The Assumption: Mary’s Crossing Over
In honor of the Assumption, here are excerpts about this mystery from my book The Catholic Companion of Mary.
“Regardless of how long Mary lived after Jesus’ death, surely she missed her son and husband and yearned to be reunited with them. Did Mary die? Most theologians think that Mary underwent death—just as her son did and as we all will do. The Church has no formal teaching about Mary’s death. What it does believe is that when Mary’s life on earth was ended, she was immediately taken body and soul into heaven. In this way, God preserved her body from corruption—that body which had served his Son so well. (more…)
The Holy Land: Israel and Your Yard
Last night I was reviewing my photos from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1995. Visiting the land where Jesus chose to visit Earth some 2,000 years ago was a learning experience. For one thing, I met both Jewish people and Arabs who were friendly and good. My hopes and prayers for a resolution to their conflict in Israel increased. My visit also brought the Gospels to life. Here are ten new realizations… (more…)
God Appearing in Our Lives
An epiphany is a manifestation of the divine. I believe we each experience little epiphanies. The God who spoke to Moses in a burning bush, to Joseph in a dream, and to Paul on the road, speaks to us too. There are several moments in our lives when we just know that we are in the presence of the holy. Our hearts are moved. In our era after the resurrection, these epiphanies aren’t as spectacular as the one witnessed by the three apostles on Mount Tabor. They are simple, yet memorable. Skimming over my store of memories, I find several such events stand out. (more…)
Asking for Help
In a homily on the Good Samaritan the other week, our pastor, Fr. Tom Fanta, had a new perspective. He had us consider “the view from the ditch.” The man who was beaten by robbers and left at the side of the road needed help. Did he call out for it? We don’t know. Often when we need help, we are reluctant to ask people. Why? Maybe because we value our independence too much, or we don’t want to impose on others, or we don’t want people to think less of us. Twice my mother fell and spent the night on the floor without pressing her alert button because she didn’t want to bother anyone. Now that is an extreme example. But how often do we suffer because we do not ask for help? (more…)
What Is Beauty?
Three experiences this week prompted me to think about beauty. First, I watched a video in which Dustin Hoffman explained why the movie Tootsie wasn’t a comedy for him. After the makeup artist had finished transforming him into a woman, Dustin asked if he could be made more beautiful. The response was “That’s as good as it gets.” But I’m an interesting person, Dustin thought. Then he reflected on times he had bypassed women because they weren’t beautiful. He realized that he had missed meeting some interesting people. The actor comments that our culture had brainwashed him. On the video he begins to cry. Second, a friend told me how upset she was by a televised beauty contest for little girls who were barely out of their diapers. Third, I happened to see a “Dear Abby” kind of television program. The hostess read a letter from a woman which said that because of her disability, men she was interested in shied away from a relationship with her.
Adages warn us about treating people based on their appearances: “You can’t judge a book by its cover”; “All that glitters is not gold”; and “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Yet, studies show that attractive people win better jobs, and experience shows that they are more popular. A woman in rollerskating competitions explained that she dyed her hair blond because blonds got more points! But what is beauty? Cultures have different standards, and a culture’s standards change. Japanese women had their feet bound, and some African woman elongated their necks. In the United States it was fashionable for women to have an hourglass figure, and then a boy-like figure, and then Twiggy came along. Today girls have rings in their noses and eyebrows and tattoos on various body parts…trends abhorrent to the older generation.
We humans yearn for the good, the true, and the beautiful. God is ultimate beauty. St. Bonaventure said of Francis of Assisi, “In beautiful things Saint Francis saw Beauty itself.” And in Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis wrote, “The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing…to find the place where all the beauty came from.”
I wonder what Jesus really looked like. We have no images of him because of the Jewish ban on idols and images. Artists make him and his mother attractive by our standards. But based on what is known about first-century Jewish men, forensic anthropologists created an image of Jesus. It is quite different from our conception of him. (Search “forensic reconstruction of Jesus” on the Internet to see it.)
We try to conform to what is considered ideal beauty through plastic surgery, cosmetics, and clothing. Wouldn’t it be great if we would concentrate more on developing our inner beauty?
When has beauty or the lack of it influenced your attitude or the attitude of someone you know?
