The Patriot Report – October 30

“Another way to think about God, therefore, is as the horizon of ultimate beauty toward which you are irresistibly drawn.”

– John Haught, American Catholic Theologian

Early in my career as an educator, I taught Christian Education courses to high school students. Over the course of that time I would read various theologians to help me navigate the curriculum. One book in particular profoundly shaped me, John Haught’s What is God? In the book he presents a way for thinking  upon what God is rather than who God is as the two questions are vastly different. His chapter, “Beauty” has always stayed with me and there have been countless times that I have been reminded of Haught’s arguments that God can be experienced through beauty. 

I was once again reminded of Haught’s work when I found myself captivated by the burst of color found in many of the trees that can be seen all around us. The fall season is one of my favorite times of the year. Drive around the City of Vancouver and you will encounter streets where there is an explosion of oranges, reds, and yellows. When the sky is blue, the effect is absolutely stunning. The other day, even though it was cloudy, I was so captivated by the beauty in the richness of the color of the trees outside our school I felt compelled to take a picture (shown below). 

As humans we are fascinated with beauty. Humans will make special trips to watch a sunset on the ocean. People will go to great lengths to capture beautiful images (you will see them with their cameras trying to capture the mountains or a river or a flower or any number of naturally beautiful scenes). In our home, we love watching Bob Ross and his way of painting beautiful landscapes. In fact, my children will often call me and say with enthusiasm, “Dad! Look, it’s a Bob Ross sunrise!” and for a moment we all stand in our dining room admiring the beauty of the sunrise. Silence descends and each of us knows to appreciate the splendor of color on display. 

Beauty draws us in. I like to think that our God is a God that would use the beautiful to draw us closer. The next time you are struck by beauty and an overwhelming feeling of appreciation takes hold, perhaps you may see this as God speaking to you and drawing you into the mystery of the divine.  

A reminder to our families to follow the guidelines for a safe Halloween as communicated by our regional health authorities. There is nothing easy about living through a pandemic. However hard it may be, we each need to do our part to keep each other safe. To read the guidelines for a safe Halloween please click here.

At St. Jude School, we had students dress up and the staff decided to go as Scrabble pieces. It was great to see so many of our students participate in this event. I hope everyone has a safe Halloween. 

While most of society sees October 31 as a time for costumes and candy, we must also remember that the history of this day is rooted in All Hallows Eve. The evening before All Saints Day. While Halloween has mostly lost all connection to its religious origins, we should not forget as Catholics that All Saints Day is an important day in the life of the Church. All Saints Day is a solemn day in the Catholic Church celebrated on November 1. It is a day dedicated to the Saints in the Church. All Souls Day is on November 2 and that is a day in which we pray for all those who have not yet reached heaven. 

The Saints are role models for us and we look to them to intercede on our behalf. St. Jude, our school’s patron saint, had his Feast Day this past Wednesday on October 28. Normally we would have had an assembly but due to Covid19, we could not celebrate in our usual means. Instead, as a school we prayed a Litany to St. Jude over the PA system. 

St. Jude is an important saint for our time. While many refer to St. Jude as the Patron Saint of hopeless causes, I like to think of St. Jude as a role model for working through challenging times and remaining hopeful that God will always be there to guide us. May we turn to St. Jude during this period of Covid19 to ask for courage and hope. 

This is a reminder that parents need to take the time to do the Daily Check every day. It is important that we remain committed to taking our COVID19 procedures seriously. Click here to access the form.