God wants us and Earth itself to flourish, yielding a hundred fold. To blossom is the reason for our existence. The spirit of God wells up in all creation making us and all things co-creators in an evolving story. We know this through meditating on the marvels of the physical world in which we move and have our being. Let us remember our calling to respect and love every gift of creation (pause).
Creator God, over billions of years you created all that exists and brought forth humanity to flower as many cultures. Open the eyes and ears of our minds in growing awareness, so that each day we can better experience your Earthly presence. In wisdom and goodness may we stand tall like a tree witnessing that you sustain all that exists honouring you by its very existence. We ask this ...
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. How would anything have endured if you had not willed it? Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved?
You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who love the living.
For your immortal spirit is in all things
2 Let us sing to you, Lord, bless your name; tell of your salvation from day to day.
3 Declare your glory among the nations, your marvellous works among all the peoples.
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the Earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 Let the fields exult and everything in them. Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 The Lord will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with truth.
The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and Earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole Earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him-though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.'
And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears, listen!
Everyone has animal stories - the pretty and the ugly, the friendly and the aggressive. Some animals are fascinating because of their shape and colour. For many people the experience of being with animals is a way to appreciate the beauty of Earth, to delve into natural evolutionary processes and explore behaviour. Many people find love in animals and a revelation of God's diverse wisdom.
The yearnings of the human heart were manifest in every culture as people strove to make sense of their existence on Earth. The place where they lived formed the basis for the first stories they shared. They saw the stars, mountains, rivers, plants and animals as sources of life, wonder and sometimes fear. In prayer they developed ways of wisdom.
Scripture tells the stories of the descendants of Abraham as God formed them as a people. They lived with being landless and famine stricken migrants. Gradually they formed laws under God given leaders like Moses to guide them in the ways they treated both land and each other. They learnt God given wisdom. They made mistakes and asked forgiveness to change their ways.
We have our modern stories of both hope and fear, stories of bearing fruit in varying degrees. We are called to choose a way forward that is not overcome by the weeds of business nor become impervious to compassion like rocky ground. We can calmly move forward choosing first to remember we are loved by God in whom we live and have our being.
1.Learning from scientists that God's creation evolved over billions of years to flower as diverse cultures, may we thank the scientists and listen to them as messengers of the Holy Spirit.Father of Jesus, hear ...
2.As psalmists danced in praise God and wept for sins of infidelity, may we sing like the wind in praise of the Cosmos and wail in lament like the roaring seas. Father of Jesus, hear ...
3.Since God has allotted the boundaries of land, and filled diverse cultures with wisdom, may we listen to the Earth and its people, choosing good and shunning evil. Father of Jesus, hear ...
4.Remembering that God guides the church with mystics in very age, may we immerse ourselves in the mystery of God's own self revealed in the Cosmos and all it holds. Father of Jesus, hear ...
5.Knowing that God displays truth in the detail of Creation, may we neither be deceived by the false dreams of ambition nor harden our hearts to suffering. Father of Jesus hear ...
6.Scripture teaches that God scolded Job for not seeing a Creator's handy work in the Universe, so, may we search for the mystery of God present in diverse places. Father of Jesus hear ...
Creative and nurturing God, you have planted deep in every human heart a desire to celebrate with all your gifts of creation. From mountain top to sweeping plains, from isolated ponds to the ocean, people around the globe remember your loving acts of creation. Sustained for the journey, may we continue to evolve according to your will until all is fulfilled as a new creation in you. We ask ...
-Laudato Si #62
\"Your mustard seed is what the Reign of God is about. Your little faith, your little effort is enough. Give your little bit and stand by amazed as you see what God will do with it. Your mustard seed will flourish.\"
