Creation Redeemed

From St. Athanasius’ great treatise “On the Incarnation of the Word”:

“The Word of God, incorporeal, incorruptible and immaterial, entered our world. Yet it was not as if he had been remote from it up to that time. For there is no part of the world that was ever without his presence; together with his Father, he continually filled all things and places.

“ Out of his loving-kindness for us he came to us, and we see this in the way he revealed himself openly to us. Taking pity on our weakness, and moved by our corruption, he could not stand aside and see death have the mastery over us; he did not want creation to perish and his Father’s work in fashioning humanity to be in vain. He therefore took to himself a body, no different from our own, for he did not wish simply to be in a body or only to be seen.

“ If he had wanted simply to be seen, he could indeed have taken another, and nobler, body. Instead, he took our body in its reality.”

Jesus Christ, the Word of God, entered into the world of real time and place, Athanasius says.  The world was not a stage he used, to be dismantled and thrown away.  it was a reality he embraced and redeemed. “He is the Word through whom you made the universe; the Savior you sent to  redeem us.” “He became flesh and dwelt among us.”

God’s plan of salvation, then, was not restricted to human beings: “he did not want creation to perish and his Father’s work of fashioning humanity to be in vain.”

Earth Day and Solar Panels

Saturday evening,  April 21, after the 5 PM Mass, the Parish of St. Mary’s in Colts Neck, NJ, dedicated an array of solar panels that will cut their use of energy in the parish complex by 90%.  It’s the first parish in the Trenton Diocese to do it, and one hopes an incentive to others. Congratulations to Fr. Tom Triggs and his lively environmental committee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I offered these thoughts at two Sunday Masses the next morning:

“Bread from heaven.” How frequently Jesus uses earthly things to speak of the things of heaven. “I am the vine,” “I am the light,” “I am living water.” He calls himself the “son” of the “Father.”

Jesus takes things we know: birds of the air, flowers of the field, seed scattered in the earth, to point to things unknown. The created world reveals secrets of a world beyond here.

Shouldn’t we reverence creation then? If we follow Jesus we will. Yet, as we watch our natural world being plundered, its air and waters polluted, its environment sacrificed for human convenience and pleasure, we know our attitude toward our natural world must change. Human-centered and human-concerned, we lack respect for the non- human.

In the Book of Genesis, human beings are said to be made in the image of God and are given an important relationship to the rest of creation. We’re caretakers of creation; we don’t own it; we care for it for awhile. We have a responsibility for it; it has rights of its own, and we have to use all our ingenuity in its care.

Our understanding of God and Jesus Christ, his Son, also suffers from lack of respect for creation. Taking bread, taking wine, Jesus gave thanks; they’re creation’s ambassadors, instruments of a divine exchange. They enlarge our relationship to God by reminding us that God’s plan includes creation as well as our human family and it embraces even the simplest creative things.

Placing bread and wine on precious plates and in precious cups, we carry them to the altar in church and they bring Jesus to us. Can we begin to learn a greater respect for creation here?

The Glory of God

I was surprised to see Harold Camping at his usual place on television the other night. The rapture didn’t happen May 21st, he explained, because God wanted to alert the world that the end was going to come this October. A caller wondered if we could do anything about helping this world of ours, but Harold was quite firm that God was going to destroy it completely. It’s an open sewer, according to him. Nothing’s worth saving.

How different from the Christian vision of St. Irenaeus, the 3rd century  bishop of Lyons, whose feast we celebrate June 28th. He condemned the gnostics– favorites of new age thinkers today– for their dismissal of creation as evil. The One God is the source of our created world and we know him through it, Irenaeus taught. We cannot know God if we depreciate or ignore the world God has made; it mirrors his glory.

“The glory of God gives life; those who see God receive life. For this reason God, who cannot be grasped, comprehended or seen, allows himself to be seen, comprehended and grasped by us, that he may give life to those who see and receive him…  God is the source of all activity throughout creation. He cannot be seen or described in his own nature and in all his greatness by any of his creatures. Yet he is certainly not unknown.”

The Word of God has a twofold role, according to Irenaeus, revealing God in creation and finally coming in the flesh to complete this revelation in Jesus Christ.  No  one has ever seen God, except the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father; he has revealed him.

“He revealed God to us and presented us to God. He safeguarded the invisibility of the Father to prevent us from treating God with contempt and to set before us a constant goal toward which to make progress. On the other hand, he revealed God to us and made him visible in many ways to prevent us from being totally separated from God and so cease to be.

“Life in us is the glory of God; in human life one can see the vision of God. If the revelation of God through creation gives life to all who live upon the earth, much more does the manifestation of the Father through the Word give life to those who see God.”

Harold should read that wonderful story from the Book of Genesis we read yesterday at Mass about Abraham bargaining with God for the salvation of Sodom and Gomorrah. The world’s worth saving.

Bread and Wine

After the homily at every Sunday Mass, we pray the Creed, that sweeping summary of what we believe as Christians.  We say it before we bring the bread and wine to the altar because it helps us understand what we’re doing. It begins:

We believe in God the Father Almighty,

creator of heaven and earth,

of all that is seen and unseen.

Bread and wine are symbols of the heavens and the earth– the world God has made. They represent the totality of God’s gifts found in creation which we acknowledge as we bring them to their Creator:

“Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.” “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of many hands, it will become our spiritual drink.”

These simple gifts stand for all the gifts that come from an almighty God, a kind Father, the generous One who made the heavens and earth, the Maker “of all that is seen and unseen.” They point to a God, beyond our minds grasp, a good God, who is with us always; a loving God who is our friend.

They  represent God’s promise of life everlasting.

The prayers at Mass address God, the Creator. “All life, all holiness comes from you,” (3rd Eucharistic Prayer) “All things are of your making, all times and seasons obey your laws,” (P33) “In you we live and move and have our being. Each day you show us a Father’s love.(P34)

At Mass we approach God, Maker of all.

As Creator, God doesn’t act alone, but shares power with his creation. Our prayers at Mass recognize that: “You formed us in your own likeness, and set us over the whole world in all its wonder. You made us the stewards of creation to serve you our creator and to rule over all creatures.” (P33)

As “stewards of creation” we have an important role in the world, but we’re not the only power in our universe.  Creation itself has rights and a role in God’s plan. As we come to know the story of our own universe, we’re amazed at its mysterious development, its complexity and its beauty. It’s charged with the glory of God, and so for all our importance, we’re  meant to be respectful participants in its story.

That’s the vision of faith our Mass offers. But is it true? Our experience of life can sometimes tempt us to doubt it. Is God really the creator of us all? Does God really care? Why do bad things happen? Why do people do what they do? Why do we die? Why is there suffering? Why is there injustice. Questions like that raise doubts. Then too, preoccupation with ourselves also can weaken our vision of faith. We think we are the creators of the world and its gods.

The Mass tells the story of creation, but also the story of salvation. The Creed reminds us that God sent his only Son to be our Savior. In the mystery of the Mass, Jesus Christ is sent into the world. He comes into the bread and wine, just as he came into the womb of Mary.  Listen to the words of one of our prayers.

“Father, you so loved the world,

that in the fullness of time you sent your only Son to be our Savior.

He was conceived through the Holy Spirit,

and born of the Virgin Mary,

one like us in all things but sin.

To the poor he proclaimed the good news of salvation,

to prisoners, freedom,

to those in sorrow, joy.

In fulfillment of your will

he gave himself up to death,

but by rising from the dead,

he destroyed death and restored life.

And that we might live no longer for ourselves but for him,

he sent the Holy Spirit from you, Father,

as his first gift to those who believe,

to complete his work on earth

and bring us the fulness of grace.”

The prayer goes on to ask God, the Father, to send his Holy Spirit upon the bread and the wine, as he did on Mary.

“Father, send your Holy Spirit to sanctify these offerings,

Let them become the body and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord

as we celebrate the great mystery

which he left us as an everlasting covenant.” (4th Eucharistic Prayer)

Our Mass is a creation story and a story of salvation.

From Feast to Feast

St. Athanasius (+373), the great Christian bishop of Alexandria, once said “As Christians, we live from feast to feast.”

I’m sure he wasn’t just referring to good food on the table or a day-off from work. Feasts feed our souls and our minds, besides the body.  They stir our thinking,  unleash creative energies and keep our spirits alive.

I was thinking of this after celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi a few weeks ago. Fewer people in church it seems. What’s going on? Are we losing our appreciation of the Mass?

Is it due to the retreat we are making from “a higher world,” as Charles Taylor says in “A Secular World?” Are we losing a sign of faith that has traditionally been our guide?

Whatever the reasons, we all need a deeper faith in the Eucharist, and this means a deeper appreciation of the Mass. What can we do? We’re reading from St. Cyprian’s commentary on the Lord’s Prayer this week. He simply takes the words of the prayer and reflects on them, verse by verse. That would be a good start–reflecting on the words of the Eucharistic prayers, which lead us into this mystery.

Then, there are the simple gestures and rites of the Mass. Romano Guardini, one of the leaders in the liturgical movement in our times, wrote a little book called “Sacred Signs” which offers reflections on actions like the Sign of the Cross, kneeling, sitting, listening, seeing, walking to Communion. We need to teach our bodies to pray, as well as our minds.

We need to see more deeply into the “mystery of this bread and wine,”  signs of creation brought to the table to be part of the mystery of Christ. The early commentaries on the Eucharist are so aware that bread and wine represent the entire creation. They bring us back to its beginnings and see its unfolding story. Jesus took bread and wine and blessed them; his mission was to our universe, of which we humans are a part. Bread and wine, creation itself, have a vital part in this mystery.

Communion. We call it a Holy Communion, because we receive Jesus Christ, but we receive also a whole world with him. “May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.” (2^nd Eucharistic Prayer) Through his Spirit, Jesus draws us into unity with the whole human family and the creation that came from him.

Vision. We need to see beyond today. The Eucharist let’s us see today, yesterday and tomorrow. It gives us a vision of hope of a loving God who creates and forgives. It offers us in sign the promise of life.

I looked at my Latin dictionary today for the meaning of the word “disciple.” It means “pupil,” “apprentice.”  We can’t stop learning, that’s what we are meant to do. Yes, we need better preaching and celebration at the Eucharist. That would help, but it often has to be left to someone else. Let’s look at what we can do.

How we go to God

One saint I want to meet someday is St. Irenaeus, the 3rd century bishop of Lyons, because I like the way he thinks. Let me change slightly some of his words from today’s reading.

“God keeps calling us to what is primary by what is secondary, that is, through things of time to things of eternity, through things of the flesh to things of the spirit, through earthly things to heavenly things.”

The saint offers the example of Moses striking the rock and water comes out. People drank and were refreshed, but something more happened–they knew through the water, though dimly, a generous God who slaked their thirst.

No demeaning of creation in Irenaeus. Don’t neglect it, he says.

I’ve just come from a good meal and good company–things of time, things of flesh, earthly things. And it was more than eating and talking.