Pope Benedict XVI once said that we have lost the “art of living,” but what does that really mean? Today, Dr. Sri dives into what it means to rediscover the art of living, and how we can pass it on to our friends, family, and loved ones. The world likes to tell us that the highest form of enlightenment is thinking for ourselves and ridding our lives of traditions, but in doing so we’re also ridding them from the teachings of the Church, and of the summation of our faith.
Snippet of the Show
The secular world likes to tell us that we can pave our own way through life, only using our own resources and making our own truths, but by living according to our own judgement we are blocked off to the classical roots of our faith and what this life is meant to be.
Shownotes
The Piano Example
Imagine you want to play the piano, but never take any lessons. All your life everyone around you is telling you to be your own teacher and play piano however you want to play it, and to just embrace your own methods of learning.
Fast forward a few years and you find yourself pretty good at piano, but suddenly you hear a professional play, and you are blown away by the talent they have. You never knew a piano could sound so beautiful! What would your reaction be to finding out that all this time, you could have been bettering yourself and your skills through the classic techniques and lessons of a piano teacher, and could have actually sounded like the professional you just heard.
Most people respond with feeling cheated, because the people in their life told them they could just figure it out on their own. They’re also often left with the question, “why didn’t anyone tell me?”
What the Church has to Offer
Just as there are professionals in the field of music, there are also experts in Catholicism. Doctors of the Church like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, Papal authorities like St. Pope John Paul II, and multiple other church scholars. Catholicism offers some of the most well-known teachings on life, like Theology of the Body, the sacrament of marriage, and the dignity of life. There are also the virtues and the vices that can help us identify the areas of our lives that need redemption and healing.
The secular world likes to tell us that we can pave our own way through life, only using our own resources and making our own truths, but by living according to our own judgement we are blocked off to the classical roots of our faith and what this life is meant to be.
We’ve Lost the “Art of Living”?
The 4 virtues act as a summation of our lives, but unfortunately hardly any of us have grown up learning about them. Without the virtues, we are lost to the core of what love, faith, and hope are, which also means our ability to love, have faith, and hope are also not what they ought to be. It is the core of our humanity, and with them, everything – friendships, relationships, prayer, family life, vocation – becomes clearer and more aligned with God’s plan.
Resources
- Visit Dr. Sri’s website at www.edwardsri.com and to book online events with Dr. Sri email events.edwardsri@gmail.com
- Find more of Dr. Sri’s episodes at www.ascensionpress.com/allthingscatholic
- Order The Art Of Living: The Cardinal Virtues And The Freedom To Love
- Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to www.ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings
Dr. Edward Sri is a theologian, well-known Catholic speaker, and author of several best-selling books. His work with Ascension includes study programs such as A Biblical Walk Through the Mass, No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk Through Christ’s Passion and Mary: A Biblical Walk with the Blessed Mother. Several of Dr. Sri’s programs were filmed on-site in the Holy Land, and feature immersive video explorations of the sacred sites where Jesus, Mary, and the Apostles lived and died.
Dr. Sri is the host of the acclaimed Ascension podcast All Things Catholic with Dr. Edward Sri. Together with Curtis Martin, Dr. Sri is a founding leader of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), of which he serves as senior vice president of Apostolic Outreach.
Dr. Sri lives with his wife Beth and their children in Colorado.
