Good Fridays w/Padre: Iconic

Icons never blink. I’m not talking about the things that show up on computer screens, or popular celebrities. I’m talking about real icons – deeply religious images. They constantly stare out at us; and they never blink.

Just as the word ‘icon’ is overused and improperly used, so, too, is the word ‘iconic’. It seems everything today is described as ‘iconic’ – party songs, adventure films, sports stars. Yet none of these things demands contemplation, or touches the soul the way a real icon does.

However, you young men and women who will graduate from this University in little more than a day, have lived among icons for the last four years. A golden statue, a cave of candles, a log chapel.…