Goodness
In leading our Spirituality modules this year, Bishop Greg reminded us of the teachings of St Therese of Lisieux and provided us with some simple, yet powerful messages about Goodness and its connection with Truth and Beauty. Firstly, “Truth helps us discern what is good” and “Goodness manifests as the flourishing of myself and others through love.” Bishop Greg reminds us that “I become good through correctly choosing good things,” while twentieth century Catholic philosopher, Dr Jospeh Pieper, describes beauty as “the glow of the true and the good that flows out of every ordered state of being”.
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven". St Therese of Lisieux understood that to be like a child is to recognise in one’s humility a way forward towards goodness. For her, humility reveals that we are good because God made us that way. She reminds us that Jesus is there to help us to overcome our weaknesses so that we can bring love to situations and people we find difficult. In this, Therese lived a life around becoming small; "Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a small kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love."
Christian philosophers and theologians teach that God doesn’t have truth, goodness, and beauty; rather, that God is truth, goodness, and beauty. In other words:
- All truth is God’s truth.
- All goodness is God’s goodness.
- All beauty is God’s beauty.
In our society, we might agree that truth, goodness and beauty are important yet at times believe that they are subjective or relative. This may lead us to settle for lesser things or things that are not quite as true, good or beautiful as others. In Bishop Greg's Spirituality Module on Goodness, we are invited to question our own ability to recognise the good.
