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“You see how faith accomplishes a revolution in us, one which we can call Copernican; it removes us from the centre and puts God at the centre; faith immerses us in his love and gives us security, strength, and hope.” Pope Francis – Welcoming ceremony for young people

Even as science marches on we keep having to disprove the theory of Egocentricism* where everything in the universe orbits around us. To learn and relearn that we should revolve around the Son. From our own center God seems so far away that there seems to be no visible parallax. We need a Teleoscope to see final causes and that it is not all about us.

Interesting that in the welcoming ceremony at WYD that the Pope referenced Copernicus who was of course Polish and certainly spent time in Krakow and was where one of the universities he attended was. Bonus that Copernicus was likely a priest or at the minimum had taken minor orders. Although I am sure this was a coincidence and not a hint ahead of time where the next WYD will bee.

• Certainly ego is an anagram of geo

Photo credit via photopin cc

Recently having read The Church Building as a Sacred Place: Beauty, Transcendence, and the Eternal by Duncan Stroik I was thinking about how my own views towards architecture that have both changed and stayed the same.

I realize in some ways I strived for an aesthetic that was fueled by my atheism. I use to think all government buildings should be the architectural equivalent of the big box stores. Functional and without a concern for beauty or anything that would add cost for merely appearance sake. Humans really didn’t need all that to do work so why bother. I would also have seen rows and rows of cubicles as an efficient no nonsense design.

Spending many years at sea onboard various aircraft carriers I found my aesthetics pretty much satisfied by the way military ships are designed. Wiring is all visible and the bulkheads and frames of the ship are uniformly haze gray. A design based on ease of maintenance with not other concerns. It also use to annoy me that one area that was not based on practical concerns was the linoleum tiled floors. Although part of this dislike was the time spent mopping and buffing such floors and the idea of making a warship pretty.

Part of my outlook was certainly appreciation of the “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” relativism. Since beauty was totally subjective we should not waste time and money on something so subjective. Yet at the same time I didn’t really believe this. I was forcing this view on myself to match my philosophy. I was committed to moral relativism, but not a relativism towards beauty. When it came to art and architecture I was drawn to beauty and totally frustrated with the lack of it in so much art and architecture. So-called modern art should have appealed to my atheism, but instead it repelled me. I could find many forms of art interesting, but I didn’t equate something being distinctive as being the same as it being beautiful.

Still my more utilitarian mindset wanted to appreciate function over form. That in a universe with no ultimate meaning it was ridiculous to try to bring meaning out of art. If I had known Andy Warhol’s quote “Art is anything you can get away with” I would have appreciated it from the mindset I tried to overlay on my thoughts. Yet time and time again I was drawn to what classically was called beautiful.

It was my conversion that led me to finally drop what I didn’t really believe. I did not have pretend to myself anymore that I preferred the utilitarian or that what I found ugly or what had repulsed me was just my own subjective view. That while there are subjective reactions towards beauty this is not to say that all beauty is purely subjective. It is not that you are as likely to find a painting or photo of a mountain scene than one of a garbage dump.

I remember once my late pastor had told me that often reporters assumed that his parish was the diocesan cathedral. Surely this was because it was the most beautiful church in the diocese created along more traditional lines with a beautiful high altar. What had drawn me to this parish church was it’s beauty. I had found it accidentally when driving when I saw the sign for the book store. When I went inside I was stunned by what I saw and recognized the beauty of it. At the time I had rarely been in a Catholic church and certainly not one that couldn’t have doubled as an auditorium. Hollywood also seems to be attracted to the more traditional architecture of Catholic churches in that when you see one in the media it is never of the fan-like auditorium type that unfortunately are so prevalent. They know instinctively what a Catholic church is suppose to look like.

This does make me wonder just how much the loss of the religious sense has contributed to so much utilitarian ugliness that pervades the world? So much art and architecture seems to exist to only glorify the architect or artist. A rebellion against beauty to force a new aesthetic into acceptance. This is understandable to some extent in the secular world, but unfortunately the same is true regarding sacred architecture and art. An attempt seems to be made to divorce themselves from the past instead of building on it. An individualism that creeps into everything yet at the same time an ugly sameness. Aesthetic relativism does not led to people arguing over what is more beautiful, but a destruction of the beautiful.

Angels and Saints at Ephesus from the Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles is now available. This is the followup album to their wonderful Advent at Ephesus.

Thanks to Carmel Communications I have two copies of the album to give away.

Rules are simple:

• Leave a comment on this post with a valid email between now and midnight on Sunday.

I will then randomly select two winners with the results posted next Monday. Winners will be contacted so that the CD can be mailed to them.

1. Dear Angel Ever At My Side
2. Ave Regina Cælorum
3. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
4. Christe Sanctorum
5. Duo Seraphim
6. Virgin Wholly Marvellous
7. Est Secretum
8. Lorica of St. Patrick
9. O Deus Ego Amo Te
10. Emicat Meridies
11. O God of Loveliness
12. Læta Quies
13. A Rose Unpetalled
14. Jesu Dulcis Memoria
15. Te Joseph Celebrent
16. Jesu Corona Virginum
17. Veritas Mea

I would like to give a warm welcome home to Lyn Mettler at A Catholic Newbie who came into the Church during the Easter Vigil. Her blog details her journey from nonbeliever to convert.

Also a warm welcome to all others who came into the Church during the Easter Vigil.

Since one of the examples I used regarding a problem in Catholic media was Patrick Madrid’s show “Right Here, Right Now” not being available via podcast it is time to update the information.

This show is in fact now available via podcast (although they are still working to get it to list in iTunes):

• Subscribe with iTunes
• Subscribe with other software

The meeting of Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI makes me both happy and sad. I like seeing the two of them together as it is rather cool, yet there is also the bittersweet melancholy over seeing our emeritus pope.

I felt like a bit of a voyeur watching the two men knelt down in prayer. It was oddly disconcerting and to my mind almost an intrusion into a private moment. Or maybe I just expected that this event would be totally private without the intrusion of cameras. Yet the papacy has a very public aspect and I should have expected this. Maybe for me it is just disconcerting to watch two men quietly in prayer.  In a world where we jam our senses every waking moment, their simplicity in the quietness of prayer  can seem at odds. What I really should be disconcerted at is all the noise and all the efforts to have to narrate what has its own natural narrative. Our culture really needs to see people in prayer as an example.

“No, we are brothers,” Francis told Benedict, according to the Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi. He said Francis wanted to pray together with Benedict, so the two used a different kneeler in the pews and prayed side-by-side.

Francis also brought a gift to Benedict, an icon of the Madonna, and told him that it’s known as the “Madonna of Humility.”

“I thought of you,” Francis told Benedict. “You gave us so many signs of humility and gentleness in your pontificate.” Benedict replied: “Grazie, grazie.”

Benedict wore the simple white cassock of the papacy, with a quilted white jacket over it to guard against the chill, but minus the sash and cape worn by Francis. Walking with a cane, he looked frail compared to the robust 76-year-old Argentine.

Outside the villa, the main piazza of Castel Gandolfo was packed with well-wishers bearing photos of both popes and chanting “Francesco! Francesco!” But the Vatican made clear they probably wouldn’t see anything.

The Vatican downplayed the remarkable reunion in keeping with Benedict’s desire to remain “hidden from the world” and not interfere with his successor’s papacy. There was no live coverage by Vatican television, and only a short video and still photos were released after the fact.

The Vatican spokesman said the two spoke privately for 40-45 minutes, followed by lunch with the two papal secretaries, but no details were released.

Many have tried to portray stark contrasts between these two men as if Pope Francis is the first humble Pope. I have really appreciated Pope Francis’ connection with his predecessor from the first moments of his papacy he has referred to him and this goes deeper than just passing references. Recently he made references to the term “dictatorship of relativism.” Yes there are certainly contrasts between these two men as there are contrasts in all of us. God did not use cookie cutters to stamp out our personalities. The great saints were not indistinguishable copies of each other. There is not one master way to live out a humility nourished by love of God and neighbor. Although certainly Pope Francis’ early papacy has been rather striking in the way he lives out his humility.

Thankfully our hearts are not a zero-sum game where love for one person must replace the love of another. I can love Blessed John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis and learn and relearn both the same thing from all men and differences in emphasis from them individually. Thank you Jesus!

• Papal History Being Made, Right Here, Right Now – Frank Weathers
• Brothers in Arms – Fr. Dwight Longenecker
• Francis with Benedict – photos – Father Z

I have been remiss in pointing this out:

It is the last day of Aquinas and More’s journey of faith to see if their online Catholic store can carry on.

You may read more here about why so many believe their store is worth saving.

The goal was $250,000. They have raised $58,599.

It is not too late to help!

Go here to donate.

I helped out, if you can it would be great to support this totally faithful Catholic store which provides outstanding support and products you can totally trust.

Thanks to Happy Catholic for the reminder.

Here is a point I tried to make the other day that Joanna Bogle makes much better:

…of the media trying to stir things up by seeking to stress differences in lifestyle between Popes Benedict and Francis.

Pope Francis has many admirable qualities. But to suggest that he is the first Pope in history to live a simple and austere life is a bit absurd. Pope Benedict lived in a modest flat near the bus depot before he was elected to the Papacy, and walked every day to work with his battered briefcase. People often assumed he was just an ordinary priest, and asked him the way to tourist sites, etc, only discovering afterwards that they had been talking to the famous Cardinal Ratzinger…

John Paul II lived in complete poverty, gave away everything, even a warm coat given to him in the bitter cold, and shoes…the sisters who looked after him as Pope despaired because he wanted them to give away any new clothes and insisted on wearing old ones until they were beyond any further mending. When he died, he left almost no possessions except a photograph of his parents, and his worn old scapular..

On the same theme Amy Welborn posts Surprise! Pope takes walk through Rome!

Oh…wait….it was that other one.

Pope Benedict XVI made his first public appearance on the streets of Rome on Wednesday afternoon, April 20, as he visited his old apartment near Vatican City to transfer some belongings to his new home in the apostolic palace.

The newly elected Pope, clothed completely in the distinctive white vestments of the papacy, caught onlookers by surprise when he chose to travel on foot, walking the few hundred yards to the apartment in the Citta Leonina where he had lived for years. When the news spread that the Pontiff was walking through the city, hundreds of people quickly gathered, and he spent some time in front of the apartment building, greeting the people and blessing young children. Italian police and Vatican security officials did their best to control the crowd, preserving some breathing room for the Pontiff.

After a short stay in his old apartment, the Pontiff reappeared, entering a black car that was waiting for him at the entrance of the building. He paused again to wave to the crowd, turning slowly from one direction to another so that he could greet as many as possible. The crowd burst into cheers of “Long live the Pope!” and the chant that has already become familiar: “Benedetto!” Pope Benedict later commented that he was “very moved” as he resumed direct contact with the faithful.

One of the surprises from the papal election was the age of Pope Francis. From the media, to vaticanistas, to the expectation of many Catholics – many speculated on a younger man being elected. At work I was asked about the Pope’s age and one person said “couldn’t they find someone younger?” I also bought into the expectation of somebody relatively younger somewhere in the sixties or very early seventies.

In some ways it is surprising that a man only two years younger than Pope Benedict XVI was elected. The pope’s resignation due to age you would have thought would have weighed more in the thinking of the cardinal-electors. Perhaps though Benedict’s resignation might have actually provided a way forward for the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. That resignation due to age is now more opened up and age might now be less of a consideration than at one time. Historically the large majority of papacies has been 10 years or fewer. Blessed John Paul II’s length as pope is really a historical oddity, although occurring more in the last two centuries such as with Pius IX and Leo XIII. Advances in medicine will certainly skew this over time.

It is not surprising the desire for a younger physically active pope. Considering that in most cultures now there is a worship of youth and a more slanted view towards the elderly. The celebrity focused culture puts a shorter shelf life on people’s attention and aging gracefully now means keeping up with the latest injections and surgery. We don’t want to look at the ravages of age because we don’t want to think about our own. Ironically the Culture of Death really does not want to think about their own inevitable demise. The wisdom that age can bring is not a commodity we much care about.

Pope Benedict XVI “Visit to the Community of Sant’Egidio’s home for the elderly” on 12 Nov 2012:

I come to you as Bishop of Rome, but also as an old man visiting his peers. It would be superfluous to say that I am well acquainted with the difficulties, problems and limitations of this age and I know that for many these difficulties are more acute due to the economic crisis. At times, at a certain age, one may look back nostalgically at the time of our youth when we were fresh and planning for the future. Thus at times our gaze is veiled by sadness, seeing this phase of life as the time of sunset. This morning, addressing all the elderly in spirit, although I am aware of the difficulties that our age entails I would like to tell you with deep conviction: it is beautiful to be old! At every phase of life it is necessary to be able to discover the presence and blessing of the Lord and the riches they bring. We must never let ourselves be imprisoned by sorrow! We have received the gift of longevity. Living is beautiful even at our age, despite some “aches and pains” and a few limitations. In our faces may there always be the joy of feeling loved by God and not sadness.

Pope Francis to the Cardinals:

Dear brother Cardinals, take courage! Half of us are advanced in age. Old age is – as I like to say – the seat of life’s wisdom. The old have acquired the wisdom that comes from having journeyed through life, like the old man Simeon, the old prophetess Anna in the Temple. And that wisdom enabled them to recognize Jesus. Let us pass on this wisdom to the young: like good wine that improves with age, let us give life’s wisdom to the young. I am reminded of a German poet who said of old age: Es is ruhig, das Alter, und fromm: it is a time of tranquillity and prayer. And also a time to pass on this wisdom to the young. You will now return to your respective sees to continue your ministry, enriched by the experience of these days, so full of faith and ecclesial communion. This unique and incomparable experience has enabled us to grasp deeply all the beauty of the Church, which is a glimpse of the radiance of the risen Christ: one day we will gaze upon that beautiful face of the risen Christ!

So now we have further information on why the Pope choose Francis.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said that “as things got dangerous” in the conclave voting, he was sitting next to his “great friend” Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes “who comforted me.”
When the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio went over the 77 votes needed to become pope, he said, Cardinal Hummes “hugged me, kissed me and said, ‘Don’t forget the poor.’”

Pope Francis told thousands of journalists March 16 that he took to heart the words of his friend and chose to be called after St. Francis of Assisi, “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” the same created world “with which we don’t have such a good relationship.”

“How I would like a church that is poor and that is for the poor,” he told the more than 5,000 media representatives who came from around the world for the conclave and his election. (source)

Thinking again on regnal names I think the use of Francis gives us another unique distinction. St. Francis of Assisi baptismal name was actually Giovanni Bernardone. His name was latter altered to Francesco “Frenchman” either by his father because of his fondness, it would seem, for France or by others for the same reason. Regardless it was not his baptismal name and maybe was more of a nickname. So we have the first regnal name based on a nickname. Well maybe not exactly true since Peter our first Pope was born Simon and became Peter. Although you couldn’t say it was exactly a nickname. When Jesus names you something it becomes almost ontological and name changes in the Bible are always important.

So we have a Pope of Italian parentage from Argentina with the name “Frenchman”. Don’t you just love the universality of the Church?

It is always interesting how origin’s of a pope’s name and specifically how they came about. Mostly, as in this case, in the last moments.

It does make me wonder how many, if any, walk into the Conclave with a regnal name picked out? Probably most that do walk out with their given name.

I thought this piece of information was rather funny and am glad the Pope shared it.

Pope Francis also said some had suggested jokingly that he, a Jesuit, should have taken the name Clement XV “to get even with Clement XIV who suppressed the Society of Jesus” in the 1700s.

Ha!