“The grace of God has appeared. Grace is a synonym of beauty. Tonight, in the beauty of God’s love, we also discover our own beauty, for we are beloved of God. For better or worse, in sickness and in health, whether happy or sad, in his eyes we are beautiful, not for what we do but for what we are. Deep within us, there is an indelible and intangible beauty, an irrepressible beauty, which is the core of our being. Today God reminds us of this. He lovingly takes upon himself our humanity and makes it his own, “espousing” it forever.” (Pope Francis)

Contrary to human understanding, beauty is not so much a physical thing but an internal quality. How much time we spend to maintain our physical appearance in contrast to how much time we spend enhancing our real beauty, our inner self? But our real beauty is the person we are in the eyes of God.  He confers true beauty upon us. In being and knowing that we are the beloved of God is more important than all the efforts we expend to stay young and physically beautiful. For one day we will grow old and die. Where is the physical beauty then? But if I die aware that I am the beloved of God, then my true beauty will last forever in glory. This is the mystery which the coming of Jesus seeks to convey to us in a fresh new way.