Beautiful art points to the beauty of God

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 16, 2011
Fr. Anthony Brankin
Gospel: Matt. 22:15-21 “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?”

Homily summary: It is often heard, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” But St. Thomas Aquinas said that when we see beauty in something, it pleases us. Why does it please? Because in a beautiful thing, we see the spark of God. God is somehow there. When the artist makes something, it is complete, whole and proportional. And God is complete, whole and proportional.

The twin apostolates of prayer and the education of young women are pursued by the Visitation Sisters of Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Are you called to religious life?

Consider a life with the Washington, DC.

People may ask why a priest is not preaching about God. Sometimes we preach about God with beauty — the beauty that is in music, art and architecture. Beauty is as effective as preaching can be. There are Catholic artists such as Velasquez, and so on. They fact that they are Catholic is no accident.

Preaching through architecture

We as Catholics have an incredible responsibility to assume. This is why we take care of buildings. We might not think that purchasing a pump for the school is preaching, but it is. If we don”t take care of the smallest detail, such as a drippy faucet, decay will take care of it. We will be caught up in a relentless march back into the forest.

If there is no beautiful way to express our faith, maybe there won”t be any faith. Please start thinking about ways you can give, and increase your giving to the parish.