Sermons by the Fathers of the Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, Volume VI.Paulist Fathers
Religion
Sermons by the Fathers of the Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, Volume VI.
Paulist Fathers
Catholic Church -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 19th century
We speak of creation, then, either as of the Father, of the Son,
or of the Holy Ghost, because it is of the Trinity--one act of
the Godhead. But we attribute creation properly to the Father,
because He is the Infinite Personal Cause. We attribute it to the
Son, because He is the Infinite Personal Life. "In him was the
life," says St. John, in the next sentence after that in which he
says all things were created by the Word, "and," he adds, "the
life was the light of men."
{151}
So chant we in the Credo: __Lumen de lumine__--Light of light.
It is the first word spoken by God at the creation--"__Fiat
lux!__" Admirable conception! Light is, as it were, the Creator
of the image reflected in a mirror, and the Divine Word is the
light--the Creator of the creature who is the image and likeness
of God. St. Paul calls our Lord, who is Man united to the Word,
"the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every
creature. In Him were all things created in heaven, and on earth,
visible, and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and in
Him: and He is before all, and by Him all things consist."
[Footnote 44] Because our Lord was the Word of God, the same
thing is declared of Him, as the Eternal Wisdom, by the inspired
prophet: "I came out of the mouth of the Most High, the
first-born before all creatures." [Footnote 45] The creative act
is, then, an image of the Son of God being divinely begotten by
the Father; and creation in existence is an image of Him who
truly said, "I am the Life."
[Footnote 44: Coloss. i. 15-17.]
[Footnote 45: Ecclus. xxiv. 5.]
[USCCB: Sirach xxiv. 3.]
We attribute the creation to the Holy Ghost when we say in the
Creed, "And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and
Life-giver."
{152}
Recall what I said about the Holy Ghost, that He is God living,
enjoying His Divine life. Creation is the image of God living,
and hence of the Holy Ghost. When man was created, the Sacred
Record says, "God breathed the breath [or spirit] of life into
his face, and man became a living soul." With man, everything
lives and enjoys its being with an enjoyment which is a
reflection of the supreme living beatitude in God. Thus exclaims
the writer of the Book of Wisdom: "The Spirit of the Lord hath
filled the whole earth: and that, which containeth all things,
hath knowledge of the voice." [Footnote 46]
[Footnote 46: Wisdom i. 7.]
It is the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, the Lord and Life-giver,
who, as holy Job declares, "hath adorned the heavens" with their
radiant beauty, who hath filled the whole earth, and vivified it,
so that it is not a dead but a living image of the Eternal,
Omnipotent, Living God. Did I not say well, my brethren, that the
mystery of the Holy Trinity is an illumination of the mystery of
creation?
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