The Evangelical Pope | Beauty Will Save the World

Each week we let Saint Pope John Paul II share meaningful signposts to spark socio-economic resolves through justice and righteousness combined with mercy and compassion; in short, love.

               ^22-23 But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the way fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, and serenity.

               We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that essential holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, and able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

               ^23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

               __ Galatians 5:22-24 The Message Translation (Read the entire chapter)

Salzburg, Austria 26 June 1986 | The architectural and musical harmony that reigns here [Salzburg] lets some visitors forget for a short time the enormous disharmony in the world today. Through this harmony, others are given the moral strength to work harder than before to overcome evil.

Many a visitor to Salzburg will remember a word that Dostoyevsky said:

               "Beauty will save the world!"

In this context, beauty is understood as a reflection of the beauty, the glory of God. Given the pressing reality of today's world, which we are sufficiently familiar with just from the media reports of a single day.

One should, of course, extend this sentence and say:

               "Goodness, kindness, love will save the world!".

The Christian understands by this the love of God, which appeared in Jesus Christ in its redeeming complete form and calls for discipleship.

Salzburg is a cosmopolitan city of music, mainly thanks to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Its architectural profile is also world-renowned and has earned the name "German Rome." The name of the doctor Paracelsus, whose wandering life ended here, has an important place in the history of medicine and science. And in the middle of the Thirty Years' War, which was devastating Europe, a Salzburg archbishop established universality as a preferred space for the development of science.

In Salzburg, the history of culture and art is closely linked to the history of faith and the church. The spatial proximity that connects the cathedral, the two old Benedictine abbeys, the university, and the festival hall symbolizes this.

Excerpted from:

Pastoralbesuch in Österreich, Ansprache von Johannes Paul Ii. An Die Vertreter Von Wissenschaft Und Kunst Sowie Von Presse, Funk Und Fernsehen Im Festspielhaus, Salzburg - Sonntag, 26. Juni 1988

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/de/speeches/1988/june/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19880626_festspielhaus-salisburgo.html