MARFAM FAMILY WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER 17 SEPTEMBER 2025.

I’m not talking about Beauty and the Beast – the well-known story how a simple young girl fell in love with an ugly beast who was actually in prince who had been bewitched because he was so selfish and mean.  Through the love of the girl he was changed back into prince and of course they lived happily ever after.  The point of the story?   Beauty can see behind an ugly exterior and through kindness bring back renewed life. As we say, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” 

Today’s theme is Beauty ,,,,, and the rest.    When I was preparing for a weekend parish visit on the feastday of the Exaltation of the Cross, or the older name the Triumph of the Cross I remembered a poem that had struck me a long time ago. “I see his blood upon the rose.” By Joseph Plunkett.  it is a wonderful expression with images of beauty, of Jesus and the cross, for this feast of the cross as a symbol of the victory of Jesus.     

I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.

I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds Are but his voice—
and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words.

All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.

How did it speak to me?  Images of Jesus and depictions of his life and mission.  ending with “his cross is every tree.”   This powerful image for me relates to much of our current approach of seeing Jesus in other people, personifying some aspects, his face, his tears, his body and his voice.  All of it for me speaks of beauty.    

During Holy Week we focus on the passion and the suffering of Jesus to save us from our sins, but still an ugly picture.  The vision of Jesus on this feast of the Holy Cross is of his victory, him triumphant and the cross, a tree is a symbol of victory.  Through his life Jesus challenges us in the gospel to take up our cross.  As we do that we need to keep the hope and the victory in mind.  I connected this with the Season of Creation and its theme of Peace with Creation.   The prophet Isaiah begins his chosen passage  “the palace is deserted……… ” http://www.seasonofcreation.org with devastation and destruction – brought about by our injustice.  He then notes how the Spirit of God must come for the restoration, restoring the beauty of creation,  through our just actions and resulting from our hope.   The Old Testament as a story of salvation, of the prophets preaching about the process of sin, devastation, the need for conversion and God’s merciful action.  Elijah, like Isaiah is one of those prophets too, preaching and calling for repentance at a time of drought and famine.   

Beauty features in an important way in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si speaking about creation and is clearly something close to his heart.  He contrasts beauty with ugliness and even writes that our world is fast beginning to resemble a pile of filth. The beauty that emanates from art, poetry and music can overcome obstacles and bring people closer to God, Pope Francis said.

 The visual beauty of the world also reveals God. “The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, his boundless affection for us” LS 84, Criticizing our overreliance on technology, the pope observes, “We seem to think that we can substitute an irreplaceable and irretrievable beauty with something which we have created ourselves” (LS 34). Once the beauty of the natural world is gone, we cannot replace it because we did not create it. Beauty is a truth that we discover, not a label that we affix.   For the Christian, beautiful things in the world (whether they be flowers, cities, or forms of life) reflect infinite bBeauty, which is God who is beauty.  Truly seeing beauty means becoming aware that “each creature reflects something of God and has a message to convey to us” (LS 221). Both the beautiful landscape and the beautiful lifestyle receive their beauty from the one, ultimate beauty, God. 

Beauty is visual. what we see with our eyes in the form of paintings e.g. Vatican, sculpture, e.g the beautiful Pieta – the statue of Mary holding the dead body of Jesus, her son, on her lap.  That makes us think of the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on 15 September.  Our creations e.g. architecture, sometimes old or modern can be beautiful.   Is beauty auditory,  do we hear bird song or, different forms of music throughout the ages?  In earlier times  music was often composed for the glory of God.   Sr Hildegard von Bingen, whose feastday is 17 September lived in 11th century, a religious woman leader, an abbess, a writer, musician, philosopher – recognized as a doctor of the Church.  with a great interest in creation, nature and healing. Clearly a woman of extraordinary gifts, centuries ahead of her time.    

Beauty can be a very ethereal concept. What is it and how is it expressed and experienced?   Is it physical, spiritual, relational? Is it very subjective?   What I may find beautiful another may not find attractive at all.   What forms does beauty take?   Images, words, sound.  Colour,  forms of art – painting, sculpture.    

How is beauty experienced?   Through senses:,  sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell possibly, Is beauty associated with love and in what way? This week’s conversation is asking readers or listeners especially to reflect on their own experience and understanding and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us in many ways.   Family relationships of course is a great way to start and becoming eco-friendly families particularly so at this time.    TR 17 September 2025

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

September 17.   LOVE GIVES LIFE – LOVE KEEPS US TOGETHER.   (From BECOMING ECO-FRIENDLY FAMILIES)   Ask yourselves or one another, “What do I really love?”  It is said, “No person is an island.” Human beings have been created by God with inherent needs to love and to belong, to be in relationship. God, as the Trinity, is the first and most perfect love relationship and our model for the way of love. Family relationships, marriage and parenting in particular, are ideally prime examples of unconditional love and acceptance, because they naturally last across the years, even if members don’t see each other all the time. Other relationships between people of all ages, friendships, interest groups and physical attraction are aspects of love and deep commitment too but may change over time.

God’s love is the life force present in all of creation. Lifegiving is a very special attribute and gift from God. Sexuality as a gift from God, is a family gift. The ideal experience of a loving marriage relationship gives life to the spouses as well as to children. Sex is one expression of the physical aspect of life-giving and is the reality in almost every form of created life. Love is also present in different degrees in all of creation, human, animal and even plant life, as is now being studied. For example trees communicate and have the ability to protect themselves and warn other nearby trees when a hungry giraffe passes by. A visit to a National Park and observing the behaviour of a family of elephants or warthogs or a wounded cheetah, still striving to protect her cubs are heart-warming and teaches about life and love in nature. However with gratitude we acknowledge that humanity has been blessed with greater potential for psychological and spiritual love.

Reflect, share, act. Scripture: Love is patient, love is kind………….Faith, hope and love, these three remain and the greatest of these is love.  1 Cor 13 ……………   Pope Francis:  Love always gives life.  Conjugal love does not end with the couple.   They, in giving themselves to one another, give not just themselves but also the reality of children, who are a living reflection of their love, a permanent sign of their unity and a living synthesis of their being a father and a mother. AL 165. For Christians, believing in one God who is trinitarian communion suggests that the Trinity has left its mark on all creation. Creatures tend towards God, and in turn it is proper to every living being to tend towards other things, so that throughout the universe there are any number of constant and secretly interwoven relationships. LS 239-240.   Eco-tip and prayer: Carefully read and share on the famous passage on love.  1 Cor 13. Explore how animals and plants are also able to relate and communicate.  Thank God for this ability.