in a simple life which awakened no admiration at all: “Is not this the carpenter, the son ofMary?” (
Mk
6:3). In this way he sanctified human labour and endowed it with a special significance for our
development. As Saint JohnPaul II taught, “by enduring the toil ofwork inunionwithChrist crucified
for us,man in away collaborateswith the Son ofGod for the redemptionofhumanity”.
79
99.
In the Christian understanding of the world, the destiny of all creation is bound up with the
mystery of Christ, present from the beginning: “All things have been created though him and for him”
(
Col
1:16).
80
The prologue of the Gospel of John (1:1-18) reveals Christ’s creative work as the Divine
Word (
Logos
). But then, unexpectedly, the prologue goes on to say that this same Word “became
flesh” (
Jn
1:14). One Person of the Trinity entered into the created cosmos, throwing in his lot with it,
even to the cross. From the beginning of the world, but particularly through the incarnation, the
mystery of Christ is at work in a hidden manner in the natural world as a whole, without thereby
impingingon its autonomy.
100. The New Testament does not only tell us of the earthly Jesus and his tangible and loving
relationship with the world. It also shows him risen and glorious, present throughout creation by his
universal Lordship: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to
reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross”
(
Col
1:19-20). This leads us to direct our gaze to the end of time, when the Sonwill deliver all things
to the Father, so that “Godmay be everything to every one” (
1Cor
15:28). Thus, the creatures of this
world no longer appear to us undermerely natural guise because the risenOne ismysteriously holding
them to himself and directing them towards fullness as their end. The very flowers of the field and the
birdswhichhis human eyes contemplated and admired are now imbuedwithhis radiant presence.
79
Encyclical Letter
LaboremExercens
(14September 1981), 27:AAS73 (1981), 645.
80
HenceSaint Justin could speakof “seeds of theWord” in theworld; cf.
II Apologia
8, 1-2; 13, 3-6: PG6, 457-458, 467.
