Marc Barnes, the prodigal purveyor of his amazing blog BAD CATHOLIC (Patheos), is not unlike our young lions and lioness’ known to us in CMAA, a white hot beacon of light that portends a revival of Catholic sensibility that, to some, has escaped the consciences of perhaps two generations of 21st century professed Catholics. Because we in CMAA adhere to these three judgments, “sacred, universal and beautiful,” to discipline our repertoire decision processes, I thought this essay by Mr. Barnes would be of some interest. Here, a portion:
Readers, allow me to speak to the Catholics reading this blog, for I do not plan upon justifying my claims. Catholics, allow me to establish two principles which — if you’re a regular reader of my blog — you already know I hold. 1. The world sucks. 2. The way to end said suckage and thereby save the world (and for those who doubt it needs saving, I offer you the popularity of Nicki Minaj) is the way of Beauty. I’ll certainly be the first to admit that Beauty is under attack, for such is the nature of the Transcendental roads — one is the other is the other. But Beauty is not a thing easily rejected by the human person. It invades him. No matter what the elite might say, there exist very few proclaiming the ultimate subjectivity of the sunset, and for those that do — in that semi-conscious reflex of “each to his own” — their proclamations are negated by their experience. No one experiences Beauty as finite. No one experiences Beauty as relative. Everyone — having made it to the top of the mountain, having woken up after their wedding night to gaze on their spouse, having heard Mozart’s Requiem — would be offended by the comment, “it’s not actually beautiful, you just think it is.” The dominant philosophies that makes it so very difficult for modern man to know and love God, and thus experience the satisfaction of his yearning heart — I speak of relativism and materialism — fade. The human person experiences Beauty as infinite and a universal, independent of the opinions of a particular man. It awakes within him a desire for the infinite and an agreement with C.S. Lewis, that “we do not want merely to see beauty… we want something else which can hardly be put into words- to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses, and nymphs and elves.” It leads man to wonder — which is only ever to worship — to lift up his hands, cry, laugh, sing, and moan. As Catholics then, we have a duty to be well versed in Beauty. We have a duty to experience Beauty, to be formed in it. We have a duty to know, love and serve Beauty, to recognize it when we see it, to call out its impostors, to lead others to communion with this glorious Transcendental — who is only ever The Holy Trinity making Himself known to His children.
For the entire article click HERE.