Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 13, 2008 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Isaiah 55:10-11; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23 or 1-9]We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
There's an old expression: It's hard to get the big picture when you're living inside the frame! We humans occasionally like to think we have the "big picture," as if we somehow are exempt or separate from the creation of which Genesis tells us we are an important part but ONLY a part. One would hope that "globalization" would enable humans to take a more responsible and steward-like attitude, but history and present experience are demonstrating that the bigger the "picture" the more greedy and rapacious some humans and corporations become. St. Paul's vision is based on Genesis and the sin of Adam and Eve. It is not just humans who are in need of salvation in this vision, it is all of creation. We humans become a new creation in Christ (cf 2. Cor 5) but we are only part of the picture. The resurrection of Jesus signals the beginning of a new "age" for all of creation. There is a large measure of mystery in this when we move toward exploring those parts of creation that are well beyond our global context. Regularly the internet or National Geographic treats me to new pictures captured by the Hubble Telescope. The "universe" is expanding, and it is already vast beyond our understanding. Yet, if we go within the smallest particles of matter, we encounter still another universe with mysteries of its own and not subject to our control, as theoretical physicists have proved in quantum mechanics. The wee bit that we have tried to harness was put to use in terrible destruction in the atomic bombs. Nuclear energy continues to be controversial because we still do not have a big enough picture of it and one wonders if we ever will because we forget that we live "inside the frame." Our very existence and that of all creation is a gift from God. The "Big Bang" or whatever physical event heralded the beginning of matter/energy/time still occurred "inside the frame" which God created. We must await its ultimate redemption because we must await our own. AMEN
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