A Message from SEMINARIAN MIKE

On Tuesday I had the privilege to visit the Hartford Correctional Center with Sr. Jerilyn.  Sister visits the prison three days a week to meet with the inmates, lead them in prayer and Scripture study, and to help them find the Lord in their lives.  The stark, sterile – even bland environment of the facility – reaffirmed a belief I deeply maintain:  we have a need for beauty in our lives.  In one scene of the film, The Shawshank Redemption, the main character, Andy (a prisoner in jail), gets access to the public announcement system and plays a recording of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in which two female singers have a banal, but striking duet (“Sull’aria” for all you opera enthusiasts).  He is punished for his act of insubordination, but later explains to his friends the importance of music and beauty, especially in a jail cell.  It serves as a reminder “that there are things in this world not carved out of gray stone. That there's a small place inside of us they can never lock away, and that place is called hope.”

We always choose something because it appears as good.  The ice cream sundae after a complete meal, even though we are entirely full and recognize that it is not the best decision in the situation, is appealing because of the good taste

So why do we choose something because it is good?  The answer is that the good is something beautiful and attractive, and God as the supreme Good is Beauty Himself.  Beauty can lead us to God.  This is especially significant on a bad day, for it is then that beauty can serve as the most immediate experience and reminder of God’s love.  The great theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, wrote extensively on the nature and role of beauty and once said, “Every experience of beauty points to infinity.”  Every beautiful experience draws us out of our individual selves and points us to God, even if we fail to realize it.

I have a great passion for the arts; in particular, classical music.  During a trying moment in my day or life, I will listen to the final movement of Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony, the “Resurrection” symphony, which unites captivating lyrical melodies with expressions of hope.  In it I find great peace.  This is the power of beauty, the awesome gift that God has given us.  May the symphony’s final words be as consoling for you as they are for me:  “Rise again, yes rise again, will you, my heart, in an instant!  That for which you suffered, to God will it lead you.”  Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

            - Seminarian Michael Novajosky