20170206 CREATION IS DEPENDENT ON GOD FOR ITS INDEPENDENCE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Red.
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First reading
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Genesis 1:1-19 ©
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In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was
darkness over the deep, and God’s spirit hovered over the water.
God said,
‘Let there be light’, and there was light. God saw that light was good, and God
divided light from darkness. God called light ‘day’, and darkness he called
‘night.’ Evening came and morning came: the first day.
God said,
‘Let there be a vault in the waters to divide the waters in two.’ And so it
was. God made the vault, and it divided the waters above the vault from the
waters under the vault. God called the vault ‘heaven.’ Evening came and morning
came: the second day.
God said,
‘Let the waters under heaven come together into a single mass, and let dry land
appear.’ And so it was. God called the dry land ‘earth’ and the mass of waters
‘seas’, and God saw that it was good.
God said,
‘Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees bearing
fruit with their seed inside, on the earth.’ And so it was. The earth produced
vegetation: plants bearing seed in their several kinds, and trees bearing fruit
with their seed inside in their several kinds. God saw that it was good.
Evening came and morning came: the third day.
God said,
‘Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to divide day from night, and let
them indicate festivals, days and years. Let them be lights in the vault of
heaven to shine on the earth.’ And so it was. God made the two great lights:
the greater light to govern the day, the smaller light to govern the night, and
the stars. God set them in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth, to govern
the day and the night and to divide light from darkness. God saw that it was
good. Evening came and morning came: the fourth day.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
103(104):1-2,5-6,10,12,24,35 ©
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May the Lord
rejoice in his works!
Bless the Lord, my
soul!
Lord God,
how great you are,
clothed in majesty
and glory,
wrapped
in light as in a robe!
May the Lord
rejoice in his works!
You founded the earth
on its base,
to stand
firm from age to age.
You wrapped it with
the ocean like a cloak:
the
waters stood higher than the mountains.
May the Lord
rejoice in his works!
You make springs gush
forth in the valleys;
they flow
in between the hills.
On their banks dwell
the birds of heaven;
from the
branches they sing their song.
May the Lord
rejoice in his works!
How many are your
works, O Lord!
In wisdom
you have made them all.
The earth
is full of your riches.
Bless the Lord, my
soul!
May the Lord
rejoice in his works!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn8:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the
world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me
will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Mt4:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the
Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds
of sickness among the people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 6:53-56 ©
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Having made the
crossing, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up. No
sooner had they stepped out of the boat than people recognised him, and started
hurrying all through the countryside and brought the sick on stretchers to
wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, to village, or town, or farm,
they laid down the sick in the open spaces, begging him to let them touch even
the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched him were cured.
CREATION
IS DEPENDENT ON GOD FOR ITS INDEPENDENCE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ GEN 1:1-19; PS 103:1-2,5-6,10,12,24,35; MK 6:53-56 ]
Today, the Church invites
us to reflect on the origin of life and this universe. When we
contemplate on nature and creation, we are filled with awe at the splendor of
this earth and the entire creation. Who could have engineered such a
reality? The book of Genesis speaks of the beginning of creation and the human
race in a primitive and unscientific way suitable to the people at that
time. Yet what is at stake is not how the world comes into being, that
is, the process but the origin and why of creation. The scripture is not
a textbook on science but a revelation of the plan of God for humanity.
The Word of God is concerned with the why, not the how of the beginning of
creation.
The Christian answer to the
origin of creation is that God alone is the cause of creation and the why of
creation. He is the primary cause and the efficient cause of
creation. Hence our faith and creed begins with this declaration, “I
believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and
of all that is visible and invisible.” This profession of faith that God
is the creator of all that exists is not so much a scientific statement but a
theological statement concerning our salvation. Unless God is in full
control of the origin and destiny of creation, we will be living under the
capricious laws of nature. Unless, God is our creator and therefore our
origin, our destiny is not certain.
Indeed, the denial of the
existence of God as the creator has led many to lose their purpose in
life. Those who subscribe to pantheism or process philosophy do not
believe there is a creator. Life therefore becomes a cyclical process of
dying and rising and being born again. There is no goal and no purpose in
life. There is no destiny but simply a continuous and unceasing repetition
of history. There is no goal except to enjoy as much as we can in this
life because the time will come when we will die, and then we will be reborn
again to the next life. It goes on and on for all eternity. It does
not explain the origin and purpose of life but simply describing the process
and the phenomenon as is seen. For this reason, the origin of creation is
dependent on God’s revelation to us of His plan.
For those of us who
subscribe to God as the creator, we come to realize that we are totally
dependent on God. Without God, we do not exist. Our absolute
dependence on God from the first moment of our existence reminds us of our
creatureliness. This does not mean that we are not independent. On
the contrary, creation has a limited autonomy from God but the point remains
that even the autonomy of man is dependent on the goodness of God. He
loves us so much that He has granted creation some independence to manage
itself. Indeed, being a creature and especially for us human beings, independence
is an essential element of our creaturely character. But our independence is
dependent on Him. In this way, we can speak of the freedom of the individual,
and yet this independence is totally dependent on Him. This is what the
creation story wants to underscore. Our dependence on God is through the bounty
of God’s love. Indeed, the greatest sin of idolatry is to make ourselves
the creator, which is what the scientific world is doing today. They
think the existence of the world is dependent on them. Man, because of
his achievements, has become so proud as to glorify himself instead of God.
The implication therefore
is that the scientific theory of evolution is not against the teaching of the
Church on creation, so long as it maintains that God is the origin of all life
and the efficient cause of all things in existence. Regardless whether it
is the big bang theory or the evolution theory, these remain scientific
theories and outside the scope of the intention of the book of Genesis.
What we need to maintain doctrinally without compromise is that God is the
primary source of life. This is the judgment of the author of Genesis
when he ended each day by declaring, “God saw that it was good.” Only by
recognizing God as creator, our origin and destiny, can we feel secure in this
world, knowing that this world is under His charge and that all of us who are
His creatures are oriented towards Him as the goal and destiny of life.
We do not live only in this world and for this world, but the autonomy of
creation means that we are called to share in the life and goodness of God.
Thus, even in our
independence we remain continuously dependent on God, for we cannot exist
without Him. This independence of human beings cannot be misunderstood to
exclude the creative activity of God completely, as science is suggesting. We
must not fall into Deism, that is, into thinking that God has brought the world
into its being and now has retired, leaving the world to operate on its
own. To speak of our dependence on God for our independence means to
admit that God is in our inmost core when we are acting. God acts in and
through us. We must never imagine God to be a cause in the category of causes
in this world. Rather, He is the cause in a transcendent manner, that is, outside
the series of causes in this world. He is the primary cause of
creation. He is not the first in a series of causes, like a woman giving
birth to her child or a painter to a painting. Rather, He is the primary
and sustaining cause outside of this world.
We must therefore avoid
falling into humanism, which suggests an absolute autonomy from God or more
than that, a denial of God. It is fundamentally the sin of impiety which
is the cause of all sins. When God is denied as the creator, man supplants
the place of God. Instead of God creating man, man makes himself the
creator of God. When God is banished from the face of the earth, we are
left to ourselves to manage the world. Without any reference point to our
beginning and a destiny, we live in flux, being swept by the changing values of
the world, swayed by changing opinions. This is why today we are living
in a world of relativism and pragmatism. Decisions are not based on
eternal values but on changing circumstances. What is good for today will
not hold for tomorrow. So it is a question of expediency that determines
our values; not whether it is based on truth.
For those of us who
understand and accept that God is the creator, and recognizing our dependence
on Him, we become truly free; more than the world. This is because we
know where we come from and what our destiny is. Real independence and
freedom is when we are rooted in God. The more we are connected to God, the
freer we become. We know our purpose and meaning in life. We know
that this life is but a pilgrimage to the fullness of life that lies beyond
this earth. This awareness will prevent us from clinging to the things of
this world and help us to be detached from the beauty of creation. We
come to realize that the things of this world are meant to help us to employ
them for the service of love. This enables us to enjoy this world and yet
be free enough to give away and share the resources we have with others, for at
the end of the day, what matters is love and relationship.
At the same time, even
though we are not a slave to the created things of this world, yet because they
manifest the glory of God, we are careful to use them well to glorify Him and
not destroy His creation. The psalmist invites us to recognize the Lord in creation.
“Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are, clothed in majesty
and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe! You founded the earth on its
base, to stand firm from age to age. You wrapped it with the ocean like a
cloak: the waters stood higher than the mountains. How many are your
works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your
riches. Bless the Lord, my soul!” Our prayer is that “the Lord rejoice in
his works!” Thus, the protection of the earth is part of Christian
faith not because we are pantheists worshipping the earth as god but because it
manifests the glory of God and we want to use the things of this earth in such
a way that glorify God by using it responsibly for the good of
humanity. Let creation be the glory of God.”
Just as
creation is a miracle for us, this miracle continues even when humanity defaces
and destroys God’s creation because of sin, especially of selfishness and
self-centeredness. In the gospel, we have Jesus who continued the miracle
of creation by exercising stewardship over creation. This is seen in the
earlier episode when He demonstrated His power over nature by multiplying
loaves for 5000 people. In the gospel, we also see Jesus’ power over
nature by His healing miracles, restoring the sick to wholeness. Just as
God created the world out of love and out of His goodness, He continues to act
in this manner even today. We can be confident therefore, to turn to
Jesus to restore us to wholeness when we are sick, spiritually, emotionally or
physically. Jesus, who is the Lord of the Sabbath and of creation, can
heal us of all our sins and afflictions. But this also calls for responsibility
in that we must be respectful of creation, including the human body by not
abusing it through the lack of sleep, the use of drugs and alcohol or to use it
for selfish acts. Let us use our body to glorify Him for the glory of God
is found in man fully alive. In this way, we show ourselves to be
good stewards of God’s creation.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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