I THANK YOU FOR THE WONDER OF MY BEING

SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST - Psalm 139:1-3,13-15

With the Psalm 139, we sing the praises of the Lord, realising how wonderful his works are. It is enough to have a quick look at everything that surrounds us to be filled with awe. In the dark of the night, lifting our eyes to the glittering stars, we feel lost in the immensity of the universe. Indeed,

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,

mortals that you care for them?” (Ps 8:3-4)

However, the wonder which fills our hearts and minds becomes even bigger, when we look at ourselves:

“Yet you have made them a little lower than God,

and crowned them with glory and honour” (Ps 8:5)

Looking at ourselves, we are able to contemplate a mystery much bigger than ourselves, a mystery that speaks of God’s mystery. In touch with the mystery of our being, we are led to guess that we are the project of someone who thought of us and loved us before we ever existed. As “I was being fashioned in secret and moulded in the depths of the earth”, the Lord “knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Ps 139:13,15). Lord, “I thank you for the wonder of my being” (Ps 139:14).

However, nowadays, there is an increasing number of people who feel uncomfortable with themselves, wishing and dreaming of being someone else. There are people who feel imprisoned or trapped in a body they do not like. They are not able to appreciate the affection with which God made them, neither are they able to feel loved. They cannot recognise in themselves the presence of God’s mystery, who called them by name. It is impossible to feel at home with ourselves, when we do not accept ourselves as we are and when we are unable to recognise with astonishment the wonderful work, which God has done in us. Instead of revolting and hating ourselves, we must sing God’s praises. 

There are people who suffer from a delusion of being a person in the wrong body and, instead of being offered treatment for such a condition, they are given the right to construct themselves as they desire, even in contravention of their bodies. The right, which some demand for themselves, to construct oneself against the biological marks that run deep even at the chromosome level, is an abuse of nature that only works when upheld by a continuous treatment with drugs. The rejection of the body and its biological aspects is a sign of dysphoria that should be treated as a sickness, rather than being recognised as a right of choice that will transform me into a person constructed and maintained artificially. 

As we celebrate the solemnity of the birthday of St. John the Baptist, lets us recognise the project which God has for us and give thanks and praise, because of the wonderful way in which he has made us.