Above and Beyond

By Chris Pelicano ( bio - articles ) | Mar 14, 2012

There is a war within each of us—the same war that rages around us in our culture. Our natural life—with its natural drives and natural logic, springing from our natural heart and mind—simply knows that it grasps the whole of reality. There is nothing else, or so it would seem.

But God intrudes on this natural landscape and brings Good News, which we eventually realize is bad news for the fallen life of which we have become so fond. A crisis ensues: our reality was nothing more than an erroneous opinion.

There is more to reality than our fallen nature led us to believe—so much more. And the first order of business is to believe, to accept from Christ, that reality exceeds fallen nature. The second order of business is to live according to this expanded reality (by grace through faith)—above and beyond our fallen nature.

Christopher Pelicano is a graphics artist who has both designed and written for CatholiCulture.org. Chris has more than 30 years of experience in graphic design, illustration, and creative problem solving, including many Catholic projects. Among other things, he created the author bio sketches on this website.

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• Posted by: jplaunder1846 - Mar. 01, 2019 9:39 PM ET USA

  I was not present at the Court so did not hear evidence one way or the other but I am uneasy about the Pell conviction. If he is indeed guilty then he deserves whatever punishment is meted out to him and his victim(s) every sympathy and support. But there are certain aspects of the case that raise my concerns especially the media and social hysteria that has operated against Pell for years because of his religion and his often criticised conservative views not helped by his brusque approach.

• Posted by: wsw33410 - Mar. 01, 2019 5:12 PM ET USA

  It is worth adding that the first jury found cardinal Pell not guilty (10-2) ... but the Justice department did not like that verdict and found another group of jurors ...

• Posted by: feedback - Mar. 01, 2019 6:05 AM ET USA

  Compare this with another high ranking cardinal who was actual child rapist and active homosexual predator for many decades - McCarrick. The Vatican announced recently starting its own investigation of Cardinal Pell, but not another word about McCarrick.

• Posted by: leticia.cadiz4543 - Feb. 27, 2019 7:45 PM ET USA

  i'll offer a special prayer for Cardinal Pell......God bless him and strengthen him during this time of unfair accusation of his integrity.....may the Australian court reverse its conviction and uphold the truth