Seeing the Creator Through Creation

The readings today invite us to open our eyes to a deeper way of seeing—to move from the beauty of creation to the majesty of the Creator behind it. The Book of Wisdom challenges those who study the world yet fail to acknowledge the One who fashioned it. Fire, wind, stars, oceans, the sun and the moon—these are magnificent and powerful, but they are meant to be signs from God, not replacements for God. The author criticizes those who become so captivated by the beauty or power of created things that they begin to worship them, forgetting that these wonders only exist because of a far greater Source. Creation is meant to lead us upward. As the Psalm says, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God.” The world around us is a proclamation of divine artistry, a reminder that behind every beautiful thing is the Artisan who made it. Though we do not bow to the sun or sculpt idols as in ancient times, modern idolatry persists in subtler forms. We may idolize beauty, success, technology, or even the natural world itself. These things are good, but they become dangerous when they displace God in our hearts. When created things become our center, they blind us to the One who alone gives meaning and direction. Jesus warns in today’s Gospel that people in the days of Noah and Lot were so absorbed in daily life that they failed to perceive God’s presence and urgency. Their blindness was not ignorance but distraction. They were surrounded by signs of God yet lived untouched by them. Teilhard de Chardin described our world as a “divine milieu,” a space saturated with God’s presence. The air we breathe, the order of the cosmos, the beauty of a sunrise, the complexity of a leaf—all these whisper, “There is Someone behind this.” When we truly see creation, we encounter the Creator. This awareness fills life with reverence, gratitude, and humility. Our Christian calling, then, is not to reject creation but to see God through it—to enjoy beauty without idolizing it, to use the gifts of the world without becoming enslaved to them. Creation is a window, not a wall. All things point to “the Author of beauty” (Wis 13:5). Let us ask for the grace today to live with awakened eyes, to recognize God in all things, and to worship Him alone as the Source of all that is good, beautiful, and true. Fr Stephen A. Okoli, SMMM