As I near the end of my life, I recall all the graces and gifts God has sent me. One of the greatest is that I grew up in Belgium when it was a truly Catholic country. At 4 years of age, I was conscious of the beauty of the Catholic culture surrounding me. There were glorious churches, sublime chant and superb paintings, to name a few things. Everything was beautiful.
Sadly, the same cannot be said today. There is so much ugliness around us — a sure indication that the devil has been at work. Ugliness is a reflection of the devil, and the profoundly disordered nature of our modern culture unmistakably reflects its greatest influence. What is most distressing is the fact that ugliness has made headway in our own Church.
The great tragedy of today is that truth has been replaced by preferences, goodness by whim and beauty by “fun.” In my 37 years of teaching, the overwhelming majority of students I encountered were of the belief that truth, goodness and beauty were relative: They were whatever you wanted to make of them. My conception of them may differ from yours, and this was to be celebrated, not lamented.
The reality is far different. We are in a severe moral crisis in which the eternal truths have been exchanged for temporary fads. We have been blinded into valuing quick fixes more than a permanent transformation.
If only we would open ourselves up to God through prayer and penance, we would be given the grace to see things as they truly are and the power to love as God wants us to. On our own, we are pitiably weak creatures, but with sanctifying grace, we can live the very life of God. This is extraordinarily beautiful.
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/alice-von-hildebrand-on-fleeting-fads-and-eternal-truth#ixzz3NhNlK1bn
You’ve written and spoken of the privilege of being a woman. Do you think a renewed respect for authentic femininity has grown a little bit in recent years?
My philosophical archenemy, Simone de Beauvoir, who demeaned motherhood, has gained far more ground than I have. She has convinced thousands of women that their purpose in life is to be found competing against men. This is a grave error — one that completely misses the centrality of motherhood, not only for women, but for the entire human race.
Why did the serpent go to Eve instead of Adam? Some have said it was because Eve was weaker and therefore an easier target, but I think the answer goes much deeper: Eve was the mother of the living, which drew the attention of the “murderer from the beginning.” Because he hated human life, the devil went after Eve.
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/alice-von-hildebrand-on-fleeting-fads-and-eternal-truth#ixzz3NhPJvYbz
1 comentário:
A situação da Bélgica está literalmente preta. Parece que 1/4 da população belga é islâmica.
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