The Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote a novel called The Idiot about a Russian prince
named Prince Myshkin, who has a certain naïve innocence about life—for example, he laughs
along with others’ jokes, never realizing that he’s the butt of the joke. But despite that naïveté,
he finds a connection with the world by an appreciation of its beauty. He falls in love with the
daughter of an aristocrat from St. Petersburg, and he becomes absorbed by her beauty. As he’s
talking one day, he’s quoted as speaking one of his most profound observations: “Beauty will
save the world.”
It’s a bold statement, one that’s sure to draw some criticism. Surely, we can appreciate beauty.
Beauty has a wonderful effect on us. We’re attracted to beautiful people. Beautiful music draws
us into the emotion so that we get lost in the heart of the composer. Beautiful art invites us into
the scene as if we were actually there. The beauty of nature gives us pause to reflect on the
loving hand of its Creator. If there were anything we could say about beauty, it would surely be
that it’s something that makes life itself beautiful. But…is that going to save the world? Are we
to believe that a pleasant aesthetic can undo all the troubles in the world? Or is it just an escape?
Are we to believe that beautiful art, music, sculpture, or architecture has the power to overcome
the greatest evils of society? Is Prince Myshkin just a bit of a dreamer, or is he on to something?
We have an insatiable appetite for beauty, and we’re on the lookout for a greater quality of
beauty. We can’t get enough of it. That’s why we find a song we like, and we constantly hit the
repeat button, or why we can’t help but go back and look at a beautiful picture multiple times.
We want to experience it over and over again, because it makes us feel good, so we end up going
back to the fount once again. But the desire for beauty goes much deeper than just wanting to be
in its presence and experience it. C.S. Lewis, the author of the Narnia books and a Christian
philosopher, says, “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 bathe in it”
(The Weight of Glory). Something that we’re limited in being able to do in this world, so that
goal seems just out of reach, and we’re left only with this intense desire and the constant pursuit
of the beautiful. It hardly seems, then, that this is what’s going to “save the world”.
But if we leave it there, we miss out on the one beauty that exists that allows us to be truly united
with it – the Beauty of God. St. Augustine (who I’ve talked about many times, a saint from the
4th century) desired this union with the Beauty that he had only understood intellectually. For
years he either rejected God outright or else didn’t have the ability to take hold of God. But
when he finally had his great conversion experience, he was finally able to understand what it
means to be bathed in that Divine Beauty. He wrote in his autobiography Confessions: “Late
have I loved thee, O beauty ever ancient, ever new.” There’s that tinge of regret there for not
having embraced God before: How many years were wasted pursuing other things, when all
along the Source of everything beautiful was inviting me into His midst! But at the same time
there’s the understanding that the Beauty of God is something that far surpasses the beauty of the
world—a beauty that’s eternal, ageless, always the same and yet always seemed as if we’re
encountering God for the first time every time we approach Him. We can be united with this
Beauty – in eternity, for sure, but even now in this life.
That’s accomplished only through the Holy Spirit working within us. Because having the Spirit
dwelling within us is equivalent to actually laying our hands on Beauty itself and grasping it.
That’s what Augustine experienced—the Holy Spirit worked in his soul and allowed him access
to Divine Beauty. Without the Holy Spirit, we’re just going to have that desire that constantly
gnaws at us and is never fully satisfied. We have to open ourselves so that the Spirit can dwell
within us.
One of the primary ways this happens is through the Sacraments. Every time we come to the
Sacraments, the life of the Holy Spirit is strengthened within us. In Baptism, Confirmation, Holy
Communion, Confession, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage, Holy Orders. When we take part in
these Sacraments often and do so worthily, we allow the life of the Spirit to be increased within
us, and so also our ability to be united with true Beauty. We have young ones preparing for the
Sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation this spring. We want to get this across to
them, that the strengthening of the Holy Spirit within them is not just about making their belief in
Christ stronger or making them a better person or even a better Catholic. It’s about taking hold
of the only means by which we are united to God and His work in the world and His teachings—
through the Holy Spirit. It’s about seizing the Beauty of God in the very depths of our souls and
celebrating the beauty of our faith that we live out everyday.
Surely, that’s a challenge these days as we’re facing some very ugly times in our Church. If you
pay too much attention to the media, you’d think the only thing going on in the Church is the
abuse crisis. But there is real beauty in the Church despite the ugliness that exists among some
of Her members and leaders. There is beauty in our efforts to reach out to the poor and
vulnerable. There is beauty in passing on the faith to our young ones. There is beauty in being
there at the most joyful and most painful moments in people’s lives. There is beauty in watching
a conversion take place, whether it happens very quickly or over months or years. There’s
beauty in opening our hearts to God in prayer. These things are still taking place, because the
Holy Spirit is still inspiring and guiding the Church.
The Scriptures today remind us that the Holy Spirit dwells in us: “You are the temple of God.”
And because of that, we have a beauty that needs to shine in the world. And that comes when we
live the truly beautiful life—the life of holiness. This is the encouragement today: “Be holy, for
I, the Lord, your God, is holy”… “Be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect.” Nothing is
more beautiful to the world than to see someone who has decided to truly live a holy life, and
still strives for it, despite their failures at times. The world needs this. The world needs more
saints—the Church needs more saints.
When we think about the Church, do we think about the Beauty of the Church? Or do we think
only about what’s gone wrong in the Church? Do we think about the beauty of the Sacraments,
the beauty of growing in the faith, the beauty of being forgiven, the beauty of Jesus Christ on the
cross, his Resurrection from the dead? There is real beauty in the Church – in Her teachings, and
in Her ministries. If you care not to look for it, you’ll never see it. But if you care to look for it,
you will find it. And the Spirit will ensure that it’s a deeper experience than just looking at it—
the Spirit will ensure that you become united to the Beauty you see.