Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Evil is a lack. It subtracts from our goodness. It distorts the truth. It deforms our beauty. It diminishes us leaving a void and emptiness that nothing fills. As St. Paul remarks among those enslaved in evil, are “among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death” (2 Cor 2:15).
Evil odors permeate our lives. Pungent, a vapor wafting through the air, subtly appears. It pervades every aspect of our lives, trying to deceive us. These odors come from the Father of Lies, trying to corrupt our lives. He, the master deceiver, wants to permeate our lives with his deceits leading us to share in his permanent death. To do this, he changes our thinking. Good becomes evil and evil is seen as good. Light becomes the darkness, and the darkness becomes the light. Lies are truths and truths are lies (Is 5:20). The Father of Lies inverts reality, creating relativism as Pope Benedict explains: “We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Homily 18 April 2005).
Evil with all its machinations and deceptions intrigues, seducing us with secret, hidden and forbidden knowledge. This forbidden fruit deceives us thinking we will have more, be more if we conform to his deceit. So many get caught up in his grip. Ugliness becomes beautiful and the beautiful is deemed ugly. Such a distortion, this odor of evil has become ordinary today, as we forget the fragrance of beauty.
Though the Father of Lies tries to seduce us with his attractive—seductive— illusions, we smell the deceptions. We perceive his hypocrisy. He promises more, yet, we feel the hollowness of those promises. Perceptive, the prophets tell us what his lies do:
“Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a putting on of sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame” (Is 3:24).
Beauty, shining in glory, chokes the odor of evil. Beauty looks and smells different. Instead of a stench coming from death, there is an aroma, a fragrance, a value, that comes from life. St. Paul gives the contrast, “Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved” (2 Cor 2:14). This is the fragrance of life, not just natural, but eternal life with Christ.
As Springtime, flowers blooming in all their glory, our lives, filled with the fragrance of life and love, bloom with beauty. We exit from evil’s deceptions, knowing they corrupt and condemn us; whereas beauty enriches and enhances.
The difference is clear. Beauty brings a fragrance that is a light and refreshing breeze. This scent offers expectation and aspiration. Evil, on the other hand, brings an odor of death beginning with desolation and depression. In the contrast, each individual must choose. Those who live in the stench of evil, fear the aroma of beauty. They cannot fathom their perceptions are deceptions leading them into the foul and vulgar. As Proverbs teaches, evil disguises itself in attractiveness, only to be exposed as illusory. “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (Pro 31:30). All that attracts is not beautiful. It only appears beautiful. True beauty comes from the heart and captures our heart. Captured, fear—that reverence we give to God—distinguishes the appearances of beauty from the truly beautiful.
We, as did Samuel, must learn God’s distinctions. He does not look at appearances, stature, nor position. He looks “on the heart” (I Sam 16:7). What beautifies our hearts? St. Paul speaking to the Ephesians, explains the difference. “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:1-2). Sacrificial love, God’s greatest gift, blooms in our hearts making them beautiful.
Love’s beauty has a quality that is not merely subjective nor charming. This beauty is not easily deceived because it has an objective and sacrificial character. It is not relative, nor does it trivialize evil, but is genuine. Genuine love brings about the beauty in another knowing he has an inestimable and innate goodness.
Love’s beauty has a reality that permeates our lives with integrity, clarity, and beatitude. Integrity is wholeness. Nothing is lacking within our being. There is no taint or stain, nothing is missing or out of place. It is perfection. People of integrity live differently. They do not live by appearances and charms, but by deeds integrated and upholding the principles and standards of righteous living. As the proverb states, they do what is right even when no one is looking.
Clarity is intelligibility. It has rhythm and pattern, dancing in harmony giving understanding. Though veiled, clarity comes making the intelligible knowable. Once known, it becomes delectable—loveable—for I love truly only what I know is beautiful.
Beatitude is happiness. It is pure bliss as we live not just righteously, but graciously. We are filled with grace which transfigures our lives knowing our life has a transcendent and eternal destiny. The Psalmist reveals this in his prayer, “Your face, LORD, do I seek. Hide not your face from me” (Ps 27:8–9).
These three, integrity, clarity, and beatitude define love’s beauty. They distinguish true beauty from charmful deceits and allurements. To ward off these charms and allurements, we choose to live beautifully knowing, “This world is passing away” (I Cor 7:31). St. Paul who lived in the odor of evil tells us to live in the love of Christ. Christ’s love, a fragrant invitation, sets us free.
Christ’s love, though it sets us free, is not free. It has a price. The price is repentance. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). Repentance recognizes the pervasive evil odors in our lives. Repentance, however, has that powerful position in which we no longer allow evil to invade our lives. We reject, renounce, and rebuke evil and any odor of evil knowing nothing imperfect enters the presence of True Beauty.
Repentance then removes our imperfections allowing beauty to fill us with her integrity, clarity, and beatitude. Repentance, as Ezekiel reveals, is “a pleasing odor” (Eze 20:41). Through repentance, God manifests his holiness in us. We become his people, and He is our God. He is the measure of our beauty. Belonging to God, as his sons and daughters, gives off a fragrant scent. His love penetrates our hearts making them beautiful in his eyes.