It is important that we see beauty in that way. Beautiful things convey to us the presence and the power of God. And one of the places in life where God can be encountered is in that which is beautiful. Now I think we regularly associate God with goodness and truth, but how often do we associate God with beauty? This insight is the new learning which results from my convoluted discourse about Greek Philosophy and the gospel. Whenever you encountered beauty, beauty you could see or hear or touch, beauty reflected God. Whenever you encountered truth in life, whether that truth was correctness or responsibility or honesty, in truth God was present. Greek philosophy believed that whenever you encountered goodness in life, whether that was moral goodness or human goodness, goodness reflected God. There was a consensus in Greek philosophy that there were three places in life where God was most clearly reflected: in that which was good, in that which was true, and in that which was beautiful. They thought extensively about such questions. Here is where the Greek philosophers become useful. Therefore, life is a portal, a threshold to God.īut where in life do we find God? That is a deeper question. It is in life that we find the reflection of God. Conversely whenever we encounter life, we also encounter God’s presence. Our God is not God of the dead but God of the living. Now I know this argumentation by Jesus is far from clear, but its conclusion is obvious. Because God is not God of the dead but God of the living. But if God was still their God, they must, in some sense, still be alive. He says that at the burning bush, God revealed to Moses that God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How does he argue this? From the scriptures. Moreover, in today’s gospel Jesus is arguing with the Sadducees over two questions, which are central to Greek philosophy: Who Is God? And what happens after death? Against the position of the Sadducees, Jesus argues that after death there is a resurrection from the dead. Their beliefs have also deeply influenced the thinking of saints such as Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
In fact, the teachings of these founders of Western Civilization have been used by the Catholic Church throughout the centuries to shape many of the theological beliefs that we find in the catechism. But that does not mean that the great ideas of minds such as Plato or Aristotle are irrelevant to the gospel. I do not usually refer to Greek philosophy in my homilies.
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