What's on Your Walls and in Your Ears?

Popular music today includes cussing and anti-police messages. Popular art includes images made of condoms. Popular movies include a lot of strangeness. And these things that surround us and fill up one’s senses make up the “culture.”

I met a rabbi about 15 years ago who said that the downfall of the culture would come rapidly because our young people are surrounded by such things, along with merchandise that is vulgar and immoral. He had recommended, as has our Catholic Church, that families work hard to ensure that their homes are a haven of beauty. Our homes must be full of images, music and movies that communicate purity and faith.

One room, one home at a time, we must begin to reclaim the culture. Fill your homes with things that inspire and lift up the soul.

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Culture can be more revolutionary than anything else. When Karol Wojtyla (who would become Pope John Paul II) was a young man, the Nazis invaded Poland. His friends wanted to smuggle in guns and take to the streets. But the Nazis were rolling over all opposition. And they were actively reshaping how the world viewed the Polish people.

Wojtyla knew that preserving the history and culture of Poland would have a more powerful impact than a quick death. He wrote plays and participated in an underground theater group. His words and actions, as well as the beauty of the Polish history came to the forefront over time.

Pope John Paul II wrote a Letter to Artists to recognize the importance of the arts in shaping what we see and how we see it. Let us begin to reclaim our homes and our lives…one painting, one song, one movie at a time.

For more information, visit these Facebook pages: Catholic Artists and Unwind Studio: Where Art Relieves Stress.