Sacred Art and the New Evangelization - Knights of Columbus ...
Sacred Art and the New Evangelization - Knights of Columbus ...
Sacred Art and the New Evangelization - Knights of Columbus ...
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Toward ano<strong>the</strong>r Way <strong>of</strong><br />
Seeing<br />
Awakening <strong>the</strong> Spiritual Senses<br />
Human beings are created for beauty. The human person,<br />
created in <strong>the</strong> image <strong>and</strong> likeness <strong>of</strong> God, is a being at once<br />
corporeal <strong>and</strong> spiritual, an embodied spirit. As a unity <strong>of</strong><br />
body <strong>and</strong> spirit, human beings express <strong>and</strong> perceive spiritual<br />
realities through tangible signs, most especially through<br />
sacramental signs <strong>and</strong> symbols. The embodiment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
human person is not an accident <strong>of</strong> nature or a byproduct<br />
<strong>of</strong> r<strong>and</strong>om molecular combinations. Ra<strong>the</strong>r, our embodiment,<br />
as creatures willed by God, is a necessary pre-condition<br />
for receiving God’s revelation <strong>and</strong> for <strong>the</strong> human<br />
response <strong>of</strong> faith.<br />
The human person, created by God out <strong>of</strong> love, is a gift<br />
<strong>of</strong> love to be given to o<strong>the</strong>rs in love. And <strong>the</strong> way God communicates<br />
with humanity corresponds to <strong>the</strong> way he created<br />
us. This Christian anthropology shapes <strong>the</strong> methods<br />
<strong>and</strong> means <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new evangelization.<br />
From a Christian anthropology that views <strong>the</strong> human<br />
person as an embodied spirit flows an underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> act <strong>of</strong> faith itself. Christian faith is <strong>the</strong> free response <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> whole human person – intellect, will, memory, emo-<br />
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