In Mary’s body, we see the total gift of God’s grace in raising and glorifying our lowly bodies to that “lofty goal” unattainable by our own efforts. All the evil which eats up our bodies—our diseases, discomforts, lusts, and addictions—will be trampled upon not by abandoning the body, but by glorifying it. As a child, [...]
The new year always makes us yearn for the “new”—and when we say “new” we mean a fresh start. Yet this desire often blots out what God has already given us. My last name, “Nee,” is quite odd—terribly short and simple and, yet, somehow often mispronounced (it’s just like “knee,” by the way, and should [...]
When we look at a painting and see it only as scratches of pigment upon a canvas, we miss the big picture. When we look at what seems like chaos in our lives, we see ourselves as chaos. But when we see it all as a pattern, as a design, as God working—then we see ourselves [...]
When observing beautiful art or music, how do we feel? Comfort, joy, and even euphoria come to us. We are drawn in by the otherworldly-ness of it all. But what about stark or disturbing art? A Flannery O’Connor character’s gory end shocks us. The tragic eyes of Francisco Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son unsettle us. [...]