Beauty

Beautiful sacred music is available here. I sent it to my son John Paul Farahat who earned a doctorate in the arts of music from the University of Toronto in June this year...He agrees that it is great sacred music. Byzantine chants can be found in this Divine Liturgy (Russian melody) here , and the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Toronto (Homsy choir) here. A most beautiful sermon of St. John Chrysostom on the Resurrection of Christ is sung or read by the choir in the Byzantine Churches every Easter (Listen here).
The beauty of God has been seen in Jesus Christ "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil 2:6).
The greatest beauty in God's creation is found in Mary mother of Christ. On Monday December 9, 2019 the "Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the virgin Mary" was celebrated in many countries of the world - See here the Mass celebrated at the Basilica of National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio representing the Holy Father in Rome.
More lessons on the beauty of God can be found in the story of "The Tower of Babel" as explained in Genesis 11 in just a few verses. I asked a few scholars about it. The renowned Biblical scholar Msgr. Robert Nusca advised me to see Henri de Lubac's  The Drama of Atheist Humanism, and comments on the Tower of Babel on pg. 320 and following. In  the book, Henri de Lubac critiques the excesses of neo-liberalism and socialism especially during the communist era of the USSR inspired 'by the dictatorship of materialism. It is also found in the philosophy of Nietzsche (1844–1900) claiming the "death of God". In a homily on the meaning of "The Tower of Babel" in 2012, Pope Benedict XVI further said "The narrative of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles, which we heard in the First Reading (cf. Acts 2:1-11), contains against the background of one of the great frescoes we find at the beginning of the Old Testament: the ancient history of the construction of the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9). But what is Babel? It is the description of a kingdom in which men had concentrated so much power that they thought they no longer needed to rely on a distant God and that they were powerful enough to be able to build a way to heaven by themselves in order to open its gates and usurp God’s place." More can be found on the Vatican website here...In a 2018 public conversation between Professor William Lane Craig; an outstanding representative of America's Christian Protestant Tradition, and Bishop Robert Barron on the Catholic side, they both agreed on the priorities that face Christianity today in the fight waged by materialism and consumerism...The work by Jesuit Fr. Robert Spitzer was praised for his knowledge in both philosophy and science. Bishop Barron further showed the beauty of much of Christianity's tradition from the Fathers of the Eastern Churches and the more elaborate Roman Catholic Cathedrals and statues as well as the sacraments of the Church (see the conversation here). On beauty of God's creation see Bishop Barron's speech to crowds here. He spoke about harmony and splendour in St. Thomas Aquinas, Paul Claudel, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, and John Henri Newman. For the beauty of God's creation in the dark cosmos, the reader may wish to read me here and here or better yet the summary of the above by Mrs. Maggie Ciskanik, Senior Writer associated with the Jesuit scientist Fr. Robert Spitzer (https://magiscenter.com/) here: Great resources for learning more about quantum theory (and its relationship to a Trinitarian God)
On Sunday December 8, the Jesuit missionary Fr. Henri Boulad spoke about John the Baptist who prepared the way for the light of Christ. The Baptist said to those who came to him ""I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Luke 3:16). In the great Cathedral of Chartres John the Baptist's figure is shown as "fire". He is the fiery one who paid the ultimate sacrifice when he opposed King Herod "For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Hero'di-as, his brother Philip's wife." (Matthew 14:3). The beauty of Christ our Lord is here when he submitted himself to be baptized by John the Baptist...And Fr. Boulad concludes "Convert everyday" for it is by your example that you may be able with the grace of God to change the world. There is so much spiritual beauty uttered by great mystics and saints. The reader is invited to read Saint Bernard of Clairvaux on the Four Loves here and to listen to the words of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta in an interview on Irish TV in 1974 here.
As Msgr. Nusca and Fr. Henri Boulad are quite active, so are Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB (my spiritual director with whom I am in constant contact) and other highly-active priests too (among whom I appreciate the work of Fr. Rafic Greiche; pastor of St. Cyril's Greek Catholic parish in Heliopolis, Egypt).
May the Lord bless all Christian missionaries, help persecuted ones and revitalize dormant Christians!