2. Awe and wonder: beholding harmony

STAGE 1: Facing Reality

AWE AND WONDER

BEHOLDING HARMONY

Introductory Prayer: Come, Holy Spirit (Just click or tap)

CALL

Aim: To feel our call to honour God’s creation.

Reading

Creation of the universe (Gen 1:1-25): In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters”. So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”. And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it”. And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth”. And it was so. God made the two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night – and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky”. So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth”. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind”. And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

Comment

“And God said: ‘Let there be…’” (Gen 1:3ff). God “calls” and things come to existence. We continue the work of creation whenever we pay attention to the “inner call” to manifest love and promote beauty around us.

Pope Francis, in his Encyclical Letter Laudato Sì, on care for our common home, writes: “[…] ‘By the word of the Lord the heavens were made’ (Ps 33:6). This tells us that the world came about as the result of a decision, not from chaos or chance, and this exalts it all the more. The creating word expresses a free choice. The universe did not emerge as the result of arbitrary omnipotence, a show of force or a desire for self-assertion. Creation is of the order of love. God’s love is the fundamental moving force in all created things: ‘For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made; for you would not have made anything if you had hated it’ (Wis 11:24). Every creature is thus the object of the Father’s tenderness, who gives it its place in the world. Even the fleeting life of the least of beings is the object of his love, and in its few seconds of existence, God enfolds it with his affection. St. Basil the Great described the Creator as ‘goodness without measure’, while Dante Alighieri spoke of ‘the love which moves the sun and the stars’. Consequently, we can ascend from created things ‘to the greatness of God and to his loving mercy’ […]” (n. 77).

Personal Reflection and Sharing

What does creation tell me about God’s love? In my own way, how do I reflect the same love in my relationship with creation?

[1-2] CALL RESPONSE COMMITMENT PRAYER