COLLECT: “GOD OF MIGHT, GIVER OF EVERY GOOD GIFT, PUT INTO OUR HEART THE LOVE OF YOUR NAME, SO THAT, BY DEEPENING OUR SENSE OF REVERENCE, YOU MAY NURTURE IN US WHAT IS GOOD AND, YOUR WATCHFUL CARE, KEEP SAFE WHAT YOU HAVE NURTURED. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
Wis 13:1-9 or Col 1:15-20; Ps 19:2-5; and Mt 6:24-34 or Mt 8:23-27.
Today’s celebration wishes to remind, as well as create awareness in some of us, why we should take care of creation. Dr David W. Jones gave us four reasons why we, and Christians in particular, should care about creation.
1. “We care for creation because Christianity is a comprehensive worldview”. We should care for creation because Christianity is a comprehensive worldview. Christianity is not something disconnected from everyday life. Christianity and the Gospel message should affect every area of our existence, including the salvation of souls, the reformation of morals and the restoration of the material world.
2. “We care for creation because we live in it”. The created order is where we dwell, where we labour and rest. It is shaped by God’s redemptive activities. We are encouraged to take active interest in caring for it. The interest in the material world is manifest among the people of God in 1Kgs 4:33. King Solomon spoke of trees, from cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. Similarly, King David appointed forestry and agricultural officials throughout Israel (Cf. 1Chrn 27: 27-28).
3. “We care for creation because it reveals God’s character”. When we engage in the care of creation, we can gain knowledge of God. Indeed, God began to reveal himself to us in the context of creation (Cf. Gen 1-2). Scripture also has it that God is available to us through the material things in the world (Cf. Ps 19:1-6; 104; Rom 1:20)
4. “We care for creation because doing so validates and displays the Gospel”. Just as many of Jesus’ miracles communicated the triumph of the gospel over sin-tainted creation, so our care for the material world and those in it can communicate the same message. Jesus healed the sick; we can care for them. He created food; we can prepare and distribute it. Jesus calmed the storm; we can steward the environment.
May we always endeavour to take care of the beautiful creation that God gave. Let us not destroy it by our evil and selfish actions – let us take care of our water bodies, the earth, the atmosphere, the forest, and all the living creatures. Stay blessed.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, MONDAY, ON THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES: ‘THE ANNUNCIATION, THE VISITATION, THE BIRTH OF JESUS, THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE AND THE FINDING OF THE CHILD JESUS IN THE TEMPLE’. (LET US PRAY FOR HUMILITY, LOVE OF NEIGHBOUR, POVERTY IN SPIRIT, OBEDIENCE AND JOY IN FINDING JESUS) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen”.
PRAYER: “RENEWED BY THIS BREAD FROM THE HEAVENLY TABLE, WE BESEECH YOU, LORD, THAT, BEING THE FOOD OF CHARITY, IT MAY CONFIRM OUR HEARTS AND STIR US TO SERVE YOU IN OUR NEIGHBOUR. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN”.
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.com.
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