1.3 Response
STAGE 1: Facing Reality
IMAGES OF GOD’S BEAUTY
AFFIRMING MASTERPIECES
RESPONSE
Aim: To identify in our individual selves qualities and virtues correlated to human beauty.
Reading
The climax of creation (LEW 35; 37): “If the power and gentleness of eternal Wisdom were so luminously evident in the creation, the beauty and order of the universe, they shone forth far more brilliantly in the creation of man and woman. They are God’s supreme masterpieces, the living images of God’s beauty and perfection, the great vessels of God’s graces, the wonderful treasuries of God’s wealth and, in a unique way, God’s representatives on earth. ‘By your wisdom you appointed man and woman to have dominion over every creature you made’ (Wis 9:2). […] We might say that eternal Wisdom made copies, that is, shining likenesses of her own intelligence, memory and will, and infused them into the soul of man and woman so that they might become the living images of the Godhead. In their heart Wisdom enkindled the fire of the pure love of God. She gave them a radiant body and virtually enshrined within them a compendium of all the various perfections of angels, animals, and other created things”.
Comment
The quality of the response to the power of Wisdom manifested in the creation of humankind finds its climax in the “beauty” of Mary and the “gentleness” of Jesus.
Thus St. Louis-Marie de Montfort writes: “Gentle is Jesus in his looks, and in his words and actions. The face of our loving Saviour is so serene and gentle that it charmed the eyes and hearts of those who beheld it. When he dwelt on earth he won everyone over by his gentle speech […] Finally, Jesus is gentle in the whole conduct of his life. ‘He did everything well’ (Mk 7:37), which means that everything he did was done with such uprightness, wisdom, holiness and gentleness that nothing faulty or distorted could be found in him” (LEW 121-123).
The beauty of Jesus finds its explanation in the beauty of Mary: “He was born of the sweetest, the most tender and the most beautiful of all mothers, Mary, the divinely favoured Virgin” (LEW 118).
Personal Reflection and Sharing
What qualities and virtues do I need to awaken in me in order to respond more fully to the human beauty and dignity that Wisdom has worked in creation?
[1-3] CALL RESPONSE COMMITMENT PRAYER