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Viewpoints
26 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD
catholicnewsherald.com | September 30, 2022
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Father Billy Swan
Loving beauty early
In a passage from his classic “Confessions,” St. Augustine looks back on his life and admits: “Late have I loved you O beauty so ancient and new, late have I loved you!” Have we also come late to know God as beautiful? Or worse still, maybe we have yet to experience God’s beauty. So how can we come to know God as beauty, not late but early? A good place to begin, as always, is with Scripture.
The Bible presents us with the idea of God as the origin and source of all beauty. All of creation, with humanity at its pinnacle, is marked by God’s goodness and beauty. Both the scientist and the child can observe the order, harmony, and beauty of the universe and learn something of the one responsible for it all: “From the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator for the author of beauty created them” (Wis 13:3, 5).
Creation is to be contemplated and admired for its own sake by human beings with the effect of raising their hearts to the Creator. In the presence of creation’s beauty, the human person feels humbled, amazed and moved to praise: “When I see the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars that you have arranged; what is humankind that you are mindful of us, human beings that you care for them? ... Lord our God, how great is your name through all the earth” (Ps 8).
In the New Testament, all beauty is concentrated on the person of Jesus Christ, the Word made visible, “full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). In Him, God’s eternal beauty became a human being. Christ is the one who “reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of His nature” (Heb. 1:3). By prayerfully observing His words, it dawned on the early Christians that the very nature of God was unconditional love: “Your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5); “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11); “God so loved the world” (John 3:16); “Come to me all you who are heavily laden and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). These beautiful words of Christ perfectly corresponded to His beautiful actions – His healings, His accompaniment of sinners, forgiveness for His killers, His raising of the poor and lowly.
Yet the beauty of His words and actions were often hidden beneath His suffering and rejection. His brutal torture turned Him into someone who “had no form of comeliness” to such an extent that He “seemed no longer human” (Is 53:2,14). This outward disfigurement because of our sins was part of His work of saving us – taking the ugliness of sin upon Himself so as to restore the beautiful image and likeness of God within us.
The main symbol the Gospels use to describe this beauty of Jesus Christ is light. The prophesy of Zachariah states that Christ would be the one to “give light to those in darkness, those who dwell in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:79). During the Presentation in the temple, the old prophet Simeon saw the infant and rejoiced that he finally saw “the light to enlighten the pagans and glory for your people Israel” (Lk 2:29-32). In all three of the synoptic Gospels, Jesus’ Transfiguration is recorded when His person became illuminated from within with an intense divine light (Mt 17:18; Mk 9:2-8; Lk 9:28-36).
With the evangelist John, this beauty of Christ is also symbolized by light and the concept of “glory.” This is spelled out in the prologue of his Gospel where Christ’s coming into the world is associated with “a light that the darkness could not overpower” (Jn 1:5). Later at Cana, John interprets the miracle that Christ performed as letting His glory be seen in a way that leads to faith in Him (Jn 2:11). In the book of Revelation, John imagines believers in Christ not only observing His glory but sharing in it too. In the final age, God will unite Himself to His people as a husband to his bride, sharing His own beauty with those who accept Him. This is the people the Lamb has married, the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem that enjoys “the radiant glory of God and glittering like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond” (Rev 21:11). This idea of the light and beauty of God being shared with those who believe is also found with Jesus Himself. “I am the light of the world” he declared, and “those who follow me will not walk in the dark but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). Therefore, when Jesus exhorted His followers to be “the light of the world,” He commissioned them to be vessels of His own light, beauty and truth (Mt 5:14). For Jesus, His saving mission was to be an enabler of sight, to heal blindness so that we could see beauty where it is to be found.
This scriptural theme of beauty was taken up by many of the Church fathers and saints. For St. Gregory of Nyssa (335395): “Our life is stamped with the beauty of His (Christ’s) thought. The inner and the outer person are harmonized in a kind of music.”
For St. Paulinus of Nola (354-431), the Creator is the composer of beautiful music, “the musician who controls that universal-sounding harmony which He exercises through all the physical world.” We humans are absorbed by this music in a way that attunes us to its harmonious beauty.
Noted for his beautiful mind, St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) explains in “Oratio” that the union of God’s beauty and human beings happens through baptism: “Baptism is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift. ... It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own.”
As someone who discovered God’s beauty late, Augustine encourages his audience to explore the beauty of God’s handiwork because doing so will lead us to the One whose beauty never changes: “Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air ... question the beauty of the sky... These beauties are subject to change. Who made them if not the Beautiful One who is not subject to change.” In sum, for Augustine, God is: “the beauty of all things beautiful.”
For St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), our experience of beauty occurs at the intersection of wholeness (“integritas”), harmony (“proportio”) and radiance (“claritas”). According to Thomas, beauty gives rise to contemplative pleasure: “Beautiful things please when seen.” Beauty triggers love, for we fall in love with the beauty we see in a way that provides joy and delight. In Thomas’ understanding, “God created the universe to make it beautiful for Himself by reflecting His own beauty.”
For St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), when the love of God encounters human beings, it transforms us more into its own love and beauty. John explains that at the incarnation, Jesus “took on our human nature and elevated it in the beauty of God, and consequently all creatures, since in human nature He was united with them all.”
For St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), we humans are marked by the beauty of the one who made us. For this reason, God delights in His own beauty He sees in us: “You, eternal Trinity, are the craftsman; and I your handiwork have come to know that you are in love with the beauty of what you have made, since you made of me a new creation in the blood of your Son.”
Finally, according to St. Bonaventure (1221-1274), Francis of Assisi experienced the beauty and joy of creation in a way that led him continuously to the source of that beauty and joy: “In beautiful things Francis saw and fell in love with God who is Beauty itself. ... For Francis, all things were a ladder by which he could climb up and embrace Him who alone could satisfy his heart.”
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FATHER BILLY SWAN is a priest of the Diocese of Ferns, Ireland. This commentary is the first of a two-part series on beauty. It originally appeared on the Word on Fire blog, at www.wordonfire.org. In Part II, Father Swan will explore practical ways we can love beauty early.
Brian Pusateri
God pursues us relentlessly
Have you ever owned a hound dog? If you have, then you know why they are sometimes described as “a nose with a dog attached.” Whether a droopyeyed, long-eared basset hound or a cute little beagle, they both come from a long history of hunting dogs. Did you know that God has sometimes been referred to as the Hound of Heaven?
A hound is a type of hunting dog used to track or chase prey. Most hounds were bred and trained to track by either scent or sight. Scent hounds (often used to track people) are not fast, but they have incredible endurance. Sight hounds on the
other hand, follow prey mostly by speed, keeping it in sight. Whether tracking by sight or by scent, hounds are relentless in pursuit of their prey.
For just a moment, try to place yourself in the mindset of a prisoner who has just escaped. The jailer has released the bloodhounds. They are out to track you down. You are on the run. The bloodcurdling sound of their barking tells you that they are closing in. It’s only a matter of time before you’re caught.
From a Christian perspective, we share some similarities with that escaped prisoner. Since the first appearance of sin, mankind has been on the run from God. The Old Testament reads like a nonstop story of rebellion. God’s people have continually tried to escape His love. Throughout these stories, we witness God’s relentless pursuit of His chosen people. Already in Genesis 3:9, when Adam and Eve try to hide in the garden, God says, “‘Where are you?’” Like a hound, He was already in hot pursuit.
We also find this in the Old Testament in Psalm 139:7-8, “Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.” The Bible makes it clear that we can run, but we cannot hide. We cannot escape the love of God!
In the New Testament, we discover in a more profound way that God never stops pursuing us. He loves us too much to stop. He longs for us to be with Him in paradise. John 3:16 makes this quite clear, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
Jesus Himself speaks of the extent to which the Father pursues us when He tells the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:1-7, and the story of the lost coin in Luke 15:810. In both of these parables, the loss was accidental. The sheep innocently wandered away, and the coin was accidentally misplaced.
Jesus gives us even more hope in the story of the prodigal son found in John 15:11-32. In this story, the son intentionally demanded his inheritance and squandered it on a life of dissipation. Even though it was a willful rebellion, Jesus tells us that the father never gave up longing for the return of his son. Even when we intentionally sin, God’s pursuit of us is unabated. God has more endurance and stamina to doggedly track us down than the best trained hound dog. An additional key point to keep in mind, is that before we knew to pursue God, He had already pursued us. In John 6:44, Jesus says, “‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.’” Let’s go back to the analogy of the escaped prisoner. When the bloodhounds catch up to the prisoner, it is with the intent of bringing the escapee back to prison. This is where that analogy breaks down, however. With the speed of a sight hound, God pursues us. We are never out of His sight. Like a scent hound, He tracks us. Because of the stench of our sins, we are easy to find. But unlike a “prisoner” the difference lies in this joyful, assuring news in John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
My friends, God is relentlessly pursuing us, not to take us captive, but precisely for the opposite reason. God wants to release us from the chains and self-imposed prison of our sins. He wants to take us home to be with Him forever in paradise.
Yes, God is in a relentless pursuit of us. Wherever we might be on our life’s journey, God wants us back. No sin can separate us from His love. He stands ready to forgive. He does not want to capture us with the biting teeth of a hound, but rather, He wants to capture us in the loving embrace of His outstretched arms. Like a shepherd who has lost a sheep, He wants to carry us home on His shoulders.
Heavenly Father, thank You for never giving up on me. Thank You for Your relentless pursuit. No matter how far I stray, You find me. If I fall into a ditch, You are there to retrieve me. When I give in to sin, the blood of Your Son washes me clean. Your love for me exceeds my ability to comprehend. Track me down, Lord, and bring me home. Amen.
‘Since the first appearance of sin, mankind has been on the run from God. God’s people have continually tried to escape His love.’ BRIAN PUSATERI is the founder of Broken Door Ministries (www.brokendoorministries.com) and a member of Immaculate Conception Parish in Hendersonville.
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