The first reading for today is from the Book of Wisdom (13:1-9). It is an amazing passage the speaks to the natural human inclination to be drawn to beauty – and at the same time our inability to look beyond the fullness of beauty to see the Divine Maestro who orchestrates the symphony of order and beauty that surrounds us. Too easily we stop with what we see. We marvel at the created world but fail to lift our eyes to the Creator. We are drawn to the beauty of nature, but sometimes we mistake the reflection for the source of the light. It is a type of foolishness: “From the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.” Creation is a window through which we can see God – but we need to truly and deeply look.
The author provides a gentle warning: It’s possible, even with great intelligence, to miss the mark — to admire the art but forget the artist. “If they were so successful in knowledge that they could speculate about the world, how did they not more quickly find its Lord?” In every age, there’s a temptation to worship the creation — whether that’s nature, human achievement, or science — instead of the Creator. None of these are bad in themselves; they are good, beautiful, and true in their own right. But they are not God.
St. Paul makes the same point in Romans 1: “Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.” Faith, then, is not opposed to reason or science. It is the completion of them. Faith takes us the next step — from what is seen to the One who is unseen; from wonder at creation to worship of the Creator.
When we pause to see the beauty of creation with faith, we discover not just design, but love — a love that orders all things, sustains all things, and calls each of us into communion with the One who made them.
And here’s the heart of it for us today: the God who fashioned the stars and the seas has come near to us in the person of Jesus Christ. The One who made the heavens walked upon the earth He created. He touched the dust of the ground and blessed it with His own hands. If we see beauty in creation, how much more beauty should we see in the Creator who became one of us? Christ is not only the Maker of all things — He is the Redeemer of all things. In Him, creation finds its meaning and its destiny.
Take in the beauty of the world. Stop to watch a sunset, the autumn colors of the trees, a star filled sky and the faces of those we love. Let it all draw you closer to its Source. For from the greatness and the beauty of created things, their original author is indeed seen.
Image Credit: Parable of the Unjust Steward | A. Mironov | CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons