More Beautiful" strikes a dear chord for me. Most people I know, especially those liable to read this here online, do not understand just how deeply this resonates. The whole fibre of my being tingles at the beauty of the Mass. If I feel strongly that churches should be soaring and grand, that vestments should be richly embroidered, that music should be solemn and awe-inspiring, it all stems from the very roots of my heart that recognizes the beauty in such things, and wants to cry out with joy to the Lord with all the instruments at its disposal.

Another of the lines that Archbishop Smith took from Pope Benedict on this matter expresses it exactly in my mind. People think, in general, that being a seminarian, being a devout Catholic in general, means giving up enjoyment and fun, that one lives a dreary life in the hope of the next life to come--but this is NOT so! I wish I could find the quote (the Archbishop's first letter on the New Evangelisation does not quote it, and I can't remember where he took it from), but it was basically to the effect that being a Christian is not a limited life of rules and regulations, but a joyful encounter with Christ.

This has struck me a bit more than usual this spring, as I've eased back into regular chatting with friends online... that people really don't get how awesome my life is. There is nothing, nothing more beautiful that I can possibly imagine than knowing you are serving Christ. I can imagine a hundred different ways this joy might be played out, but none of them can be imagined separate from doing one's best to serve and follow Him, and to observe His ways. Following Christ is not a chaining up of one's life, it is a freedom. "The Truth will set you free" the Bible proclaims, and I burn with a passion that wants to flame to the heavens attempting to find the words to explain it. I use a lot of words like "flame" and "burning" trying to express what I feel when I'm thinking about service to Jesus, but fire isn't the only imagery. The pounding wind in your face as you roar down the highway with the windows open can be used too.

The inability to convey completely what I feel is something of a sad thing, since I feel, as a part of it, so sad for those that I love (and yes, I do love you people) not being able to feel this, not feeling Jesus' love for them, and the awesome feeling of being able to love Him back, and yet, despite that, there is something about the simple fact that I can't explain it that is an essential part of this all-soaring love. It's limitless. It's infinite. The love one feels for Jesus and feels expressed in return is the best touch we can have with the infinite.

There is, indeed, nothing more beautiful.