None of us created ourselves. We did not appear suddenly in the wombs of our mothers, nor were we the result of a random, impersonal spark of energy. Each of us was loved into being by an all-powerful Creator who intends for us to live this life to the full and to be with him eternally. The first breath we drew was his gift, his breath, and we are alive now because he alone sustains us. Even those who do not know God and have never heard of him were brought to life by him and are loved by him eternally.
Creating us in his image and likeness, God gave us freedom. The very fact that he did so is another sign of his perfect love, because he will not coerce us into loving him. Like our first parents, we sometimes misuse our freedom and choose to turn away from God, but when we turn again to him he receives us with open arms.
All of us have what we consider blemishes or disfigurements — we need to lose or gain weight; our teeth are crooked, our hair is thinning; there are bags under the eyes, wrinkles along the forehead. These are the disfigurements we see in the mirror, probably the ones that preoccupy us. We wish they were not there, and perhaps we try to repair them. But the disfigurement that matters most is the spiritual one caused by sin, because sin is diametrically opposed to God’s love. Such a disfigurement cannot be concealed with makeup or by shedding a few pounds.
Just as none of us created ourselves, none of us can re-create ourselves. The popularity of “makeovers” attests to the fact that we often wish we were somehow different, somehow “repaired.” There’s nothing wrong with improving our body or our image, as long as we don’t forget that such improvements are only skin deep. There is another kind of change, much more profound, which God wishes us to undergo. He wants to re-create us in Jesus.
St. Paul spoke of Jesus as the “new Adam,” because through his birth, death, and resurrection God has re-created the world in his image. In the new Adam everything begins anew. The damage that had been done by sin was not the sort that could be covered over with a false veneer — only a radical, thorough re-creation, by the One who first created us, would set things right.
Jesus experienced human life to the full. Even though he never sinned, he did experience the most radical disfigurement caused by sin — death — and transformed it by his resurrection. As Paul wrote, “When this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about: ’Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 54-57)
In other words, in Jesus sin no longer must result in death; he removed sin’s “sting” by conquering death. From the cross, the instrument of his death, he pronounced the ultimate words of forgiveness: “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.” Jesus’ mercy and his resurrection destroyed the sting of sin and the disfigurement it brought to the human race.
We now share in his victory. The reason we renew our baptismal promises at Easter is because through the waters of baptism we died to sin and received the new life of Jesus: we were irrevocably joined to him, and his destiny became our destiny. He is our lifeline, his Gospel is our guide, and the sacraments are the means of his continuous involvement in our lives.
The 50 days of Easter are referred to as the time for “mystagogia,” which means “a savoring of mystery.” Particularly for those baptized at the Easter Vigil, this is a time to enter more deeply into Jesus and what he offers in the Church, especially in the sacraments. But for all of us, these 50 days are an opportunity to live as the new creations Jesus has made us and to savor his love. What might be the one change in my behavior that would show others that I have truly become different because of Jesus? What might be the one gesture that would show God I am grateful for what he has done for me?
The greatest disfigurement of humanity has been conquered by God’s merciful love, the example par excellence that he wants to lose nothing he has created.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.