I once read a statement which said "the problem with what the Church teaches is not that no one believes that what we teach is true or good; rather they do not find our teaching beautiful."
I do think there are those who oppose the truth taught by the Church; on the other hand, probably the great majority of our society doesn’t even think about what we teach, instead they are indifferent. But the statement that what we teach is not seen as beautiful, this I understand as saying we don’t make the teaching of truth attractive enough: beauty attracts.
I see in Pope Francis a Catholic teacher who attempts to make the teaching of the Gospel attractive. I don’t mean that he waters down the truth or compromises it one single bit. Instead he speaks to the listeners’ imagination to help them understand the Gospel and how it is to be lived.
And Christ calls us to love, to a love which is "good, true and beautiful:" (to use the ancient philosophical ideals).
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Saint Augustine says: "Beautiful is God, the Word with God ...
He is beautiful in heaven, beautiful on earth; beautiful in the womb,
beautiful in his parents' arms, beautiful in his miracles,
beautiful in his sufferings; beautiful in inviting to life,
beautiful in not worrying about death,
beautiful in giving up his life and beautiful in taking it up again;
he is beautiful on the Cross, beautiful in the tomb, beautiful in heaven.
Listen to the song with understanding, and let not the weakness of the flesh distract your eyes from the splendour of his beauty."
Listen to "Now I Walk In Beauty" HERE
