Made in the Image of God Posted: 05 Jun 2009 09:00 PM PDT Dt 4:32-24, 39-40 / Rom 8:14-17 / Mt 28:16-20 Moses: “Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? … This is why you must know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God…” If we search all the religions of the world for some unique property — for some unique message — we come back to the “message of distinction” that resides in Christianity. This message is the culmination of a huge mystery: We are made in the image and likeness of God. The Church, in her wisdom and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit has called us to proclaim this great mystery immediately following the conclusion of the Easter season. Trinity Sunday is a chance for us to examine - in our own frail human intellect - the amazing reality of God in His Love. We have been taught that all creation comes from within the desire of the Love that is God. That desire of God to share the wonder of His love is why creation — including humanity — came into existence. That is part of the way we share in His divine life. What? Yes, we share in His Divine Life. How are we made in the image and likeness of God? What is that “image and likeness"? We do what no other creature can. We — with the grace of God — create something eternal: Other human beings. God, in His Love, could not remain only in Himself. The very nature of His love — without implying anything lacking within Him — required more. That more is His creation. His Love within the Family of the Trinity generated more love and that became our created universe. As a husband and wife come together, generating their love, sometimes — with the grace of God — there is a new creation in a child. This is something the devil, nor any other creature is able to do. We alone participate in God’s ongoing creation. And it is from the family that God is revealed. As Christians, this Family is something unique in our understanding of God. It grew from within the understanding of God’s self revelation through Moses that “the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other…” It grew through the prophets of the Old Testament where God was first revealed as a father. It grew to the declaration of Jesus (God the Son) of God the Father, and the Holy Spirit as our Advocate. We have come to see this as God: Three-in-one; a community of persons, but one God. I know you know this. But think again on the mystery of the Family … and of the family. We participate in the creative power of God through our families. This is central to our identity in the image of God. Is it any surprise there is such an attack on family and children? Why is abortion so demonically strong? Because it denies the creative power of man and woman and the dignity of the eternal beings husband and wife create with God. Why is there such an attack on family? Because by distorting or destroying family, the devil distorts or destroys the image of God in the hearts and minds of people. All the attacks we see against family today — the myriad variations, distortions, denials, and (yes) perversions — are ultimately an attack on the very image of God in which we were made. God said: “Let us make man in our image” … male and female He created them. The image of the Trinity is under attack today. So I repeat what Moses said: “…This is why you must know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God…” and we are made in His image.