“You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother’s womb. For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders” (Ps 139:13-14).
Can we utter this thanksgiving to God with a free heart and in one voice with the psalmist? We should be able to, because our Father put all His love into creating man, and this counts for each and every one of us.
By thanking our Father for having created us, we honour Him greatly. The same is true when we recognise the beauty in the works of His creation.
Even if this beauty is now marred by original sin and its destructive consequences; even if sin disfigures man spiritually and fragility, sickness and death have come upon him as a consequence, this does not change the fact that, originally, God formed us in a marvellous way.
“God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. (…) God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good” (Gen 1:27,31).
The Father wants to restore in us this original beauty: “You will restore the beauty of the first day, when you created us in your image”, sings a hymn of the Eastern tradition.
In His beloved daughter, God shows us this beauty intact. “Tota pulchra es Maria” (You are all beautiful, O Mary). Where does all her beauty come from?
Mary was preserved from original sin and filled to the brim with God’s grace, to which she responded with her whole being. Thus, God’s plan of love for man shines forth in her unreservedly.
And this perfect and immaculate creature God gives to us as our mother. She bears witness to the ineffable love of the Father and makes us understand that we too are called to evoke through our witness the wonder of God’s works: “How awesome are your deeds, O Lord” (Ps 66:3).