Sacred Distinctions | GLORY 2013

In this keynote at GLORY 2013, Jimmy Mitchell explores the power of beauty—especially music—to awaken wonder, elevate the soul, and point us toward the glory for which we were made. Drawing on St. Thomas Aquinas, Joseph Pieper, C.S. Lewis, and the Catholic tradition, he considers how art can either predispose us to virtue or pull us toward vice, and why Christians must learn to recognize the difference. He then turns specifically to music, unpacking the Church’s distinctions between liturgical worship, personal devotion, and music enjoyed in ordinary life, while making a passionate case for recovering the sacred beauty of Catholic worship. Ultimately, the talk challenges a generation of Catholics to embrace the true, good, and beautiful and allow beauty to lead them into deeper communion with God.