Paschale Gaudium [pp. 808-813]

PASCHALE GA UDIUM.
And Jesus is "the true light which enlighteneth every man
that cometh into this world." He is the exemplar cause of all
things. Before creation the world, both in its large 6utlines
and in its least details, rested in the mind of God. Each creature has its archetype in an idea present to the Divine Wisdom
-an idea which is one of the infinite phases of the divine
imitability. But the Wisdom of God is Jesus, his Eternal Word.
And, when the decree of creation went forth, it was the Art of
God which gave birth to things; and Jesus is the Art of God
"per quem fecit et s&ecula," by whom he made also the ages.
Creation is the partial utterance "ad extra" of Jesus-the
Word of the Father. God spoke and the world was made.
Hence, ancient Greek writers call creation "logos prophorikos,"
the Word begotten without, generated in time-generated, that
is, by external manifestation. And thus the world cannot be
adequately known except in the light of Jesus. "I am the
Light of the world," he said.
But if Jesus is the exemplar cause of all things; if each
thing is what it is because it participates of him, in an especial
manner is this true of intelligences, of angels, and of men.
Things irrational are mere vestigia, footprints of Jesus-tokens
that his spirit has passed by and has blessed. But intelligences
are in the image of Jesus. These represent not the mere working of their cause, but the principles of its operation-the mind
and the will. Our light of intellect is a participation of the
light and wisdom of God-that is, a participation of Jesus.
Hence it was that, when our light of intellect became obscured
by sin, God the Word, and not the Father or the Spirit, took
flesh to restore us. "The art," says St. Thomas, "which made,
restores the work when it has become impaired." He is
the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh
into this world. He is the light of our natural intelligence;
and he is the light of our faith guiding us heavenwards, homewards. And he will be our light in heaven, for the "light of
glory" is yet another participator of the light of Jesus, and we
shall see God in the vision of the Word, for he is the inaccessible light in which the Father dwelleth. "In lumine tuo videbimus lumen."
The sun gives life as well as light. Go to the frozen loins
of the north. What life will you find there? Mosses, lichens,
berry-shrubs at most. Advance towards the sun; come a little
more south. You meet with trees-the solitary fir and the
hardy pine. More south again; and you come upon the oak,
the elm, the beech, and the lime towering in thick-set forests.
81o
[Mar.,