Everything comes from the Good, Angels: Day 096

Everything comes from the Good, Angels: Day 096 October 25, 2016

angels_dionysiusDionysius  the Areopagite tells us that the angels have all their perfections because of the one Good, namely God, from whom all perfections flow. But not just the angels: our own souls, and the life of  lower animals and plants, and even the existence of inanimate objects—all  of it depends on God.

Whatever belongs to the heavenly hierarchy—the purifications appropri- ate to angels, the heavenly illuminations, and everything that perfects the whole angelic perfection—all of it comes from the Fountain of goodness, from whom they were given the idea of goodness, and the ability to reveal the hidden goodness in themselves. We might say that the angels are heralds of God’s silence, and shine a bright light on him who is in secret.

And after these sacred and holy minds, our souls exist, and whatever is good in them exists, because of that Goodness that is more than good. The fact that they have reason, that they have essential life, that they are indestructible, and that they exist in the first place, all comes from God—as does the fact that they can be elevated to the level of the angels, and be led by the angels as their guides to God, the Origin of all things. Then our souls also can share in the illuminations that bubble forth from the Origin, according to each one’s capacity, and can partici- pate in that godlike gift as much as we are able.

But if I may also speak of the irrational souls—the creatures that fly through the air, and walk on the ground, and creep on the ground, and swim in the wa- ter—all these things have their life of growing and moving because of the Good. Plants also have their growing and moving because of the Good; and even matter without soul or life exists because of the Good, because of which it exists in the first place. –Dionysius the Areopagite, The Divine Names, 4.2

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

Could I spare a bit of time today to enjoy the beauty of the world God made—and to praise God for it, as the angels do unceasingly?

CLOSING PRAYER

Praise be to your holy name, O Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life to the whole world—from the most glorious angels to the humblest creeping things on the ground.

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