Our First Home was a Garden

Can old stories throw light on new stories? Science speaks now about Deep Time, how the earth evolved over billions of years. Plants, animals, human beings came into existence long ago. Besides things evolving,  mass extinctions have also taken place through the ages. An exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington called “Deep Time” explores the recent findings of science.. 

Our ancestors wondered about these things long ago. The Genesis story in the bible pictures the beginnings in poetic terms.  But, can an old story throw light on the story science tells us now?

The most important light it offers is its claim to know the ultimate source of everything, a claim made in the opening sentence of our Christian creed: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” God is the One who creates and cares for all things.

How does God Create?

The Genesis story describes in a poetic way God’s creation of the world. Beginning with chaos, God creates light, then separates the waters from the earth, brings forth the night and the day, the sun and moon. God then creates plants, trees of every kind on the earth, the living creatures of the sea, birds of the air and animals of the land. 

 Then, “God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1, 28)

And “God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.” (Genesis 1,31)

An Interdependent World

Everything’s connected in the ancient creation story. Though human beings stand out in the story, we’re still connected to and dependent on the rest of creation. We come from the dust of the earth and depend on its life-giving waters; we need its soil, its plants and animals for our support.

 In the creation narrative everything is connected. One thing prepares for and supports another. 

That’s something we human beings must remember today.

Everything’s important in the early creation story. Though human beings have dominion over all, it’s a God-given dominion to see things as God does. God sees everything as good and with a right to be. Made in God’s image, our task on earth is to care for creation as God does. We’re caretakers of God’s world. 

Something else to remember.

The Garden

In chapter 2 of the Genesis account, God creates a garden, where nothing grew before and where no rain fell. There God places man. The garden is our first home.

The garden is a marvelous symbol of the interconnectedness of creation. We’re placed in a garden, which we share in common with trees and plants, with the birds of the sky and the animals of the fields. Together, we’re sustained by water from the earth and air from the heavens. Even clothing, setting us apart, is done away with there. We’re human, from the earth. We cannot exist without it. Our first home is a garden.

In the garden, the ancient story says, humanity is forbidden to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why? 

There are different interpretations. Some interpret eating from the tree as a decision of moral autonomy. To eat its fruit is to claim to know what’s good or evil, right or wrong. Some today claim absolute power to choose what’s right or wrong, good and evil. Rejecting human limits and finite human wisdom , they claim to know it all.

Another interpretation sees eating from the tree as a decision to trust only in human experience and the knowledge we gain as we grow as individuals and as a people. Like children distancing themselves from parents, we grow in self sufficiency, gradually relying on a wisdom of our own. 

The danger is to have human experience and human wisdom become absolute.  Some distance themselves from a timeless wisdom and trust only in the wisdom of today.

In his letter Laudato Si, on our common home, on climate change, Pope Francis speaks of the danger of “anthropocentrism,” putting human beings at the center of everything, a trend he traces back to the beginnings of the Enlightenment in the 16th century. It’s a way of thinking still with us today.

Trusting human knowledge and creativity, some believe that science and technology have the answer for a perfect world. But science and technology aren’t enough to meet our present environmental crisis, the pope says, we humans need to change. We need to humbly accept our place in creation, as God meant it to be.

We need to remember where we come from. Science tells us much, but let’s not forget an old story. Our first home was a garden.

JULY 29 Mon Saint Martha Memorial

Ex 32:15-24, 30-34 /Jn 11:19-27 or Lk 10:38-42

30 Tue Weekday

[Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church]

Ex 33:7-11; 34:5b-9, 28/Mt 13:36-43 

31 Wed Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest Memorial

Ex 34:29-35/Mt 13:44-46 

AUGUST 1 Thu Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Memorial Ex 40:16-21, 34-38/Mt 13:47-53 

2 Fri Weekday [Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop; Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Priest]

Lv 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37/Mt 13:54-58 

3 Sat Weekday [BVM]

Lv 25:1, 8-17/Mt 14:1-12 

4 SUN EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23/Col 3:1-5, 9-11/Lk 12:13-21 

Matthew places the parables of Jesus later in his gospel. Unlike Mark’s gospel which has Jesus addressing the crowds in parables, Mathew sees them addressed to the church of his day. This week we hear them from the 13th chapter of Matthew’s gospel. They’re addressed to us today too.

JULY 22 Mon Saint Mary Magdalene Feast Sg 3:1-4b or 2 Cor 5:14-17/Jn 20:1-2, 11-18

23 Tue Weekday [Saint Bridget, Religious] Ex 14:21—15:1/Mt 12:46-50

24 Wed Weekday [Saint Sharbel Makhlūf, Priest] Ex 16:1-5, 9-15/Mt 13:1-9

25 Thu Saint James, Apostle Feast 2 Cor 4:7-15/Mt 20:20-28

26 Fri Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of Mary (Memorial) Ex 20:1-17/Mt 13:18-23

27 Sat Weekday Ex 24:3-8/Mt 13:24-30

28 SUN SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Gn 18:20-32/Col 2:12-14/Lk 11:1-13

Some important saints are remembered this week. Mary Magdalene, Bridget of Sweden, James the Apostle, and Joachim and Anne. They’re instruments God uses to teach and support the church. I will be commenting on them on their feasts.

The Passionists celebrate the Feast of their Martyrs of Damiel on July 24.

The readings from Exodus continue the story of Moses.

 

For this week’s homily please play the video below.

Just ended a week long  retreat for the Sisters of Mercy at Parsons Boulevard in Queens, New York. I sat some time facing a small statue of Mary (above) and the image in a mirror of Catherine McAuley, the Irish woman who founded the community. Next to her image is what she wrote about the spirit and purpose of her institute:

“Each religious institute receives a grace particularly adapted to the service they are called to perform. We ought, then, to have great confidence in God in the discharge of all these offices of Mercy, spiritual and corporal, which constitute the business of our lives…visiting prisons and hospitals and by reconciling quarrels…the spirit of prayer should be most dear to us, yet such a spirit should never withdraw us from the works of mercy.”

May God give the Sisters of Mercy grace for that mission today. The world needs to be blessed by the works of mercy.

JULY15 Mon Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Memorial Ex 1:8-14, 22/Mt 10:34—11:1 16

Tue Weekday [Our Lady of Mount Carmel] Ex 2:1-15a/Mt 11:20-24

17 Wed Weekday Ex 3:1-6, 9-12/Mt 11:25-27

18 Thu Weekday [USA: Saint Camillus de Lellis, Priest] Ex 3:13-20/Mt 11:28-30

19 Fri Weekday Ex 11:10—12:14/Mt 12:1-8 20 Sat Weekday [Saint Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr] Ex 12:37-42/Mt 12:14-21

21 SUN SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Gn 18:1-10a/Col 1:24-28/Lk 10:38-42

The readings from the Book of Exodus this week tell the story of another of our ancestors in faith, Moses, whom God sends to bring his people from Egypt to the Promised Land.

St. Bonaventure, whose feast is celebrated on Monday, has an important role in the development of the Franciscan movement. He brought intellectual gifts to Francis’ tradition. The saints (and important figures) of any tradition bring new dimensions to the original charism of the founder.

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, enriches the charism of so many great religious traditions in the church by her presence. Our Lady of Mount Carmel (July 16) enriches the Carmelite tradition.

For this week’s homily please play the video below.

by Orlando Hernandez

    The Gospels from Wednesday to Saturday of the 14th Week in Ordinary time all deal with Jesus’ words in the tenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel.  Our Lord instructs His Apostles on their Mission and what it entails. 

    In the previous chapter (Mt 9: 35-38) Jesus has been moved to pity for the people He has come to teach and heal. Even in our present time, as back then, his Heart is filled with sorrow and compassion for humanity because we seem so “troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” Are we to join Him in crying, “My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?” I would rather try to stand up straight and cry out, even in my moments of desolation: “Resurrected Divine One, I trust in You!”

    The Biblical Jesus must have accepted that this harvest of hungry souls was too much, even for him. The Kingdom of love and salvation would require recruitment of more “laborers for the harvest” to help Him guide Humanity to Him. So in chapter 10, Jesus turns twelve of His disciples (Latin: “pupils”) into Apostles (Gk: “messengers,” “apo”: off, “stellein”: send), to be “sent off”, to teach His Message and help Him heal the world. They are listed each by name. We see that they are individual persons, imperfect human beings, like all of us. We can relate to them, try to imagine what each one of them was like, even now when we venerate them as Saints. Ready or not, Our Lord sent them out to their own people, to proclaim this “Kingdom of Heaven.”

    I always hope that I am a “disciple” of Christ, learning from Him, being with Him every day, but I just cannot dare to call myself “apostle.”   No, only priests, theologically trained preachers, healers and missionaries deserve this title. But, upon reading chapter 10, I feel as if Jesus is talking to me, inviting me to go out and bring this message of love and healing to the world, precisely at a moment when my discipleship is not going so well and my soul is in turmoil. I feel called to start, as always, with those nearest to me, family, friends, acquaintances, people I run into. What can I say to them? How can I become a living, talking Gospel? Is He really sending me? Is He grabbing me and shaking me out of my stupor, saying, “I need you NOW!”

    Over the last few days I have read a number of spiritual writers who in different ways seem to be saying that this Apostolic mission has been lovingly given to each one of us by God, as our true journey in life: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you “(Jer 1:5). It makes sense, when we see the incredible power of newborn babies to bring joy, gratitude, and healing to those around. The deep mystery of Love seems to emanate from them as they grow up around us. But eventually they seem to lose this gift as the roughness of life begins to hurt them more and more and they become “troubled and abandoned” like most of us. The laborers for the harvest become fewer and fewer.  

    But the Invitation is still there, whispering within us. For His own reasons, Our Lord blesses some of us with a louder calling. The gift and grace of this invitation is the luminous Presence of our God, Who gives us the unexpected wisdom and strength to attempt the things that Jesus demands of us: to proclaim Him, to go out into the road of life and bring healing and salvation to others, beginning with our very selves. Only in abundant prayerful contact with our Lord, knowing that He is always with us, can we gain the peaceful attitude to go out as “lambs among wolves,” or “as simple as doves” in a beautiful but often hostile world.  Only by following His example can we attain the humility and freedom to let go of so many luxuries and things that encumber us on our way. Only through Him can we become trusting and dependent on the kindness of other human beings as we “enter their house” and share our peace with them. It seems to me that only in the power of this Divine invitation to mutual understanding, compassion, and trust, can we begin to find healing and truly preach the Gospel to each other. 

    Not every one will be that “nice” to us. Again, only by prayer and constant reminder by our God that we are His beloved children, can we bear the dust of rejection, the scourge of hate, the mistrust of a wounded world, and not become discouraged, cynical, or indifferent in our quest for for souls to love. That is our mission, to love, no matter what. Quietly, in trust and meekness, can we hear in the darkness the whisper of the Spirit, Who tells us “Do not be afraid.”, and infuses us with the desire and courage to proclaim, as if “on the rooftops”, before our oppressors, before the powerful and those oppressed and bitter, at the top of our lungs, that we are so intimately known by the Infinite Power Who loves us so much as to count every hair in our heads, every chemical reaction in every one of our cells, every hope or dream, shining or broken, within our souls. 

    How to begin?  We all have our ways; I am confident of that. As for myself, yesterday I did the best I could. It has been getting harder for me to feel comfortable with my grand children. They seem more detached, cynical, argumentative, and mistrustful of their elders (may God deliver me from judging!). But I know that I love them with a crazy love that fills me with gratitude. So my wife and I ( we go out “in pairs”) decided, even though we were not in our best moods, to take all four of them to the movies. It turned out fine. They did not fight or seem bored, and gave me a surprising amount of joy. On our way back to the car I got the urge to tell them: “Listen, I just paid for your movie and for your snacks, so you have to humor me. I’m gonna pray over each of you. Think really hard about something that is bothering you or hurting you, in your body, or in your heart.  Don’t tell us what it is; just think about it really hard. I will pray for God to free you from it. OK?

    So I went individually to each one of them, laid my hands on their shoulders, and reminded them of how much God loved them. I told them to feel that love and asked for the power of God to heal that problem or hurt, IN THE NAME OF JESUS. Later I asked each one of them if they had just been putting up with me or if they were really concentrating on the prayer. Each one, from the eight-year old to the fourteen-year old, seemed very serious when they remembered the moment and the thing they had been praying for. This is the first time I ever did something like this with them. Too little too late? Nothing is too little with God, nor is it ever too late. Blessed be Your Name, Beloved.