Creation: The Revelation of God’s Goodness
Oh my God … you are infinite goodness, and as such you are infinitely diffusive. From all eternity with infinite goodness and mercy, you have decreed the ineffable work of the world’s creation. (OOCC, XIII, p. 30; GIL, I, p. 2)
St. Vincent Pallotti saw the created world as the revelation of God’s goodness. For him, God was infinite goodness. The good, by its very nature, was diffusive and God as infinite goodness was infinitely diffusive. He gave himself out in creation. Hence, the infinite goodness of God was operative in the process of the creation of the world. Since the goodness of God was the essential element in the work of the world’s creation, by his very creative act God had left a mark of his goodness in every creature. Therefore, every creature bore within itself an aspect of God’s goodness. For this reason, after the creation of the world God saw everything that he had made was, indeed, very good. According to St. Vincent, because every created reality contained an element of God’s goodness within it in an essential way, it became a medium through which the goodness of God was manifested. Thus, every created being, by being what God wanted it to be, turned out to be a revelation of God’s infinite goodness. This conviction made St. Vincent Pallotti to have right reverence for every created being and find God’s infinite presence in and through every creature. It also helped him to live out God’s goodness in his life, thereby becoming a revelation of God’s goodness in the world.
Do I acknowledge that God, in his infinite goodness, decreed the work of world’s creation? Do I believe that every created reality participates in the goodness of God, its creator? Do I cultivate right reverence for every created being, as it contains God’s goodness? Am I able to find the presence of God in and through every created being? In my own way, do I try to be a revelation of God’s goodness?
God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. (Gen. 1: 31)