“In contemporary America, most people are not moved by claims of truth or goodness. Relativism has made truth to be whatever you want, thereby turning the good into whatever makes you feel good. So how can you engage the average nonbeliever? How can you place him on the road that would lead him back to the Truth and the Good? Show him beauty.”- Father John Cihak
Disclaimer: This post is brought to you by HolyArt. All opinions and writing in this post are my own, but I have not had the opportunity to use their products personally.
I firmly believe that beauty is a powerful evangelization tool, but if you’re like me (just an average layperson), you may wonder how you can share the beauty of our Catholic faith on a daily basis; after all, most of us won’t be attending high-fashion events or building churches. But every day, we will encounter someone who needs to be reminded of the love of Christ and the beautiful Christian faith.
I propose we do this by adorning our homes, our workplaces, and our bodies with beauty.
Home
“Thus the little domestic Church, like the greater Church, needs to be constantly and intensely evangelized: hence its duty regarding permanent education in the faith…the family, like the Church, ought to be a place where the Gospel is transmitted and from which the Gospel radiates…the future of evangelization depends in great part on the Church of the home” -Pope Saint John Paul II
The Church refers to our homes and families as Domestic Churches. Whether you’re crammed into a dorm room or have a large house you share with your family, there are a number of ways you can display tangible reminders of your faith.
By decorating our homes in a decidedly Catholic way, we remind our families what the most important aspect of life is. Seeing the beauty of the Catholic faith prominently displayed inspires prayer. And, it tells anyone who comes into our homes who is the true King of the house.
“How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.” – St. Theodore the Studite
A crucifix is a must have in every Catholic home. Crucifixes remind us of the sacrifice Christ made for us. They remind us of how He redeemed us from sin. And, they can remind us to offer our days -all the good and bad- to Christ.
In addition to crucifixes, icons are a great feature to hang in home to inspire prayer. Icons are beautiful pieces of art. What I think is particularly beautiful about icons is their creation is a form of prayer; it is said that the creators “write” the icons, being guided by God.
Ben and I have been slowly building our icon corner (most of them are from the monks in Eagle Harbor).
You can find a few to get you started at HolyArt.
“I did once say that to me art and the saints are the greatest apologetics for our faith.”- Pope Benedict XVI
Christian art doesn’t need to be limited to your walls. You can easily start a little altar in your home. Having an intentional space to pray will make your prayer life even more beautiful than the visual beauty that will be present there. Candles and statues are always good items to have available.
If you have a way to burn incense, that could be another way to experience beauty through your senses.
Work
Making your faith public in the workplace can be intimidating, but having reminders in your work area can be helpful for a number of reasons.
First, it reminds you what is really important. We spend a lot of time at work, and we must remember that everything we do should be for the glory of God.
“Everything, even sweeping, scraping vegetables, weeding a garden and waiting on the sick could be a prayer, if it were offered to God.” -St. Martin de Porres
In my cubicle, I have several prayer cards pinned up and the Divine Mercy image. When I am feeling stressed out with my job, I can just look up and have a gentle reminder that God is always with me.
Second, you never know how these little signs of faith could inspire someone else; these items could be simple starting points for evangelization.
Because the items I have are smaller, they aren’t always immediately noticed, but I’ve been able to have small conversations with people who notice them. As an introvert, it is a much less intimidating way to strike up a conversation.
Bodies
“The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the “form” of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature.”- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 365
Because our body and souls are so intimately connected, having physical reminders of our faith can inspire us to pray. Just as a married couple wears wedding rings to remind them of their promises, the things with which we adorn our bodies can remind us of the promises of Christ and to grow in faith and prayer.
“Our body is a cenacle, a monstrance: through its crystal the world should see God.” -Saint Gianna Beretta Molla
This quote really speaks much more to our way of living: the virtues we live, the words we proclaim, and the love we share. But our outward appearances do get some notice.
Even if someone doesn’t understand what is in a monstrance, the gold signifies that something important dwells within. In a similar way, wearing a saint necklace or a Catholic t-shirt shows that our faith is important, even if an observer doesn’t understand it.
![](<img src="https://assets.holyart.it/images/AP001020/us/500/R/SN016622/CLOSEUP01_HD/h-7330f2c1/prayer-ring-hail-mary-in-stainless-steel-english-lux.jpg" alt="Prayer ring HAIL MARY in stainless steel - ENGLISH LUX 1"/>)
