Things become ugly when God is denied, Catholic Pilgrims.
When we were in Portugal, we walked everywhere we went, pretty much. Walking a city is the best way to get to know a place.
Everywhere you turned, there was art. Even down obscure alleys, there were little tiles with depictions of St. Anthony or Mary. In one part of the city, they had these photos of older people up on the outside walls. I asked our guide what was with the pictures and he said it was to honor the elderly who had lived in the neighborhood forever.
The cobblestone streets have character, the buildings aren’t all cookie cutters, the churches were magnificent. Years and years of love went into building things because it was meant to be beautiful and splendid.
Today, we try to make things efficient, fast, and uniform. It’s so boring. Every strip mall looks just like the next one. Art isn’t beautiful anymore, most of the time it looks like a grotesque vision from a nightmare. Music is canned and all the same. The minimalist approach wipes away every trace of character making places look like sterile hospital operating rooms. This isn’t to say we should be materialistic, but, good grief, the bare bones approach is bland.
And now, and I hate to say it, but, we as humans, aren’t even trying anymore. It seems the goal is to look as sloppy and unkempt as possible. People are doing so much or so little to themselves that I can’t see the person hidden behind all the mess masking the beautiful person God created.
God creates and when an artist truly seeks to create, beautiful things are made. Our present movement is not one of creation but one of destruction and it’s making everything ugly. It’s okay to say that out loud, because we all know it.
Make your homes beautiful and interesting, work in your yard if you have one, read good literature, seek out musical artists that try, visit restaurants that are unique, and put yourself together like you have some sense and want to be taken seriously in the world.
Make your world beautiful, Catholic Pilgrims. It’ll be the radical approach.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Friday.
*Church if St. Mary at St. Jerome’s Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal.
