Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 1:20-2:4a; Mark 7:1-13)

A number of years ago people started talking about producing a square tomato.  They said it would be easier to pack and ship.  Agriculturalists took up the challenge with some success.  Today there are tomatoes that are less rounded, but they are mainly used for processing.  Scientists have more critical projects to work on.  In doing so, they respond to God’s mandate in today’s first reading.

Genesis pictures humans as the epitome of creation.  After God creates the material universe, He sets the earth aglow with life.  First plants then fish and birds followed by land animals inhabit land, sea, and sky.  Finally, God creates men and women in His image.  In a sense they are like God because He has granted them dominion over the other creatures.  They are to develop what God has made.  But a definite responsibility is implied with this authority.  As they are given only plants to eat, humans may use animals for labor but are not to kill them for food.

Eventually, God conceded that humans may eat the flesh of animals.  But we must take care not to abuse God’s grant of dominion.  We do not have a right to squander natural resources.  Nature was created for us to use, to perfect, and to preserve.  God never intended that it be polluted and destroyed.  Where this has already been done, humans have the responsibility to restore nature as best we can.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 1:20-2:4a; Mark 7:1-13)

Sometimes on Saturday mornings around large cities small groups of people walk on the sidewalks of streets where walkers usually are alone and at that very few. “What’s going on?” one wonders. Then it is noticed that the men among the walkers wear hats and have beards. The conclusion is quickly reached: these are Orthodox Jews duly observing the Sabbath which for them means no strenuous activity, not even to the extent of driving a car. The custom is taken from today’s reading from Genesis.

Orthodox Jews take seriously the phrase that God made the seventh day holy by blessing it and resting from work. They see it as a time apart signifying their freedom. That is, aware that humans may be enslaved as much by inner impulses as by exterior forces, they demonstrate their mastery over the obsession “to get things done” by desisting from all kinds of work. Furthermore, they recognize the Sabbath as foreshadowing the eternal life which God is preparing for His faithful when no one will have to work anymore.

Christians, of course, have transferred the Sabbath to Sunday, the eighth day signifying their new creation in Jesus’ resurrection. But we retain much of the meaning of the Jewish tradition. We don’t have qualms about driving at least short distances on Sunday, but we too know that the day is best spent in the Lord’s company at church and then in joyful repast with family and friends.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 1:20-2:4a; Mark 7:1-3)

The section from Genesis read today at mass today places land animals in the center of the animal kingdom. They are made after the birds and the fish and before humans. For this reason, they have been called God’s “middle children” with the chore of resolving the controversies which arise among fish and fowl -- their tougher siblings – and the more spoiled peoples of the earth with their parent, God.

Yet humans who, created in the image of God, should know better too often mistreat animals. It is not that we eat their flesh that cries for attention but that we demean them in the process. Chickens (which, of course, are fowl) often do not see the light of day. Cattle are not allowed to pasture as evolution (we might say, “God”) designed them. Then the numerous accounts of animal abuse from training them to mutilate one another to pure cruelty from not feeding call into question humans’ elevated status.

God gave us animals to use, not to abuse. Indeed, He also gave us the Sabbath so that we might contemplate His bounty and respond with gratitude. Animal activists for all the blabber about “rights” have, at least, made us aware of our rapaciousness. Treating not only dogs and cats but cows and chickens with more care should enhance our appreciation for God.

Homilette for Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Memorial of St. Scholastica, virgin

(Genesis 1:20-2:4a; Mark 7:1-3)

It does not seem pretentious to say that humans are superior to the rest of creation. We merely have to open our computers to see how far humans have surpassed other creatures. Yet the primacy of humans is often questioned today. Groups as well as individuals believe that we humans are only links in an evolutionary chain not that far removed from our cousin chimpanzees. Further, they say that any claim of superiority on humans’ part is “speciesism” -- the vaulting of one species over others.

The Book of Genesis, on the other hand, has no difficulty in placing humans at the pinnacle of creation. They are the last of God’s creatures – the place of highest honors. Furthermore, Genesis says that humans are created in God’s own image. This is no mean distinction when one considers the awesomeness of God in Genesis’ eyes. Yet even Genesis has its reservations about the human species. Astute observers have noted that unlike the case of other animals, Genesis does not say that God declares humans “good” after making them. We can add that creation in God’s image is far from putting humans on the same pedestal as God. Later in the Old Testament the prophets will mock the gods of Israel’s neighbors as mere images.

Genesis intends that humans see themselves in process. Certainly our beginning is fortuitous, but the end is still in doubt. We may use our God-like talents for good or for ill. When we recognize our minuteness in comparison to God, thank Him for the privilege he has bestowed upon us, and strive to live in conformity to His generosity, we will come out all right. Presuming that we are already gods by belittling one another and trampling the rest of creation, we will bring about disaster.