Magnum Opus

Seeing children as our greatest achievements

10/13/2025

Luke 11:29-32 While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here."

Every great artist, composer, inventor, genius produces a magnum opus. That is, a work that is his or her highest achievement. That for which he was put here on earth. Most classical music critics would say Beethoven’s magnum opus was his 9th symphony, in which he combined both symphonic music with sung poetry. He believed that orchestral music alone could not express all he wanted to convey.

Joseph Krips, the leading Austrian conductor of the 20th century, summed up his personal vision of the finale of Beethoven’s 9th symphony observing: “For me, the Choral finale simply does not take place here on earth…In my mind’s eye I see quite clearly the instant in which Beethoven enters Heaven. The finale tells us of his arrival, and how all of Heavens stands still in his presence.” In other words, true genius moves not only earth but heaven. In a word, it is timeless.

This morning we hear the beginning of St. Paul’s magnum opus, his Letter to the Romans, our first reading. St. Paul wrote 13 letters in the New Testament: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

And as Sacred Scripture, each letter is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but Paul’s Letter to the Romans is a little more inspired than all the rest. That is, not only is the Holy Spirit at work, but he has harnessed all the human genius of his earthly counterpart, St. Paul. In the words of Joseph Krips, in his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul makes “all of Heaven stand still.”

In the gospel today we see that God the Father also had a magnum opus, namely, his Son, Jesus Christ. Our Lord himself acknowledges his supreme status in Luke 11: “There is something greater than Solomon here…There is something greater than Jonah here.” And if Jesus wanted to include the New Testament, he might have also added: “There is something greater than Romans here.”

In other words, Jesus is the magnum opus that puts all other magnum opuses to shame. Why? Well because saying “all Heaven stands still” is a little hyperbolic for human genius, but it is simply cold hard fact for divine genius. That is, Jesus could rightly assert, “There is something greater than Beethoven’s 9th symphony here.” Indeed, Jesus is greater than all human genius combined, even human genius inspired by the Holy Spirit, like Sacred Scripture. You see, he is the Word of God in no way limited by human deficiencies or imperfections.

My friends, what would you consider your magnum opus? Since we have been created in the image and likeness of God, we are destined to be creators. We cannot be otherwise. God creates because his knowledge, power, and love cannot be contained.

So, too, we create in our own human fashion because knowledge, power, and love overflow in us. We may have a signature recipe: no one makes coconut crème pie like Laverne Neihouse. No one can preach a homily like Archbishop Fulton Sheen. And no one can play tennis as elegantly as Roger Federer.

But by far our magnum opus is when we become co-creators, or better procreators, with God’s help, that is, when we bring a child into this world. Why is a child your magnum opus? Well, because while mom and dad provide the genetic material for a human being, 23 chromosomes, only God can supply the soul.

In other words, every child is a masterpiece because it is not the achievement of what two people can do but the result of God’s grace. This is the deepest meaning of the scriptural phrase in Mt 19, “What God has joined together, man must not divide.” That is, God does not just join together a man and a woman in marriage, he later joins them together inseparably and eternally – through their intimate love in using their chromosomes – in a new human being.

And when that miracle of life occurs in a woman’s womb, the words of Joseph Krips comes true: “All of Heaven stands still.” My friends, you and I are also God’s masterpiece, not on the scale of his magnum opus, Jesus, but he delights in us like Beethoven delighted in all his symphonies. Every time parents bring a child into the world, they have created someone timeless, their magnum opus.

Praised be Jesus Christ!