“It is as if God were saying: I know that My glory frightens you… I am coming to you as a Child, so that you can accept Me and love Me.” (Pope Benedict XVI).
There was a famous poet who was once being interviewed. His interviewer asked him if he could express the message of his poem in simple words. The poet replied that if he were able to used simple words to express his message, he would not need a poem to do it.
And I have been thinking about that today as I have been thinking about the patterns in the world.
You see, while it might first appear that the world is all chaos where bits and pieces fall into place by mere coincidence, a simple cursory examination of science and the workings of even the most simple ecosystem would prove that this is not the case. Just consider an ecosystem. Inside an ecosystem everything needs to function in order to continue the natural balance. If one plant or animal species becomes extinct, it will lead to the extinction of other plants and animals whose existence is balanced carefully on the fulfilment of that one existence.
And that is how carefully, and how precisely God has created the world. One thing is the prerequisite of another, and one pattern lends strength and beauty to another. If one thing were missing, then everything would slowly (or even quickly) start to collapse. And in this God shows us His love for us, just as the poet expresses his meaning using beautiful poetry.
For God is the Word Made Flesh, and that is a poem. That is why Zechariah said in his poem, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham.” (Luke 1:67-69). That is why the Angel Gabriel began and Saint Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist, concluded the song of the “Hail Mary” (Luke 1:28)…
Because the Mystery of God’s infinitely love for me – and for you too – could not possibly explained without that poem and the song of rejoicing that the Angels sang seeing God lying on straw in a manger.
For Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, “Again and again the beauty of this Gospel touches our hearts... Again and again it astonishes us that God makes himself a child so that we may love Him, so that we may dare to love Him, and as a child trustingly lets Himself be taken into our arms. It is as if God were saying: I know that My glory frightens you, and that you are trying to assert yourself in the face of My grandeur. So now I am coming to you as a Child, so that you can accept Me and love Me.”
And there is a beauty beyond imagining in such poetry as that…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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