Word to the Wise
Monday, February 10, 2025 - Monday in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 1:1-19 and Mark 6:53-56]In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light. God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." Thus evening came, and morning followed - the first day. [Genesis]
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2025 ST. SCHOLASTICA
The story of creation in the Book of Genesis is one of the world's great pieces of literature. It has inspired faith, science, music, art and controversy for centuries. The subject arises everytime one hears the term, "the Big Bang," one of the many astronomical theories on the origin of the universe. To Jews and Christians, this account is at the very foundation of faith. Philosophers have put the question in this way: "Why is there something rather than nothing? For us, God is not "something" but rather the creator of anything that could be called "something." In St. Thomas Aquinas' day, one of the hot philosophical topics was about the "eternity of the universe." St. Thomas argued against it because he took the position of Aristotle that everything had to have a cause. That cause had to be God.
In today's first scripture - from the beginning of the Book of Genesis - we are given the first four "days" of the seven in which God created the universe. Even if a "day" in this account could be millions of years, the very thought of a "day" in which there is darkness and light, and the difference between them in terms of how we orient ourselves can be testimony to the profound and continual impact of God's creating force. A "day" on another planet could be quite different!
Reflection on the first chapter of Genesis could go on forever! For this space, the lectionary will serve as a way of instilling some discipline! For the time being, enjoy the gifts of day and night!! AMEN