Creator of All Things, Visible and Invisible
Catechesis by Pope St John Paul II
in his series on God the Father
General Audience, Wednesday 9 July 1986 - also in Italian & Spanish
"1. We cannot conclude our catecheses on God, Creator of the world, without dedicating/devoting adequate attention to a precise content of divine revelation: the creation of purely spiritual beings, which Sacred Scripture calls "angels". Such/This creation appears clearly in the Symbols of faith, particularly in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol: "I believe in one God, Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things (that is entities or beings) visible and invisible". We know that man enjoys a singular position within creation: thanks to his body he belongs to the visible world, while for/by the/his spiritual soul, which vivifies the body, he finds himself/is as it were on the border between the visible creation and invisible one. To this latter, according to the Creed which the Church professes in the light of revelation, belong other beings, purely spiritual, thus not proper to the visible world, even if present and active/working in it. They constitute a specific world.
2. Today, as in past times, these spiritual beings are discussed with greater or lesser wisdom. It needs to be recognized that the confusion is sometimes great, with the consequent risk of making pass as the faith of the Church on the angels that which does not belong/pertain to the faith, or, vice versa, of omitting some important aspect of revealed truth. The existence of spiritual beings, which Sacred Scripture usually calls "angels," was already denied by the Sadducees in the time of Christ (cf Acts 23, 8). The materialists and rationalists of all times/every age also deny it. Yet, as a modern theologian acutely observes, "if one wishes to get rid of the angels, one must radically revise Sacred Scripture itself, and with it the whole history of salvation" (A. Winklhofer, Die Welt der Engel, Ettal 1961, p144, note 2; in Mysterium Salutis, II, 2, p726). The whole of/All Tradition is unanimous on this question. The Creed of the Church is at its base/basically an echo of what Paul writes to the Colossians: "for in him (Christ) all things were created, those in heaven and those on earth, those visible and those invisible: Thrones, Dominations, Principalities, Powers, all things were created through him and for him" (Col 1,16). That is, Christ who, as the Son-Word, eternal and consubstantial with the Father, is "generated before every creature (Col 1, 15) is at the center of the universe, as (the) reason and cornerstone of all (that which is) creation, as we have already seen in previous catecheses and as we shall see later when we shall speak more directly of him.
3. The reference to the "primacy" of Christ helps us to understand that the truth about the existence and activity of the angels (good and bad) is not the central content of the word of God. In revelation God speaks first of all "to men...and lives among them, so that he may invite and take them into fellowship with himself," as we read in the Constitution Dei Verbum of the Second Vatican Council (DV 2). Thus "the deepest truth...both about God and the salvation of man" is the central content of the revelation which "shines out" more fully in the person of Christ (cf. DV 2). The truth about the angels is in a certain sense "collateral," though inseparable from the central revelation, which is the existence, the majesty and the glory of the Creator which shines forth in all creation ("seen" and "unseen") and in God's salvific action in the history of the world. The angels are not creatures of the first order, in the reality of revelation. However, they fully belong to it, so much so that sometimes we see them carrying out fundamental tasks in the name of God himself.
4. All this that pertains to creation enters, according to revelation, into the mystery of divine Providence. Vatican I, which we have quoted several times, stated it in an exemplary concise manner: "All that God created, he conserves and directs by his Providence 'reaching from end to end mightily and governing all things well' (cf. Wis 8:1). 'All lies bare and exposed to his eyes' (cf. Heb 4:13), even what will take place through the free initiative of creatures" (DS 3003). Providence then also embraces the world of pure spirits, which are intellectual and free beings still more fully than men. In Sacred Scripture we find important references to them. There is also the revelation of a mysterious, though real, drama concerning these angelic creatures, without anything escaping divine wisdom, which strongly (fortiter) and at the same time gently (suaviter) brings all to fulfillment in the kingdom of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
4. We recognize above all that Providence, as the loving Wisdom of God, was manifested precisely in the creation of purely spiritual beings, so as to express better the likeness of God in them. They are superior to all that is created in the visible world, including man, who is also the indelible image of God. God who is absolutely perfect Spirit, is reflected especially in spiritual beings which by nature, that is, by reason of their spirituality, are nearer to him than material creatures, and which constitute as it were the closest "circle" to the Creator. Sacred Scripture offers abundant explicit evidence of this maximum closeness to God of the angels, who are spoken of figuratively as the "throne" of God, as his "legions," his "heaven." It has inspired the poetry and art of the Christian centuries which present the angels to us as the "court of God.""
Saluti
Rivolgo ora una parola di affettuoso saluto ai ragazzi del Centro di Riabilitazione Spastici “A. Cesarano” di Manfredonia. Carissimi, mentre vi assicuro della mia spirituale vicinanza, abbraccio con l’Apostolica Benedizione voi, i vostri familiari e quanti con amore e dedizione vi assistono.
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Un saluto particolare va ora ai numerosi pellegrini, che, in rappresentanza degli emigrati abruzzesi e molisani, sono voluti essere presenti a questa Udienza per prepararsi spiritualmente alla Giornata loro dedicata dalla Comunità Ecclesiale di Vasto.
Mentre mi è gradito manifestarvi la mia sollecitudine pastorale per voi, intendo esortarvi a custodire e ad alimentare con fedeltà quei principi di fede e di moralità, che la terra nativa vi ha affidato come suo prezioso patrimonio.
Con benevolenza imparto a voi tutti ed ai vostri cari la mia Benedizione.
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Il mio saluto va pure ai professori ed agli studenti del XVI Corso Estivo dell’Istituto Superiore di Santa Sofia. Nell’augurarvi di crescere sempre più nell’amore e nella conoscenza di Cristo, invoco dallo Spirito Santo per voi la pienezza di quei doni, che sostengono sul cammino di un’autentica vita umana.
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Il mio benvenuto va ora ai partecipanti all’iniziativa realizzata dall’Ente Provinciale per il Turismo di Latina, in collaborazione con l’Amministrazione Provinciale di quella Città. Essi fanno parte di gruppi che vengono dalla Francia, da Israele, dalla Corea del Sud, dalla Turchia, dall’Ungheria e dal Venezuela. Nel mostrare apprezzamento per questa manifestazione, che favorisce l’incontro tra i popoli, intendo far giungere a tutti il mio benedicente pensiero.
Ai giovani
Desidero ora rivolgere un saluto cordiale ai giovani presenti a questa Udienza. Siate i benvenuti! Il tempo delle vacanze moltiplica le occasioni di incontro e favorisce nuove esperienze. Vi auguro di saper vivere in maniera sana e intelligente questo periodo, valorizzando le possibilità di essere testimoni del Cristo nelle diverse località in cui vi recate e dando vita anche a validi momenti di riflessione religiosa. Fate dono a chi vi incontra del vostro entusiasmo giovanile e cristiano.
Vi benedico di cuore.
Agli ammalati
A tutti voi, carissimi infermi, rivolgo un pensiero affettuoso e commosso. Vi ringrazio per la vostra presenza, che è sempre motivo di edificazione per tutti noi. Vi chiedo di guardare con fede al Cristo crocifisso, per attingere da Lui forza e conforto: sappiate che la vostra accettazione della prova è un continuo, grande atto di virtù, che diventa sorgente di grazia per voi stessi e salvezza del mondo intero.
Vi sono vicino con la preghiera e vi accompagno con la mia Benedizione.
Agi sposi novelli
Un augurio intenso e sincero agli sposi novelli. Carissimi, nell’iniziare la vostra nuova vita sotto il segno del sacramento del Matrimonio, avete inteso compiere una scelta di fede e impegnarvi in una testimonianza coerente. Vi chiedo di vivere in pienezza tali ideali, affinché, mentre si rende più intenso l’amore vicendevole, cresca in voi anche l’impegno cristiano, e la vostra vita possa essere felice e ricca di buone opere. Il Signore non mancherà di colmarvi della sua protezione.
Vi sia di incoraggiamento la mia Benedizione Apostolica.