Thursday, January 27, 2011

Sagrada Familia Dedication ... B16

Indeed, beauty is one of mankind’s greatest needs; it is the root from which the branches of our peace and the fruits of our hope come forth. Beauty also reveals God because, like him, a work of beauty is pure gratuity; it calls us to freedom and draws us away from selfishness.
-Pope Benedict XVI





HOLY MASS WITH DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH
OF THE SAGRADA FAMILIA AND OF THE ALTAR

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Barcelona
Sunday, 7 November 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep. … The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:9-11). With these words from the first reading that we have proclaimed, I wish to greet all of you taking part in this celebration. I extend an affectionate greeting to their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain who have graciously wished to be with us. I extend a thankful greeting to Cardinal Lluís Martínez Sistach, Archbishop of Barcelona, for his words of welcome and for his invitation to me to dedicate this Church of the Sagrada Familia, a magnificent achievement of engineering, art and faith. I also greet Cardinal Ricardo María Carles Gordó, Archbishop Emeritus of Barcelona, the other Cardinals present and my brother bishops, especially the auxiliary bishop of this local church, and the many priests, deacons, seminarians, religious men and women, and lay faithful taking part in this solemn ceremony. I also extend a respectful greeting to the national, regional and local authorities present, as well as to the members of other Christian communities, who share in our joy and our grateful praise of God.

Today marks an important step in a long history of hope, work and generosity that has gone on for more than a century. At this time I would like to mention each and every one of those who have made possible the joy that fills us today, from the promoters to the executors of this work, the architects and the workers, all who in one way or another have given their priceless contribution to the building of this edifice. We remember of course the man who was the soul and the artisan of this project, Antoni Gaudí, a creative architect and a practising Christian who kept the torch of his faith alight to the end of his life, a life lived in dignity and absolute austerity. This event is also in a certain sense the high point of the history of this land of Catalonia which, especially since the end of the nineteenth century, has given an abundance of saints and founders, martyrs and Christian poets. It is a history of holiness, artistic and poetic creation, born from the faith, which we gather and present to God today as an offering in this Eucharist.

The joy which I feel at presiding at this ceremony became all the greater when I learned that this shrine, since its beginnings, has had a special relationship with Saint Joseph. I have been moved above all by Gaudí’s confidence when, in the face of many difficulties, filled with trust in divine Providence, he would exclaim, “Saint Joseph will finish this church”. So it is significant that it is also being dedicated by a Pope whose baptismal name is Joseph.

What do we do when we dedicate this church? In the heart of the world, placed before God and mankind, with a humble and joyful act of faith, we raise up this massive material structure, fruit of nature and an immense achievement of human intelligence which gave birth to this work of art. It stands as a visible sign of the invisible God, to whose glory these spires rise like arrows pointing towards absolute light and to the One who is Light, Height and Beauty itself.

In this place, Gaudí desired to unify that inspiration which came to him from the three books which nourished him as a man, as a believer and as an architect: the book of nature, the book of sacred Scripture and the book of the liturgy. In this way he brought together the reality of the world and the history of salvation, as recounted in the Bible and made present in the liturgy. He made stones, trees and human life part of the church so that all creation might come together in praise of God, but at the same time he brought the sacred images outside so as to place before people the mystery of God revealed in the birth, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this way, he brilliantly helped to build our human consciousness, anchored in the world yet open to God, enlightened and sanctified by Christ. In this he accomplished one of the most important tasks of our times: overcoming the division between human consciousness and Christian consciousness, between living in this temporal world and being open to eternal life, between the beauty of things and God as beauty. Antoni Gaudí did this not with words but with stones, lines, planes, and points. Indeed, beauty is one of mankind’s greatest needs; it is the root from which the branches of our peace and the fruits of our hope come forth. Beauty also reveals God because, like him, a work of beauty is pure gratuity; it calls us to freedom and draws us away from selfishness.

We have dedicated this sacred space to God, who revealed and gave himself to us in Christ so as to be definitively God among men. The revealed Word, the humanity of Christ and his Church are the three supreme expressions of his self-manifestation and self-giving to mankind. As says Saint Paul in the second reading: “Let each man take care how he builds. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:10-11). The Lord Jesus is the stone which supports the weight of the world, which maintains the cohesion of the Church and brings together in ultimate unity all the achievements of mankind. In him, we have God’s word and presence and from him the Church receives her life, her teaching and her mission. The Church of herself is nothing; she is called to be the sign and instrument of Christ, in pure docility to his authority and in total service to his mandate. The one Christ is the foundation of the one Church. He is the rock on which our faith is built. Building on this faith, let us strive together to show the world the face of God who is love and the only one who can respond to our yearning for fulfilment. This is the great task before us: to show everyone that God is a God of peace not of violence, of freedom not of coercion, of harmony not of discord. In this sense, I consider that the dedication of this church of the Sagrada Familia is an event of great importance, at a time in which man claims to be able to build his life without God, as if God had nothing to say to him. In this masterpiece, Gaudí shows us that God is the true measure of man; that the secret of authentic originality consists, as he himself said, in returning to one’s origin which is God. Gaudí, by opening his spirit to God, was capable of creating in this city a space of beauty, faith and hope which leads man to an encounter with him who is truth and beauty itself. The architect expressed his sentiments in the following words: “A church [is] the only thing worthy of representing the soul of a people, for religion is the most elevated reality in man”.

This affirmation of God brings with it the supreme affirmation and protection of the dignity of each and every man and woman: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple? … God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Cor 3:16-17). Here we find joined together the truth and dignity of God and the truth and dignity of man. As we consecrate the altar of this church, which has Christ as its foundation, we are presenting to the world a God who is the friend of man and we invite men and women to become friends of God. This is what we are taught in the case of Zacchaeus, of whom today’s gospel speaks (Lk 19:1-10), if we allow God into our hearts and into our world, if we allow Christ to live in our hearts, we will not regret it: we will experience the joy of sharing his very life, as the object of his infinite love.

This church began as an initiative of the Association of the Friends of Saint Joseph, who wanted to dedicate it to the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home formed by Jesus, Mary and Joseph has always been regarded as a school of love, prayer and work. The promoters of this church wanted to set before the world love, work and service lived in the presence of God, as the Holy Family lived them. Life has changed greatly and with it enormous progress has been made in the technical, social and cultural spheres. We cannot simply remain content with these advances. Alongside them, there also need to be moral advances, such as in care, protection and assistance to families, inasmuch as the generous and indissoluble love of a man and a woman is the effective context and foundation of human life in its gestation, birth, growth and natural end. Only where love and faithfulness are present can true freedom come to birth and endure. For this reason the Church advocates adequate economic and social means so that women may find in the home and at work their full development, that men and women who contract marriage and form a family receive decisive support from the state, that life of children may be defended as sacred and inviolable from the moment of their conception, that the reality of birth be given due respect and receive juridical, social and legislative support. For this reason the Church resists every form of denial of human life and gives its support to everything that would promote the natural order in the sphere of the institution of the family.

As I contemplate with admiration this sacred space of marvellous beauty, of so much faith-filled history, I ask God that in the land of Catalonia new witnesses of holiness may rise up and flourish, and present to the world the great service that the Church can and must offer to humanity: to be an icon of divine beauty, a burning flame of charity, a path so that the world may believe in the One whom God has sent (cf. Jn 6:29).

Dear brothers and sisters, as I dedicate this splendid church, I implore the Lord of our lives that, from this altar, which will now be anointed with holy oil and upon which the sacrifice of the love of Christ will be consumed, there may be a flood of grace and charity upon the city of Barcelona and its people, and upon the whole world. May these fruitful waters fill with faith and apostolic vitality this archdiocesan Church, its pastors and its faithful.

[In Catalan:] Finally, I wish to commend to the loving protection of the Mother of God, Mary Most Holy, April Rose, Mother of Mercy, all who enter here and all who in word or deed, in silence and prayer, have made this possible this marvel of architecture. May Our Lady present to her divine Son the joys and tribulations of all who come in the future to this sacred place so that here, as the Church prays when dedicating religious buildings, the poor may find mercy, the oppressed true freedom and all men may take on the dignity of the children of God.

Amen.

LINK


Gaudi Quotes

Antonio Gaudi


Originality consists in returning to the origin.

The creation continues incessantly through the media of man.

Man does not create... he discovers.

Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works
collaborate with the creator.



Courage in Truth

Monday, January 24, 2011

Church by the Future Patron Saint of Artists Blessed

Architect Antoni Gaudi is one of my favorite new obsessions. And , no, he's not canonised yet, but the cause for it has been started. With the recent dedication of the Sagrada Familia Basilica by the pope, I've been looking for more information than one typically finds in the news media about this sort of topic. I was going to write my own article when I happened upon a blog that already had the type of info all put together like I wanted... so I'm stealing theirs. :)



Pope Dedicates a Gaudí Church




During a brief trip to the Iberian Peninsula, Pope Benedict XVI visited Barcelona to dedicate and consecrate Sagrada Familia as a basilica, despite its unfinished status. Construction began in 1882 and is not projected to be completed until 2026, although the sanctuary has been ready for worship for a year. Nevertheless, Sagrada Familia is a beloved symbol of Barcelona and was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.

The Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia was a project that began as a simple church in a neo-gothic style designed by Francesc de Paula Villar. But when the Sagrada Familia project reigns passed to Antoni Gaudí, a young Catalan architect who was a devote Catholic with an imaginative spirit who intended that the church would be the last great sanctuary of Christendom.

Gaudí designed Sagrada Familia to depict "the divine history of the salvation of man through Christ incarnate, given to the world by the Virgin Mary". Consequently, the plans for the edifice were imaginatively transformed to have three façades would depict the Nativity, the Passion of Christ and the Glory. The 18 spires symbolized the twelve Apostles, the four Evangalists, the Theotokos (the Virgin Mary) and the Son of God (Jesus Christ). So far, only eight towers have been built. These towers have a hollow middle section which allow for tubular bells to be placed as carillon to combine with the voices of the choirs.

Aside from the Grand layout, Antoni Gaudí’s naturalistic style is most evident in the Nativity Façade where elements of life augment the Incarnation theme. Columns which separate the porticos in this section have tortoises as their base, which symbolize something set in stone and unchangeable. But at the sides of this façade are chameleons, which are symbols of change.

In his remarks during the consecration Mass, Pope Benedict XVI recognized Gaudí’s ambition to unify the book of nature, the book of Sacred Scripture and the book of the liturgy in his architectural design. By incorporating the marvels of nature to glorify god with the mystery of the birth passion and glory of Jesus Christ, the Pope noted that:

[Gaudí] brilliantly helped to build our human consciousness, anchored in the world yet open to God, enlightened and sanctified by Christ. In this he accomplished one of the most important tasks of our times: overcoming the division between human consciousness and Christian consciousness, between living in this temporal world and being open to eternal life, between the beauty of things and God as beauty. Antoni Gaudí did this not with words but with stones, lines, planes, and points. Indeed, beauty is one of mankind’s greatest needs; it is the root from which the branches of our peace and the fruits of our hope come forth. Beauty also reveals God because, like him, a work of beauty is pure gratuity; it calls us to freedom and draws us away from selfishness.

These lofty reflections on theology and aesthetics are in marked contrast to the louche libertine protests of the Papal visit outside the Sagrada Familia Basilica by homosexuals and anti-clerical activists.

The Sagrada Familia project was never expected to a completed quickly. It is an Expiatory Temple, which is totally dependent on donations for completion. Gaudí used to quip that “My client is not in a hurry.” Construction was complicated because Gaudí constantly changed his blueprints informed by his evolving imagination. Much of the remaining original architectural design was destroyed by anti-clerical Republican partisans during the Spanish Civil War in 1938. So there are some noticeable deviations from Gaudí’s style in the construction that has continued since his death in 1926.

Gaudí spent the last 15 years of his life totally dedicated to this monumental project living an austere life. In fact, Gaudí spent the last two years of his life sleeping in the crypt of Sagrada Familia and begging for donations. Gaudí died tragically in 1926 when he was hit by a tram driver and was not immediately taken to the hospital because taxi drivers refused to transport the ragged man with empty pockets to the hospital. When Gaudí was recognized in a Pauper’s hospital three days after the accident, Gaudí refused to go to a better hospital, he refused by saying “I belong here among the poor”.

The history of Gaudí is not only intertwined with the Sagrada Familia Basilica but it also may portend canonization. Gaudí has been known as God’s architect due to his devotion to Sagrada Familia but there has also been a cause open for Gaudí’s beatification open in the Vatican since 1992. One of two miracles necessary for sainthood have been identified with case of Monserrat Barenys, whose perforated retina was miraculously healed when she prayed to Gaudí, but the Vatican has not certified this miracle.


LINK.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Social Foetuses

How awkward it must be to maintain a pro-choice philosophy when scientific studies continue to show how sophisticated and "un-blob-of-tissue-like" baby humans are in utero.
-Anna


Unborn babies want to socialize as early as week 18 of gestation, a study of twins has shown.

The Italian researchers used an advanced method of ultrasonography, which enables the movements of foetuses to be recorded over time in 3D. The aim was to see how five pairs of twins interacted with each other in their mothers’ wombs.

The first 20-minute recording sessions taken during week 14 of pregnancy, showed the foetuses touching each other as well as themselves, and the uterine wall.

During the second recording, four weeks later, their interest in their twin was some three times higher, with almost 30 per cent of movements directed towards the sibling. Those movements were also more accurate then self-directed ones, the researchers reported in PLoS ONE magazine.

The changes were quite consistent among the ten foetuses studied. The authors believe this indicates that humans are “wired to be social”, and our interest in communication comes naturally as the neural system matures.

LINK

Friday, January 21, 2011

NIMBY!


Not In MY Back Yard!!! This is the most urgent local issue in Oakland County Michigan. I only live a couple miles from where they want to open this monstrosity!

Opposition grows against Planned Parenthood in Auburn Hills

  • January 20th, 2011 2:03 pm ET

Petitions opposing an abortion clinic in Auburn Hills are quickly and quietly being circulated at area churches and throughout the communities of Auburn Hills, Lake Orion, Pontiac, Rochester and Rochester Hills as citizens learn that Planned Parenthood has purchased property nearby on Opdyke Road.

‘People need to know this is our backyard, and it's being attacked especially the young people of Pontiac, Oakland University, and all of Oakland County.’ Says Mark Joyce, one of the Knights of Columbus at St. Mary of the Hills Catholic Church in Rochester Hills.

Calling it our own personal Cuban Missile Crisis, attorney Rebecca Kiessling agrees that it is time to sound the alarm. ‘This threat is in our backyard and aimed at our area. It is the worst thing to happen in our community.’

Monica Miller, president of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society whose group is leading the charge says that ‘…we must work together to stop this clinic from opening its doors. We need to tell our city leaders and businesses that we do not want an abortion clinic in our neighborhood!’

‘This is a community that offers support for pregnant women,’ says Evelyn Van Sloten of Crossroads Pregnancy Center. The CPC helped 197 women last year to change their minds about having an abortion. In addition to pregnancy testing, counseling, adoption referral and supplying clothes and equipment for newborns and their mothers, they teach the benefits of abstinence to students in grades 7 – 12 as the healthy pre-requisite for healthy marriages.

Photo: Monica Miller
Please pray for this situation, even and especially is you are not from the area. We need all the spiritual help we can get.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Just a Bubble in a Perfect Paint Job

Ug. I can't get this song out of my head. Boy, do I relate... though I don't think that's why it is stuck in my brain.

Emiliana Torrini

Weird Friendless Kid Lyrics

Weird friendless kid
You don't know where you live
No one knows a thing about you
No one ever did
Weird friendless kid
You might be weird but you're not stupid
We’ve all seen the pictures you drew
We know what’s in your head
Uninvited child
But you never seem to mind
Eating from your purple lunchbox
While we are talk about you
About you
It's alright to stay
Nobody gets away
Except you
Why you're like you are ?
Do you think you're a star
La la la la....
I sometimes think I'd like to speak to you
And find out who you are
Uninvited guest
You won't fit in with all the rest
Just a bubble in a perfect paint job
While we all talk about you
Talk about you
Talk about you
Just a bubble in a perfect paint job
Brings everybody down
Yes you do
It's alright to stay
Nobody gets away
Except you
Why you're like you are ?
Do you think you're a star
La la la la....
Dipin’ from your purple lunchbox
It's alright you know
You can come as you are
La la la la....
And if it's like you say
You got a chance to move away
One bye, one, we'll knock on your door
Tell how we feel like
Or how we felt about you
Feel about you
Feel about you
Felt about you


Poem

This is amazing. I've never read a poem that so wonderfully emphasises how much we need each other and how much we could help if we tried.

Tuesday 9:00 AM

Denver Butson

A man standing at the bus stop
reading the newspaper is on fire
Flames are peeking out
from beneath his collar and cuffs
His shoes have begun to melt

The woman next to him
wants to mention it to him
that he is burning
but she is drowning
Water is everywhere
in her mouth and ears
in her eyes
A stream of water runs
steadily from her blouse

Another woman stands at the bus stop
freezing to death
She tries to stand near the man
who is on fire
to try to melt the icicles
that have formed on her eyelashes
and on her nostrils
to stop her teeth long enough
from chattering to say something
to the woman who is drowning
but the woman who is freezing to death
has trouble moving
with blocks of ice on her feet

It takes the three some time
to board the bus
what with the flames
and water and ice
But when they finally climb the stairs
and take their seats
the driver doesn't even notice
that none of them has paid
because he is tortured
by visions and is wondering
if the man who got off at the last stop
was really being mauled to death
by wild dogs.

Link

Sunday, January 16, 2011

NEW LOGO!

I was playing with my blog header today and came up with the most awesome logo ever!
I am so excited.

Geeks, artists and theology buffs everywhere...look and drool.

Dante on Art




Art, as far as it is able, follows nature, as a pupil imitates his master;

thus your art must be, as it were, God's grandchild.

Beauty awakens the soul to act.

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The Eternal.

Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories,
and still your eyes are on the ground.

Nature is the art of God.

- Quotes by Dante Alighieri

Friday, January 14, 2011

Beatification of Servant of God John Paul II

Painting by Anna Truckey


The great John Paul II will be beatified!
May 1st, Divine Mercy Sunday
.

John Paul II’s pontificate was an eloquent and clear sign, not only for Catholics, but also for world public opinion, for people of all colour and creed. The world’s reaction to his lifestyle, to the development of his apostolic mission, to the way he bore his suffering, to the decision to continue his Petrine mission to the end as willed by divine Providence, and finally, the reaction to his death, the popularity of the acclamation “Saint right now!” which someone made on the day of his funerals, all this has its solid foundation in the experience of having met with the person who was the Pope. The faithful have felt, have experienced that he is “God’s man”, who really sees the concrete steps and the mechanisms of contemporary world “in God”, in God’s perspective, with the eyes of a mystic who looks up to God only. He was clearly a man of prayer: so much so that it is from the dynamism of his personal union with God, from the permanent listening to what God wants to say in a concrete situation, that the whole of “Pope John Paul II’s activity” flowed.

Info blatantly stolen from HERE.

Curiosity




By Alastair Reid


Curiosity

may have killed the cat; more likely
the cat was just unlucky, or else curious
to see what death was like, having no cause
to go on licking paws, or fathering
litter on litter of kittens, predictably.

Nevertheless, to be curious
is dangerous enough. To distrust
what is always said, what seems
to ask odd questions, interfere in dreams,
leave home, smell rats, have hunches
do not endear cats to those doggy circles
where well-smelt baskets, suitable wives, good lunches
are the order of things, and where prevails
much wagging of incurious heads and tails.



Face it. Curiosity
will not cause us to die--
only lack of it will.
Never to want to see
the other side of the hill
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all.

Only the curious have, if they live, a tale
worth telling at all.


Dogs say cats love too much, are irresponsible,
are changeable, marry too many wives,
desert their children, chill all dinner tables
with tales of their nine lives.

Well, they are lucky. Let them be
nine-lived and contradictory,
curious enough to change, prepared to pay
the cat price, which is to die
and die again and again,
each time with no less pain.
A cat minority of one
is all that can be counted on
to tell the truth. And what cats have to tell
on each return from hell
is this: that dying is what the living do,
that dying is what the loving do,
and that dead dogs are those who do not know
that dying is what, to live, each has to do.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Reality Check

Sometimes all it takes is a friend to point out the obvious.

"Remember one thing, and correct if I am wrong, although difficult issues are going on in your life... I know that your inner world (heart & mind) are at peace because they conform to the Scriptures...and these are all external attacks...which means that Satan is definitely trying to attack you and is not happy with the way you are conducting your life...so don't worry too much... God's protection is over you."

Thanks Benwen.

Wisdom from the Mountains

I talk to my spiritual adviser, Deacon Patrick Jones, via Skype on Wednesdays. I live in the suburbs of Detroit and he lives in the mountains of Colorado. He always has amazing things to say. Anyway, I want to share some of his gems.

This week I was flustered since I am moving again and feel like I am starting over AGAIN since, due to unfortunate circumstances, I will be staying with my parents until I can figure something else out. The parental units have been very understanding and supportive, but it is never easy to go back.

Deacon Jones, with the Holy Spirit at his side, had the following observations for me.

Life has a way of repeating the lessons God wants us to learn, but in a spiral way, so we are never quite in the same place. It's not a circle where we suddenly realize we got nowhere. *Grin*

Do we ever start over again? We are never the same as we were the last time we "started over".

There is a lot to be delighted with! Seek the gift rather than dwelling on the pain.


Then he said he was going to leave it at that and go stick his head in a pot of chicken soup. His words, not mine. LOL. The poor guy has a cold.

Shortest session EVER, but with lots for me to contemplate. :)

Friday, January 7, 2011

Perpetual Novena


Okay, I once wrote something I called a Perpetual Novena. Though that name is not quite accurate since a novena lasts 9 days, or weeks... well nine of whatever anyway. (I've got a headache and I'm not gonna look it up just so I can be a know it all...ok, yes I will.) Nine DAYS.

Aaaaaaanyway, I wrote a prayer for a perpetual novena. At that time I had one of those watches that beeped every hour. Thus, when it beeped I'd pull out the following prayer and pray it.


Lord Jesus,
may Your Truth and will be made known in all aspects of our lives.
Remain near us and speak softly to our souls.
Give our guardian angels the power
to help us resist and unmask the lies of the Evil One.
Give us strength to strive after holiness
and to live in Your love during every moment of this day.
Amen

I lift __________up to you today.



Nothing to do with anything... but it's funny.

Problem Printer
Printers

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Art Catechesis



"The Church needs ART!"
- John Paul II



Truth, Goodness and Beauty are three signposts that lead one's soul directly to God. Witnessing these three in the world around us transforms us whether we know it or not. The lack of this trinity of qualities creates chaos and discord throughout creation.

I have run across an amazing teaching tool. I have not yet had a chance to use it, but I am throwing it out there anyway.

The little book is called "Artfully Teaching the Faith" by Steve Kellmeyer.

This book looks at 17 Catholic doctrines that are visually embedded in 17 masterpieces of art.

Some artists include:

Leonardo

Fra Angelico

Michalangelo

Caravaggio

Bouguereau

Perugino

Reni

Rublev


Teaching the faith through beauty and art?! Heck yeah!

Art Evangelizes



Listen to this talk by Father Barron in which he emphasizes the importance of beauty in general and art in particular when it comes to evangelization.

"Evangelizing Through Beauty"

Speeches like this make me feel blessed to be an artist.