Survey after survey show that people, especially younger people, yearn for the sacred—a transcendent experience. Kerygma Parish Consultant will work with your liturgical ministry to produce beautiful liturgies that will lead parishioners to the Transcendent– bringing them closer to God. Watch as younger adults gravitate toward the Beauty of the sacredness at Mass.
Philosophers and theologians have called the Good, Truth, and Beauty the highest realities, the three transcendentals. Theologians have called God the pure Good, as had Jesus when he said, “No one is good–except God alone.” They’ve also said God is pure Truth as the exemplified in the dialogue between Pilate and Jesus in the Praetorium. Jesus told Pilate, “for this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone who belongs to the Truth listens to my voice.” A confused Pilate responded, “Quid est veritas?” – what is Truth? He did not understand. Likewise, as with the Good, and Truth, with transcendent Beauty, we have God.
We need to look for this transcendent Beauty during our experience with God at Mass. With Communion, we consume the transcendent God in the Eucharist; thus, the whole Liturgy must point to that reality. Prayers, the congregants’ and priest’s reverence, our attire, the altar arrangements, the music, the entire church building should be Beautiful, leading us to that moment of receiving the transcendent reality of Christ in Communion.
In Plato’s explanation of the soul, we see three levels. At the bottom lies Eros or all the things that please us, but things that also please animals. These are our appetites and in moderation and in proper context, they are good things. We love good food, good drink, laying on the beach, a hot shower, inter alia. Nevertheless, none of these things are transcendent. These are our most primordial experiences.
The next level is Thymoeides, from Thumus. This is the human spirit where we seek honor and acknowledgement. We work for something, accomplish it, and then look for acclaim. It’s higher than animalistic appetite, but lower than what we have in common with God.
The highest level of the soul is Logos, our reason or reasoned speech. Logos is what we have in common with God. Consequently, when it says we were created in God’s image, it’s here where we resemble God, in our ability to reason and express that reasoning. In the Gospel of John, we read about the Word and the “Word was with God and the Word was God”. In the original Greek, “word” comes from the koine Greek word, Logos. In the beginning was Logos and “Logos was with God and Logos was God”. Here is where we meet the Transcendent. In Logos, we are closest to God.
When receiving the Eucharist, we are entering a transcendent realm. We bring God into our body; thus, our whole Mass experience should be leading us to the moment. For example, if music at Mass is the same type we hear in the world, we are at the Eros level of the soul. There’s nothing wrong with most popular music that makes us tap our feet, dance, or even sing loudly, but it’s not transcendent. We do the same at a concert or dance. It’s fun, but it’s Eros, not Logos. It’s of the world, and we as Christians cannot and should not try to out-world the world at Mass. That’s not the purpose of Mass. We need to use Beautiful music that was composed specifically to bring us into the presence of God.
At Mass, all things should emphasize the Beautiful, the transcendence of our coming together with Logos. We know when we experience God. We know when the Spirit moves through us and when we are in the presence of God. It is utterly Beautiful, it’s overwhelming—it’s awesome! We experience the Transcendent— “being beyond the limits of all possible experience and knowledge”. All our actions, songs, and behavior at Mass should acknowledge the transcendent, we are in the presence of the Living God. Jesus gave us this gift so we could experience the transcendent in this material world. To conduct Mass at the Eros or appetite level might feel good, as a dance makes us feel good. Nevertheless, it misses the whole point of transubstantiate Eucharistic transcendence.
At Mass, we must quest for the highest Beauty all around us, so we can appreciate the prefect Truth of our Creator and His message. All aspects of the Mass must be Solo Deo Gloria, to “All Glory to God Alone,” so we always remember we are there to worship Him and not honor ourselves. Only then will we experience the ultimate Good, the ultimate Truth, and the ultimate Beauty that is our God. Our souls yearn for that experience and people will come to experience the transcendent God.