True Beauty and the Cross

By Anonymous -
It seems as if everyone nowadays is so obsessed with appearance.  Many are trapped in the world that tells them that unless they wear their makeup the "right" way, they'll never be good enough.  Our society tells us that unless we look a certain way, and dress a certain style, and carry ourselves the "popular" way, we'll never be accepted and we'll never be cherished.

I beg to differ.  I'm a teenage girl ~ I know what's out there, waiting to starve our true spirits and transform us into jealous creatures who are intent on fighting what is a losing battle.

For "Dove Evolution" video

(This video shows just how much our society has negatively warped the perception of beauty.  In 1.25 minutes, we're shown that an average-looking woman is "airbrushed" into being model-perfect.  It's scary, actually.)

It seems like when culture tried to conform us all into the mold of the "perfect person", it threw out most of the originality, the spark... the very essence of being alive, of being an beautiful, unique soul that cannot be replaced.  Ever.

Just a few nights ago, I rewatched Frank Capra's It Happened One Night.  The part where Ellie asks Peter if he's given up on finding his ideal girl really struck me this time.  He says,

"Aw, where you gonna find her? Somebody that's real. Somebody that's alive. They don't come that way anymore.  I saw an island in the Pacific once. I've never been able to forget it. That's where I'd like to take her. She'd have to be the sort of a girl who'd jump in the surf with me and love it as much as I did. Nights when you and the moon and the water all become one. You feel you're part of something big and marvelous. That's the only place to live. The stars are so close over your head you feel you could reach up and stir them around. Certainly, I've been thinking about it."

Notice there are no descriptions of physical beauty.  Nothing like, "I need her to be five feet and seven inches tall.  Straight blonde hair.  Green eyes."  Really, personality counts.  

 Read the rest here.

Comments

  1. Nancy Shuman1:39 pm, September 09, 2013

    This is wonderful! Thank you for sharing it with all of us here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Melanie Jean Juneau3:40 pm, September 09, 2013

    so are you sure you are only 16??? Actually you are just like MY daughters

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous5:17 pm, September 09, 2013

    Thank you! :)

    I'm sure I'm only sixteen :) How old are your daughters?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melanie Jean Juneau5:24 pm, September 09, 2013

      my kids were just like you at 16 because I could not tolerate false, wordly images, commercials or other propaganda that deludes girls..now my kids are 18-33 with the youngest starting university last week at the best journalism program in Canada!

      Delete
  4. Anonymous7:41 pm, September 09, 2013

    That's so beautiful. What an inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Mad-Eyed Monk10:16 pm, September 09, 2013

    Wow Peregrin! Your writing is so brilliant and beautiful! I love your blog and will visit again. You have such insight and wisdom. May we all stir the stars so close overhead, within our hearts. Good to meet you...God Bless.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous11:49 am, September 10, 2013

    Thank you so much! :) I'm so glad you enjoy it. It's great to meet you also, I'll have to check out your blog. :)

    God bless,
    Peregrin

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SAINT ELIZABETH, MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST- Feast: November 5

By -
Image
Elizabeth appears in the Gospel of Luke, where she is described as “righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly,”.  I imagine that she was warm, loving and obviously a safe harbour for young Mary, who was not married when she conceived.  When Mary came to visit her, Elizabeth was pregnant with St. John the Baptist and in her sixth month: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promised her by the Lord shall be accomplished.” 
Read more

The Memorare

By Helen Gonsalves -
Image
This popular prayer, a favorite of many Catholics, dates back to the 15th century and takes its name from the first Latin word of the prayer, "memorare," which means "remember." The Memorare is of unknown authorship, although it has been attributed to St. Augustine (354-430), St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and, with more reason, to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). St. Bernard's sermons on Mary were famous, and it was his Cistercian monks in the monastery of Citeaux in the 12th century who popularized the name "Our Lady" for Mary. The Memorare has also been attributed to the French cleric Claude Bernard (1588-1641), known as the "poor priest" of Paris, whose homilies contain passages that echo its words. No matter who wrote this prayer, it was Father Bernard who did much to popularize it, teaching it in hospitals and prisons, where Mary's intercession was effective in working miracles of grace. The first manuscript of the Mem...
Read more

'Greater Love: Richie Fernando SJ', a joy-filled Filipino missionary

By -
Image
 I haven't been able to post for more than a week as I was giving an eight-day directed retreat to eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity near Manila. While I had some access to the internet it was rather slow. I had intended to make a post here on the murder of Fr Fausto Tentorio PIME , a 59-year-old Italian priest, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, Mindanao, on Monday 17 October. I will save that post for a later date. As I was looking for a video about Father Fausto I came across one about Brother Richard Michael 'Richie' Fernando SJ, a Filipino Jesuit scholastic who died while trying to prevent a troubled and disabled young man in Cambodia from throwing a grenade. That was in 1996 - on 17 October. Father Fausto gave his life exactly 15 years later. I remember the mixture of sorrow and pride I felt when I read of the death of Brother Richie, pride as a missionary in the Philippines that a young Filipino seminarian had given his life so spontaneously in order to sav...
Read more