Creation Touched By The Creator
When Jesus is being baptized by John the Baptist, we are called to embrace the miracle of how creation participates in our salvation story! Our hymns at Epiphany reveal that: "Today, the uncreated one is, by His own will, touched by the creature. Today, the prophet and forerunner approaches the Master but pauses in awe. Today, the waters of the Jordan are turned into healing by the presence of the Lord. Today, paradise is opened to all humankind! Today, Jesus who is above all purity, infuses sanctification into the water, which then becomes the purifying agent of our souls."
At this time of our Lord's Epiphany, we not only proclaim the beauty of God's creation, but we embrace and honor how God's creation becomes instrumental in our salvation! Christ 'infuses' His grace into creation! Yes, nature saves when it is touched by the infusing power of God's grace. Through the use of material things in the sacraments, nature participates in the salvation of man. Bread, water, wine, oil become bearers of spiritual meaning and God's saving power! Nature and the spirit become united in our journey towards salvation.
Offering Creation Back to God for Sanctification
Of course this power comes only with our willing participation. Imagine the power that comes at our fingertips! We transfigure the harvested grapes into wine. We take flour, add yeast and a bit of water, and bake it and within half an hour it is transformed into bread.
We then take those gifts, the bread and wine, and together with our prayers, we offer them to our Lord at every Divine Liturgy. God then infuses His power through the Holy Spirit and transfigures these elements into His very Body and Blood! This cooperation is simply fantastic and humbling! This mystery of taking God's creation and using these elements as a means of grace is a mystery that challenges us to also become containers of His grace when we receive Holy Communion and participate in the other sacraments.
Vessels of Divine Grace
This means that God can and will use anything to save and heal us. Fr. Andrew Anglorus helps us consider how creation participates in our healing and salvation. He writes:
Clay cannot heal the blind and yet with the breath of God, it becomes the container for the healing grace of God. Water cannot heal and yet the water of baptism heals because the water infused by the prayers and grace of God bears the Holy Spirit. Oil cannot heal and yet the oil of chrismation and unction heal because they are filled with the grace of God. A piece of cloth cannot heal and yet a priest's stole can heal through the grace of Christ at the sincere confession of sins and the repentant intention not to sin again. Bread and wine cannot heal and yet bread and wine transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ heal through the Holy Spirit. Wood and paint cannot heal and yet icons can heal by the Holy Spirit Who penetrates into their material essence and radiates grace from them. Christ teaches us then that all things can be used for our healing, benefit and salvation, but they must first be touched and infused by His grace.
In this way, beloved friends, our bodies, mere flesh, bones and blood, are called to become containers of Christ! When human clay has been mixed with the divine essence, our souls become activated, we become lamps of the Holy Spirit; the eyes of our souls, the doors of perception, become seeing, and we see the whole of God's Creation as it really is. We see that every blade of grass and every hill, every tree and every cloud, every drop of rain and every ocean, all creatures and all people, are miracles of God's handiwork!!
We are reminded of this miracle in the hymns of Epiphany: "Today, the moon with its brilliant rays shares its light with the earth. Today, the luminous stars embellish the universe with their joyous luster. Today, the clouds refresh humanity with a rain of justice from above....Today all of creation is watered by mystical waters. Today paradise is opened to all humankind."
Containers of Peace and Love
Paradise is open to everyone! Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy in Christ (Ephesians 4:23-24). You see, God became man, so that man can become like God and as we become Christ-like, we learn to respect and honor His environment and one another.
May our New Year's resolution be to live as God's beloved children who embrace the truth that we are called to be containers of God's grace, peace and love, to become partakers in His Divine Nature (II Peter 1:4).
Lord, teach us and inspire us to open our hearts to be infused with Your power, infused with the fruits of the Spirit so we can be Your vessel as we become blessings of love, peace, light and joy to the world!
A Blessed 2025 to all!
+fr. Tom
Originally published in the January 14, 2025 Holy Apostles E-bulletin. Subscribe here.