By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
Part 16
Those of us who are parents know that when we see a child of ours succeeding in life — receiving a university degree with honors, graduating from a military academy, or living a stable, Catholic life with his or her family — we simply rejoice. It gives joy to us to see the success of our children; it’s natural.
A similar thing happens in our relationship to God. We started as His creatures, created in His image and likeness, but after Baptism we became His adopted children, sharing the life of grace with Him. And here is where God’s extrinsic glory is manifested at its best. Yes, of course, the galaxies and everything in them manifest God’s glory, but that manifestation is immensely lower than the glory given to Him by a virtuous soul.
But the highest possible expression of that extrinsic glory is when the soul is in Heaven, bathed in the infinite bliss of contemplating the beatific vision, seeing God as He is in His infinite beauty. The soul is thrilled to overflowing in happiness and joy and satisfaction — and that is when God is most pleased with men. Why? Because this is the very purpose for which He created us: to be in Heaven with Him, forever!
Unlike those of us here on Earth, the souls of the blessed in Heaven possess a knowledge of God that can never grow dim or clouded, with no hesitations, no doubts, no mistakes. Their love never diminishes, unlike ours, as we go through good times and bad. The souls in Heaven manifest God’s extrinsic glory in the way God wanted them to: They have reached the perfect exercise of their minds and wills, as God wanted them to.
In plain English, folks, we were created for Heaven. Regardless of our successes here on Earth, be that in career, family, business, holidays, whatever, if we lose Heaven, then it would have been better not to have been born. The very purpose of our creation in God’s mind is to lead us to Heaven. Every being in creation reminds us of some aspect of God, and if we are wise enough to contemplate those reflections of God in nature, we will get to know Him beyond all expectations.
So we may sum up the preceding principles by stating that God’s purpose in the whole plan of creation was twofold: first of all, to manifest His splendor. Secondly, in the creation of angels and men He added another purpose: to have them with Him in Heaven, enjoying everlasting glory.
Consequently, God’s creation was an act of love. Yes, an act of Love. In His goodness and omnipotence, He drew creatures from nothing and gave them being. But He did not do this to increase His happiness, as an artist might do here on Earth, but to manifest His perfection by the blessings He bestows upon His creatures. God is already infinitely happy within His own nature; His happiness can neither increase nor decrease.
There is a verse in one of David’s Psalms that caused me to smile the very first time I read it:
“The fool says in his heart: There is no God” (Psalm 13:1). But the verse that made me laugh was this one: “He that dwells in heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall deride them” (Psalm 2:4). I had to laugh as I imagined the angels roaring with laughter about the idiotic attitude of the fool who says in his heart that there is no God.
Yes, it is true: Only a fool or an idiot would try to explain the reality of creation without a Creator, an effect without a cause, a work of art without an artist, in short, order without an orderer. And yet there is still a greater fool: He who, while knowing that there is a God, his Creator, on whom he is utterly dependent, refuses to be subject to Him and to obey Him, preferring to choose unhappiness to happiness.
This is also because God exercises His Providence over His adopted children; His ever-watchful care over all of them follows of necessity from His infinite goodness and wisdom. He is infinitely wise and good; He has made all things and holds all things in being; therefore, He must necessarily desire that they attain the end for which He made them. His Providence extends to all His creatures, but in a particular way to man: Christ said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29-31).
The basic, practical conclusion of this principle is this: Regardless of the troubles and crosses we have in life, God our Lord watches over us. We must acquire the virtue of confidence in His divine Providence, knowing, and not just believing, that in the end He will give us the eternal happiness He created us for.
Genesis And Science
Atheistic fools have criticized the Genesis account of creation as a fable, incompatible with their scientific theories. But those poor souls ignore the fact that Moses did not write a scientific treatise on the molecular structure of matter or the principles of quantum theory; he wrote to a simple people and used a simple language for them to understand a theological reality. Catholic scientists have shown ad infinitum that there is no incompatibility between Genesis and true, authentic science.
The Church has also declared that the word “day” (yom in Hebrew, meaning “light”) does not have to mean a solar day of 24 hours. It can be properly interpreted as a long period of time, or as the light of the angelic understanding of each stage of creation, as St. Augustine suggested. Since the sun was not created until the fourth “day” or the fourth “light,” the word “day” could not have meant a solar day of 24 hours before then.
It is interesting to notice that some agnostic authors, thinking themselves very clever, pointed this out in their writings, in order to criticize the Genesis account. But they ignore that other people had already noticed it before them, such as St. Augustine in the year 430 and before him Origen in 254, to show the literary and not scientific style of the Book of Genesis.
Upon creating the universe in six “days,” in six “lights,” God our Lord manifested the splendor of His glory. In so doing, He completely ignored the individual opinions of atheistic scientists who say in their hearts that there is no God. They are properly described in the Bible as fools, and God in Heaven laughs at their foolishness.
Next article: The origin of life and of the living species.
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(Raymond de Souza is an EWTN program host; regional coordinator for Portuguese-speaking countries for Human Life International [HLI]; president of the Sacred Heart Institute, and a member of the Sovereign, Military, and Hospitaller Order of the Knights of Malta. His website is: www.RaymonddeSouza.com.)
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