234. Saint John of the Cross taught that all the goodness present in the realities and experiences of
this world “is present in God eminently and infinitely, or more properly, in each of these sublime
realities isGod”.
161
This is not because the finite things of this world are really divine, but because the
mystic experiences the intimate connection between God and all beings, and thus feels that “all things
are God”.
162
Standing awestruck before a mountain, he or she cannot separate this experience from
God, and perceives that the interior awe being lived has to be entrusted to the Lord: “Mountains have
heights and they are plentiful, vast, beautiful, graceful, bright and fragrant. Thesemountains are what
myBeloved is to me. Lonely valleys are quiet, pleasant, cool, shady and flowingwith fresh water; in
the variety of their groves and in the sweet song of the birds, they afford abundant recreation and
delight to the senses, and in their solitude and silence, they refresh us and give rest. These valleys are
whatmyBeloved is tome”.
163
235. The Sacraments are a privilegedway inwhich nature is taken up byGod to become ameans of
mediating supernatural life. Through our worship of God, we are invited to embrace the world on a
different plane. Water, oil, fire and colours are taken up in all their symbolic power and incorporated
in our act of praise. The hand that blesses is an instrument of God’s love and a reflection of the
closeness of Jesus Christ, who came to accompany us on the journey of life. Water poured over the
body of a child in Baptism is a sign of new life. Encountering God does not mean fleeing from this
world or turning our back on nature. This is especially clear in the spirituality of the Christian East.
“Beauty, which in theEast is one of thebest loved names expressing the divineharmony and themodel
of humanity transfigured, appears everywhere: in the shape of a church, in the sounds, in the colours, in
the lights, in the scents”.
164
For Christians, all the creatures of the material universe find their true
meaning in the incarnateWord, for the Son ofGod has incorporated in his person part of the material
world, planting in it a seed of definitive transformation. “Christianity does not reject matter. Rather,
bodiliness is considered in all its value in the liturgical act, whereby the human body is disclosed in its
161
Cántico Espiritual
,XIV, 5.
162
Ibid.
163
Ibid., XIV, 6-7.
164
JOHNPAUL II,ApostolicLetter
OrientaleLumen
(2May1995), 11:AAS 87 (1995), 757.
