Scripture:
Genesis 1:20 – 2:4a
Mark 7:1-13
Reflection:
Genesis 1: Curtain-Raiser to the Drama of Salvation History
With the sweep of near poetic language, Genesis 1 introduces the major themes that will be developed throughout the rest of Scripture — themes like creation, order, humankind’s purpose, rebellion, sin forgiveness.
The overriding theme of Genesis is God’s eternal existence and his creation of the world.
God created the cosmos, the earth, and every living being. Genesis 1 implicitly raises the existential questions: Who am I? Why am I here? How, therefore, shall I live? Genesis 1, in other words, is the curtain-raiser to the drama of salvation history.
Pope Francis caught the profound essence of Genesis 1 when he issued his encyclical, Laudato Si’, in May 2015. Laudato Si’ is addressed to “every living person on this planet,” and calls for a global dialogue about how we are called to shape the future of Planet Earth, and all who inhabit this world.
The first words of the encyclical, Laudato Si’, are Latin for “Praise be to you.” They are part of a quotation from St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Creatures.”
The pope asks the question: What is happening to our common home? Marshaling current scientific findings on the environment, Pope Francis calls us to listen to the cry of creation, “to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering, and thus to discover what each of us can do about it.”
Laudato Si’ is sounding the alarm that the crisis we face today is an environmental crisis, an economic crisis, and a social crisis. A clear nexus exists among these crises. Human activity is harming both the environment and human well-being, especially when it comes to the poor.
We are called to respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor with an “integral ecology, which clearly respects its human and social dimensions.
Genesis 1 tells us that God created all things and declared them good. All things are good to the extent that they exist because God, the essence of good, created them. God created humankind, male and female, in God’s image, the imago dei, and said this is very good. Where lie the answers to the questions, who am I? Why am I here? How therefore shall I live? In Genesis 1. By virtue of our imago dei, we hold a special place in creation, and a special obligation. We are to treat all human beings — indeed, all creation — with dignity and respect. Laudato Si’ adds specificity to Genesis 1 for our times and circumstances.
I have no doubt but that Laudato Si’ will come to be known as Pope Francis’ defining, signature encyclical of his papacy. Laudato Si’ has given us fresh and much needed insight into Genesis 1. Indeed, this bracing encyclical has entered the great stream of Salvation history. At this moment in our history this is much needed Good News.
Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.