Light In Your Eyes
I worship not the matter but the Creator of matter who became matter for me.
—St. John of Damascus
Today Christians celebrate the feastday of St. John of Damascus who is probably most famous for his defense of the use of holy images in worship and prayer. Unfortunately, it is still quite common for Christians to argue over the use of icons and other images in the liturgical life of the Church. Many believers continue to argue that since the Scriptures forbid the making of “graven images” we should never have statues or pictures of Christ or the saints in our places of worship, in our homes, on our crosses or any other place we might seek adorn with reminders of Christ’s presence in our lives.
We can give thanks to St. John of Damascus and other Christians like him who pointed out that it is God Himself who created the first icon when he sent his Son to dwell among us, taking on human flesh. Christ’s entry into the world as a human being changes the game, so to speak. The Incarnation gives us an image of God that is very much physical. The first letter of John puts it this way,
This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked upon, and our hands have touched–we speak of the word of life. (1 John 1:1)
Advent gives us a unique chance to prepare for the celebration of Christmas, when we remember that Christ came and dwelt among us. The first Christians saw Him, heard Him and touched Him. This is how we can now justify displaying His image. Growing up in the South I was accused many times of worshipping statues. My protestant friends did not understand why Catholics had images of Jesus and the saints in our church buildings. My best explanation was similar to St. John of Damascus. I would explain that the images are reminders of the people whom they represent and that we are able to distinguish between Christ and a statue of Him in the same way that one can distinguish between a picture of one’s parents and them standing before you in the flesh. For some of my friends this was an acceptable explanation and for others it was not. Nevertheless, I was always glad to have images to represent the physical dimension of my faith. We are made up of both body and spirit after all, so why should our worship neglect the physical?
This morning I pointed out to our parishioners at daily mass that our Christian history has produced icons that have become famous, but that perhaps the more important ones are to be found in our own parish. Those icons are the living members of our parish and all you have to do during worship is to look to your left or right to see a person who is made in the image and likeness of God. I’m sure that most of us would be scandalized were we to see someone mistreating an picture of Jesus, a Bible, a cross, or any other symbol of Christ. Very often we forget that each person we meet is made in the God’s image too. If only we remembered this more often we might more easily treat one another with greater love and respect.
I am glad to have saints like John of Damascus to remind me that the presence of Christ is set before me every day in the face of each person I meet.
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