Homily

Recently I was reading a little article written by Pope Benedict in 2002 on the topic of beauty. He writes about what seems to be a paradox. The Church talks about the beauty of Christ, using this verse from Ps. 44: "You are the fairest of the children of men and grace is poured upon your lips." Benedict says that this psalm verse, applied to Christ, is not speaking merely of human external beauty, but the beauty of the truth that is in Christ, the beauty of God Himself, Who draws us to Himself.

But the Church also, talking about Christ's suffering and passion speaks of Him using the words from Isaiah 53, Verse 2: "He had neither beauty, nor majesty, nothing to attract our eyes, no grace to make us delight in Him." So here, in His passion the Church says not only is Christ not physically beautiful, He looks so wretched that nobody wants to even look at Him. This seeming contradiction interested the Fathers. Is beauty true, or does ugliness show us what is true? The beauty of truth that is in Christ is the same truth that embraces suffering, pain and even the dark mystery of death.

Benedict describes the two ways one can see the beauty of the truth. The first way is by being taught about the truth. But the second way is through personal experience, through direct contact with the source of all truth. As Nicholas Casabilis wrote, "When men have a longing so great that it surpasses human nature and they eagerly desire and can accomplish things beyond human thought, it is Christ the Bridegroom Who has smitten them with this longing. It is He Who has sent a ray of His beauty into their eyes. The greatness of the wound already shows the arrow which has struck home."

Benedict says that icons are a good example of this. Our eyes see the painting and we may judge it to be beautiful or not on the basis of simply what our eyes see, the way the icon affects our sense of beauty. But, if we look beyond just color, shape, technique and see icons with our inner eye of faith, we can see beyond what any art critic might also see, and we move towards seeing a beauty that is much richer and deeper, the beauty of the glory of God.

People have always wondered, Benedict says, whether there is such a thing as the beauty of truth when we can also see around us lies, seduction, violence and evil. Can the beautiful be genuine, or is it just simply an illusion? Maybe it's not the arrow of the beautiful that leads us to truth, but instead maybe it is lies and all that is ugly and vulgar—maybe that's the truth and we just have to face up to it. After all, look at all the wars and utter brutality of the 20th century's history.

So, is Christ the "fairest of the children of men," or the one Who "had no beauty, no majesty to draw our eyes, no grace to make us delight in Him?" He is both. In His suffering and passion that which might seem to be only dark and ugly is not removed but it is overcome. The experience of the beautiful becomes even deeper and more real.

"The One Who is Beauty itself allows Himself to be slapped in the face, spat upon crowned with thorns; the Shroud of Turin helps us imagine this in a realistic way. However in His face that is so disfigured there appears the genuine and extreme beauty: the beauty of love that goes 'to the very end;' for this reason, it is shown to be greater than lies and violence. Whoever can perceive this beauty knows that truth and not lies is the real thing that genuine people desire."

And I think a good example of this is on Good Friday when we come forward to kiss the holy shroud. We are able to see beyond the suffering and death lying in front of our eyes on the shroud, something that normally would make us turn away. Instead we are drawn to it, because we see the beauty of His love for us even in the disguise of suffering and pain.

The world of lies and deceptions offers people a beauty that is, well, a lie and a deception. It's a beauty that doesn't call us to experience something fine, magnificent and wonderfully much greater than ourselves. Instead it locks people entirely into themselves. It does not stir a desire for God, for sacrificial love, for selfless living. Instead it stirs up harmful desires, the will for power, possession and pleasure.

Benedict says that in the Garden of Eden Eve saw the forbidden fruit as something "beautiful" and "delightful to the eyes." This attraction of this aroused within her a desire to possess it and turn away from God, locking herself into just her desires. The consequences were tragic. Benedict asks, isn't that what so much of advertising is about? Create images that tempt us to want to grab everything and seek temporary satisfaction instead of being open to others.

Father Ihor a few days ago was showing us some of the music videos that are popular with young people today. Now I realize that he was showing us some of the worst examples, not the best, but I was surprised I'm not as savvy as I thought. The videos were dark, ugly, demeaning and full of negative and despairing messages. And of course they were all about me, me, me. And they all used strong sexual images, so much so that you would think the greatest achievement of life is satisfying your lust. Fr. Ihor said, "And this is what our young people are watching and listening to." I was sincerely horrified. "This is what they like."

Now contrast that type of false beauty with the beauty we saw on the stage outside yesterday. Ask yourselves, please, where true beauty can be found and how do we react to it? Does it point us outside of ourselves to reach out to others in service, to turn our heads in the direction of God and all that is good? Or does it tempt us to be selfish and self-centered, using other people for our own pleasure, and locking ourselves into a world where God doesn't matter and this physical life is all that counts.

Benedict concludes: Many people have heard the sentence Dostoyevsky wrote, "The Beautiful will save us." But not so many people realize that the Beautiful he was talking about is Christ.

Dear friends, true beauty is in the beauty of the truth. That truth is Christ. Let us continue to become more beautiful ourselves as we continue to desire, to live, to become more like Christ our Savior.