20230207 ECOLOGY RESPECTS BOTH NATURE AND HUMANITY
07 February 2023 Tuesday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Genesis 1:20-2:4 © |
'Let us make man in our own image'
God said, ‘Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth within the vault of heaven.’ And so it was. God created great sea-serpents and every kind of living creature with which the waters teem, and every kind of winged creature. God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas; and let the birds multiply upon the earth.’ Evening came and morning came: the fifth day.
God said, ‘Let the earth produce every kind of living creature: cattle, reptiles, and every kind of wild beast.’ And so it was. God made every kind of wild beast, every kind of cattle, and every kind of land reptile. God saw that it was good.
God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth.’
God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I give you all the seed-bearing plants that are upon the whole earth, and all the trees with seed-bearing fruit; this shall be your food. To all wild beasts, all birds of heaven and all living reptiles on the earth I give all the foliage of plants for food.’ And so it was. God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Evening came and morning came: the sixth day.
Thus heaven and earth were completed with all their array. On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing. He rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he had rested after all his work of creating.
Such were the origins of heaven and earth when they were created.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 8:4-9 © |
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars which you arranged,
what is man that you should keep him in mind,
mortal man that you care for him?
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
Yet you have made him little less than a god;
with glory and honour you crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your hand,
put all things under his feet.
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
All of them, sheep and cattle,
yes, even the savage beasts,
birds of the air, and fish
that make their way through the waters.
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:24 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me, Lord, to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ps118:36,29 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Bend my heart to your will, O Lord,
and teach me your law.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 7:1-13 © |
You get round the commandment of God to preserve your own tradition
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus, and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. For the Pharisees, and the Jews in general, follow the tradition of the elders and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow; and on returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There are also many other observances which have been handed down to them concerning the washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes. So these Pharisees and scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands?’ He answered, ‘It was of you hypocrites that Isaiah so rightly prophesied in this passage of scripture:
This people honours me only with lip-service,
while their hearts are far from me.
The worship they offer me is worthless,
the doctrines they teach are only human regulations.
You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.’ And he said to them, ‘How ingeniously you get round the commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition! For Moses said: Do your duty to your father and your mother, and, Anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death. But you say, “If a man says to his father or mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is Corban (that is, dedicated to God), then he is forbidden from that moment to do anything for his father or mother.” In this way you make God’s word null and void for the sake of your tradition which you have handed down. And you do many other things like this.’
ECOLOGY RESPECTS BOTH NATURE AND HUMANITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GEN 1:20-2:4; PS 8:4-9; MARK 7:1-13]
In the first reading, we read of the beauty of God’s creation. The magnificent works of God are seen in His creation. The author in a simplistic manner suitable to his time described the various stages of creation, the sea creatures, the birds that fly in the air; the creatures of the land and finally, the creation of human beings as the summit of creation. But unlike the rest of creation, “God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.” Clearly, man has a special place in God’s creation. He is distinguished from all creatures and creation. His special dignity lies in the fact that man is like God, sharing the life of God and yet not divine like God.
Because he shares in the life of God, he is given special authority to exercise dominion on behalf of God. God said, “Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of the heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth.” “God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth.'” Man, then, is given power over the rest of creation. Man did not create the world and so he is not the creator but only a steward. We do not have full authority over creation to do what we like, but to exercise stewardship on behalf of God for His creation. We are therefore not absolute masters but merely exercising stewardship in the name of God.
What is proper stewardship of God’s creation? Firstly, God created the world for the service of human beings and for their good. God said, “See, I give you all the seed-bearing plants that are upon the whole earth, and all the trees with seed-bearing fruit; this shall be your food. To all wild beasts, all birds of heaven and all living reptiles on the earth I give all the foliage of plants for food.” Creation is therefore for the service of man. Other creatures and plants exist to serve humanity. In this sense, we have a right over creation and we can make use of them for our needs and growth. Yet, there are limits as to how we can use them for our purpose.
Proper stewardship also means that we do not destroy their existence. They are created by God and we have a duty also to protect them and help them to fulfil their roles in creation, be they plants or animals. Everything has a finality. We are created for a purpose. Dogs are given to humanity so that they can protect and guide us and be our companions. All creatures exist for something or someone. The meaning of life is when we fulfil our finality in life. Otherwise, we live our lives in vain. Women are created for motherhood and they find the most fulfilling task in bearing children and looking after them. Of course, some are also called to serve humanity in leadership roles. But fundamentally, women are given a nurturing nature to look after the young. This explains why most women choose family over their career if a choice has to be made, even when they are doing well in life. As for the case of the Father, he finds himself when he gives himself to his wife and family by being their protector, defender and provider. Of course, such conventional roles are not exclusively the role of any particular sex. The point remains that unless we fulfil our roles in life, and this goes for all of creation, we cannot find fulfilment. Hence, the greatest joy of a dog is to serve his master or mistress.
Accordingly, we cannot abuse creation. The failure to respect ecology is a serious sin in today’s world when many, especially multinational corporations, exploit creation out of greed, profit and selfishness. Instead of being wise stewards, we have destroyed creation.
The severe climate change we are experiencing today, resulting in freak typhoons, floods, extreme temperatures, etc, is a consequence of our neglect and irresponsible exploitation of creation. Hence, the rallying call today, not just by religious leaders but all of humanity, to protect creation, especially plants, animals and the environment. The truth is that there is a deep and intrinsic relationship between human beings and creation. When we manipulate creation, and do not respect the laws of nature, we will suffer the backlash of nature. Nature has its own natural laws to govern them. By upsetting the ecosystem, the principle of cause and effect sets in. Nature is blind and will respond according to its own set of laws. The uncontrolled and irresponsible treatment of nature will cause the entire creation to suffer because we are inter-related and inter-dependent as creatures of God.
This was the case of the Jews as well. They were manipulating the laws for their own self-interest. Jesus reprimanded them for acting hypocritically because they used the laws not to glorify God or to help their fellowmen or fulfil their obligations to their loved ones, but in order to escape responsibility. Citing from Isaiah, Jesus answered, “It was of you hypocrites that Isaiah so rightly prophesied in this passage of scripture: This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, the doctrines they teach are only human regulations.” The hygienic laws are in themselves good, but they are means to an end. They are meant to help foster healthy lifestyles; not to separate people from God or hinder them from coming to God. Most of all, the practice of such rituals without understanding will not achieve its purpose. This is true for other practices like the Sabbath. The true meaning of Sabbath is to ensure that man rests properly, not so much that God needs to rest. Rather, it is to remind us that God ultimately is in charge of His creation. We should not think that we are in full control. We are to cooperate with Him and do what we can to protect and use His creation to glorify Him. When we take the Sabbath rest seriously, we are reminded that God is our creator and that all we have come from Him; and that we are called to use them for the good of our brothers and sisters. We should not have a blind observance of the laws. Slavery to the laws is no better than not observing them. Those who observe them could do so for wrong motives, selfishness and for their ego and escape from a wrathful and unreasonable god.
So we must use the gifts of God rightly, according to what nature determines. We must have respect for natural laws. Even then, this is not enough. The world is quite short-sighted. It does not go beyond respect for nature to human nature. The world only speaks of the environment and the other creatures but fail to consider human ecology as well. Increasingly, recent popes have been warning of the danger of seeing nature as more important than human beings. It is not enough to protect the natural environment. We must also protect the human environment. Environmental ecology suffers only because human ecology is not respected. The weakening of humanity, especially in human virtues, will affect the way we treat the environment.
It is for this reason that we need to pay attention to the ecology of the human family, marriage and social life. The social role of the family is to build a civilization of love. John Paul II wrote, “The first and fundamental structure for a ‘human ecology’ is the family, founded on marriage, in which the mutual gift of self as husband and wife creates an environment in which children can be born and grow up” (Centesimus Annus, No. 39). The complementarity of man and woman must be underscored in fostering a new human ecology. Both have an indispensable contribution to society. When the family and marriage are subjected to redefinition by ideologists, we forget that the family is an anthropological fact, not something left to be determined by concepts based on some preconceived ideological notion that changes with time. Because of individualism, marriage as a permanent institution is no longer embraced by many, nor is marriage seen as a union between a man and a woman. When this human ecology is not respected, we will have many problems in the future with respect to the raising of holistic children and families.
Human ecology also extends to the care and respect for life in all its stages. Every human life must be respected from conception to old age and death. The dignity of every human person, because he or she is created in God’s image and likeness, must be protected. An authentic human ecology restores the balance between creation and the human persons. We must never forget that persons live in environments, natural, social and economic. So stewardship is necessary if we are to restore the integrity of creation. When the human person is in danger because he forgets his place in creation, the person will abuse creation as well. The crises affecting the natural world, society, marriage and the family are manifestations of the loss of our dignity and vocation in life.
The real problem affecting ecology today is not simply a question of economics, but ethics and morality and most of all, our understanding of anthropology. Who is man? This is the ultimate question in ecology. Once we appreciate that man is created in God’s image and likeness and has been entrusted by God with the task of helping creation to realize its fulfilment by protecting and caring for it, we would pay attention to every human person, the importance of the family, the dignity of life, the culture of solidarity, the danger of a culture of consumerism and waste. When everyone and everything is in right relationship and in the right order, there will then be world peace.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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