Texts:
Genesis 1:20-25 – Six days of Creation
Psalm 104 – God the creator and provider
1 John 16b - 21 - God is love
Matthew 6: 25-33 – Do not worry
God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind … and God saw that it was good.
O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.
Each of our portions of Scripture chosen specifically for today’s Mass reflect in some way the Judeo – Christian belief that God cares deeply and intimately for that which He created – the heavens, the waters, the earth and its vegetation, fish, birds, reptiles, insects, animals and human beings. But not only does God care, He takes great delight in and derives much joy from His creation.
In the Book of Genesis, God created women and men in His own image and likeness and in so doing God sought to endow humanity with His care, His delight, His joy and His responsibility for the created world.
Sadly, as we all know, humanity has fallen woefully short of this divine mark. We have raped, pillaged and plundered God’s creation. We have polluted our atmosphere and contaminated our waterways; we have despoiled forests and destroyed habitats; we have hunted animals to extinction and exploited them for our own gain whether for food or labour or experimentation or entertainment; we tolerate the existence of battery hens and production line piggeries and puppy farms; we routinely read about cruelty to animals … native birds targeted with bows and arrows, horses starving in suburban paddocks, a puppy called Buckley whose ears and tail were severed with scissors, a domestic cat who survived being shot several times in the head. Our animal shelters, filled to the brim, symbolise the lack of commitment, the lack of care, the lack of compassion in this disposable society of ours, where the things we purchase or use for our own convenience (including beaches, rivers, forests, airspace and animals) seem to reach their use by date very, very quickly.
Today’s gospel forms part of the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus seeks to encourage in those who are gathered around him a readjustment of their priorities in life. He says, do not be angry with your brother or sister, rather seek to be reconciled to them; he says turn the other cheek and love your enemies; he says be generous in your alms giving and in the time that you spend with
God in prayer; he says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, do not be so obsessed with your security that the amassing of wealth becomes your sole priority in life; he says, do not worry about food or drink or clothing rather strive first for the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.
Jesus says to his disciples, Jesus says to us right here and now, set your heart upon God whose love extends to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Set your heart upon God who loves us and calls us to love in turn, not only our human sisters and brothers, but also our sisters and brothers in the created world … our brother sun and sister moon, our brother wind and sister water, our brother eucalypt and sister waratah, our brother wombat and sister platypus, our brother dog and sister cat, our brother goose and sister chook, our brother mouse and sister ant, our brother fish and sister amoeba … for if we can truly say that we love these our brothers and sisters then, and only then, can we rightly say that we love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all strength.
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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