https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/07/03/only-one-name/

Commentary

For those of us who have genuine good-will intact within our consciousness, we can all readily agree that, for instance, looking at a brood of newborn kittens being snuggled close by momma cat is going to be an equally awwww-some experience for all of us, albeit in slightly different ways as garnered by the uniqueness of each one’s God-given make-up. However, for someone who does not have good-will intact in that same area of their consciousness as those of us who do – in that area of consciousness that enables us to marvel at the joy and wonder of God’s creation – then they who do not have this, are not going to be moved to seeing with a breadth of appreciation indicative of good-will, the love and joy we see when looking at momma cat & brood. We can then conclude that Natural Law, as decreed by God, has endowed us on a normatively natural level with the ability to perceive goodness in certain patterns extant in the natural world and these patterns, when observed by us, convey signals to us that such patterns are of a naturally-endowed goodness, and so when our hearts and minds are predisposed towards the good, towards good-will, towards embracing the culture of life, our moved responses will reflect this and will convey this both intrinsically (interiorly) and then extrinsically (exteriorly) through a manifestation of joyful adulation or a profound sense of wonderment or delight.

George Weigel has remarked in the article cited above… “It’s often said, and rightly, that in a world confused about truth and goodness, beauty, the third “transcendental,” can be an invitation to reconsider modern skepticism and moral relativism. If we see (or hear) something beautiful, we know it’s beautiful in itself – it’s not a matter of “my” beauty or “your “beauty.” And we instinctively grasp that this beauty is good – not just “good for me.” Hans Urs von Balthasar built an entire theological edifice on the foundation of an extended reflection on God’s beauty: “the glory of the Lord.” “

And this is precisely because, such an“instinctive grasp” of beauty is meant to be universal since this universality of our instinctive grasp of beauty is a natural endowment given to us by God, which is why, when this instinctive grasp is functioning as it should, as it was created to within us, it is abundantly accessible and would not be blocked or inaccessible. The only time when such a God-given instinctive grasp becomes inaccessible or blocked is when the person experiencing that blockage has had this instinctive grasp of beauty disfigured by sin or by the presence of some malefic influence distorting their perception. Hence we encounter the terrible prevalence today of ingratitude as stemming from such disfigurements of the ability of certain people to access the inner sanctum of God-endowed appreciation or beauty-recognition.

However, inasmuch as I agree with George Weigel’s statement from the quotation above, I have to concur that I am in far less agreement with him when it comes to his next remark. He vents:

“Why, then, did the Vatican come up with such a tacky jubilee logo? Can’t the Catholicism that inspired Fra Angelico, [there’s a pesky layout bug that leaves unnecessary space between the names in this quote so I have to fill it in guys, apols!] Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, and Henry Ossawa Tanner produce a beautiful logo, rather than kitsch that looks like a sixth-grade art project? This aesthetic self-degradation began with the logo for the Great Jubilee of 2000 and has continued ever since. Basta!”

Even though I am of the belief that all the above-mentioned artists are definitively prolific and unequivocally profound in their faith-witness as testified through their artistic endeavours and achievements, I would not go so far in the direction of disdaining humility as unfortunately, Weigel has opted for here. He casts an uneasy, unfitting and unnecessary slur upon childrens’ creativity and imagination and this, I think weighs heavily in the direction opposite to that which Christ Himself extolled when He rebuked some of His disciples for trying to stop the little children coming to Him and adoring Him. It must be remembered that it wasn’t all that long ago when Pope Francis held a special meeting with children from the world over and this was to impart a necessary message to the entire Church and world that God gifts children in special ways that witnesses to our need to follow Jesus more closely and more simply than unnecessarily making everything so much more complicated and legalistically burdensome. And this message is timely, especially given the number of crises plaguing our Holy Mother Church on account of abuses of power, authority, and responsibility. Equating “sixth-grade art projects” with “self-degradation” is about as bombastic as they come and smacks of none other than ribald self-aggrandizing phariseic ego-pomp. And mind you, I will be frank when necessity calls because there is nothing more sickening besides war, conflict, and misery caused by the vanity of worldly indulgence and waste than to witness someone from within the hallowed walls of traditional Catholic journalism turn from an integrity-filled, humility-infused beacon of righteousness into a kudos-obsessed “man of the world” who now prefers to kowtow to the platitudes of a curious admixture of high-profilism combined with whatever ignites trend-setting crazes within the Church and the world around him. Didn’t Jesus teach His followers not to adopt the attitude of the princes of the world? Correct me if I am wrong.

Therefore, this whole shabang behests me to say “I am sorry George, but you have gone too far here…” …too far, and way outside of a genuine faith-centered appreciation for universality proper, when we consider that universality is recognizing that every culture, tribe, and tongue, every walk and state in life, every stage of life, needs to be embraced, edified, and included in the active life of the Church, and most importantly, in practice, not just in theory. For this vast variegated universality is what defines authentic Catholicism and sets the benchmark for what a truly welcoming Church should look like. And besides, true beauty, as we have established in the beginning, is God-given. That said though, it cannot be classified or relegated to one slipstream only, be it within the Church or out in the wide world yonder for that matter.

And it follows on from this then, that God has imprinted His hall-mark of beauty from time immemorial, since the creation of the world, on every continent, and not on one or two continents only. Hence the same understanding applies to all life-states, walks, and stages, including childhood. In fact, it is no wonder that children in many ways, have a more spontaneous capacity to recognize and appreciate beauty than many adults. Not always is this the case but it can be readily observable on a universal scale in many instances. Sometimes in adults, the sense of appreciation has been dimmed and disfigured by worldly saturation and this is grave cause for concern, for their sense of awareness has been so moulded to consider only that which to them appears appealing to a “sophisticated” mindset, and so much so that their simple God-given hearts are far from them. And this is tragic because such people have lost the simple spontaneity of a child which God extolled when His only begotten said, “Ye must become as little children if ye are to enter the Kingdom of God”.

And just to be fair, I am quoting Scipture because it is important for us to seriously heed what our Lord says and desires us to nurture close to our hearts. Even though I am exhorting us to be more appreciative of simplicity as Jesus so ardently desires for us to become, it is not my intention to unwittingly criticize complexity or sophistication either but that rather, my conscience bids me to say that we must keep our hearts in balance so that we do not lose sight of the beauty of simplicity by giving ourselves over to an excessive indulgence in sophistication as the latter can lead us down the blinkered slippery slope of worldly vanities and inculcate within us a haughtiness which robs us of our ability to cultivate gratitude for the God-given simplicity that life has to offer whether in our human relationships or in our relationship with God and the rest of the creation. When we are able to appreciate classical art and sacred music, are we still able to appreciate the simpler beauty of the natural world around us, the life of animals, and of trees, and the life of flowers, the sky, and the earth, and the seasons? Are we still able to understand and feel from within us that a sacred love for life is more important than how many books we have published or how many public interviews we have done? And are we still able to understand and appreciate the truth that real God-given love is not fleeting or flimsy or just whimsical or bent on a fickle craving to satisfy a biological drive or psychological compulsion but is instead full of tender mercy and compassion welling up from within us?

A truly universal hence Catholic appreciation is to harness an appreciation of beauty that does not alienate, one that knows how to invite the simple and the complex into a harmonious unity of shared purpose and discovery. For understanding the immense plethora of diversity given unto us by God throughout the created order means to immerse ourselves in the mystery of how both the simple and complex things of life marvelously complement instead of conflict with each other. And it is into this mystery we must sojourn deeper if we are to find the greater and more robustly enduring meaning of our God-ordained existence.

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