Touched by Beauty

My sister got married this weekend.  The moment my now brother-in-law Erik saw Sarah as she was walking down the aisle, he began to cry.  It’s not hard to realize that he was overcome with emotion as he was struck by the beauty of his bride.  I myself was in awe of how beautiful the wedding Mass was.  The music was beyond beautiful thanks to the vocalist and the pianist , the homily was deep and reflective, and it was easy to be fully aware of God’s presence as he joined together the couple in the sacrament.  The whole day of celebration was simply beautiful and it made me stop and reflect on the topic of beauty.  Thinking about the day, I have realized that the beauty we experienced was a reflection of God.  The day pointed to the existence of God who has made us all in His image.  The beauty that we see and experience in the big moments and in the ordinary days point us to God and help us to better see and understand who He is.

It’s not hard to recognize beauty in our world.  It usually stands out and strikes us as something truly amazing.  We experience beautiful things on a regular basis.  Just stop and think.  We have all seen a sunrise or sunset that we could not take our eyes off of.  Then there is nature.  The creation around us is filled with beauty.  What about music?  I’m sure we have all been moved by hearing someone with an amazing talent sing or play an instrument, or by hearing a particular song.  Maybe you’ve heard a deep prayer or a homily that touched you.  Have you ever read a reflection that inspired you or a passage that spoke to your heart?  We have all experienced beauty in these ways.  Do we realize that every beautiful thing we experience is from God?  When we see beauty, do we see God?  Beauty draws us closer to God and tells us who He is.

Our world craves beauty.  People often have different ideas of beauty and perceive different things as beautiful, which suggests that beauty is subjective.  However, our world has a warped idea of beauty.  If something is not good and true, it is not beautiful.  God is the source of all beauty and He is beauty Himself.  This is why we have beautiful churches to worship Him.  Even non-Christians can recognize the beauty of a cathedral, appreciating the art and architecture.  Each and every person desires beauty.  This is because we all desire God, whether we realize it or not.

​Beauty is all around us.  We need to seek it out and allow it to pierce our souls.  When we seek beauty, we are seeking God.  When we experience something or someone beautiful, we experience God.  My prayer for you today is that you would be able to experience the beauty that surrounds us and recognize that God is the reason for that beauty.  May you know that whenever you are touched by beauty, you are touched by God.