Alphonsus Liguori: Beautiful Creatures

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Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26

“But He did not wish to give us only beautiful creatures; the truth is that to win for Himself our love, He went so far as to bestow upon us the fullness of Himself. The eternal Father went so far as to give us His only Son.”

Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) in Practice as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 247.

Yesterday, I spent time with special friends in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tim Dittloff and Charlie Brandt. God blessed us with a great day together. Something special happened.

I grew up around the Great Lakes. For a long time, as long as I can remember, I had wanted to catch a steelhead (a lake run rainbow trout) and a lake trout. Listen to what happened yesterday.

Tim arranged the charter. We went fishing. I landed one of each of these beautiful creatures. But here’s the best part. The main fish we were targeting was salmon, either coho or king salmon.

I asked Mark Herring, of King of Kings (Christian charter boat), what fish might we catch today. He said we’d mainly see coho salmon, and possibly kings. He added that we might have a rare shot at a steelhead, and he had not seen a laker yet this year.

When fishing we would take turns as the charter had many lines in the water. We were trolling. Long story short, I caught a nice coho. I got the first fish. Then when it was my turn again, I said, “Lord, I’d love to catch a steelhead.”

God blessed me with a 29″ trophy steelhead. It was about a 20 minute battle. Charlie proclaimed, “God heard your prayer. He loves you. He gave you exactly what you asked for.”

My next two fish were coho salmon. As the limit is five fish, I said that it’d be cool if I got a lake trout. You can guess where this is going. I landed a 30″ lake trout. Tim reminded me that God was sending me a huge message with that fish.

As we made our back to Milwaukee harbor, I pondered that God gave me two gifts. They were beautiful creatures who reminded me that God is the greatest and most generous Giver who hears our prayers.

I continued to ponder. Even more than that, He gave me what I needed most, His only Son, Jesus. Thanks Father! I love you.

Take a moment and ponder beautiful creatures. Perhaps you have a dog or a cat. Remember who made that animal and then who made you, and who loves you so much He gave you Jesus!