It is not enough that our truth be orthodox and our pastoral action efficient. Without the joy of beauty, the truth becomes cold, even heartless and arrogant, as we see in the speech of many embittered fundamentalists. It is as if they were chewing on ashes instead of savoring the glorious sweetness of Christ's truth, which illuminates all of reality with a gentle glow, accepting as it is each day.
Without the joy of beauty, any work for the good becomes a gloomy concern for efficiency, as it is for many overwhelmed activists. They go about clothing reality with mournful statistics instead of anointing it with the oil of inner gladness that transforms hearts, one by one, from within.
--Pope Francis (Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio), Homily at the Chrism Mass, 2011
