Homily: Monday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time - How Great Thou Art!

For several weeks we have been reading from the letter to the Hebrews.  Today until Ash Wednesday we will be reading from the first book of the Bible—the book of Genesis. 

Genesis opens with the account of the seven days of creation.  Throughout the seven days God speaks a word and the corresponding reality comes into being.  On the first day God speaks light into existence. "Then God said, "Let there be light, and there was light."  At the end of each day God stands back and reflects, "And God saw how good it was."

The responsorial psalm takes up the theme of glorifying God for the beauty and might of creation.  Blessing God for the manifold works of creation.

Throughout Christian history hearts have been moved spontaneously to praise God for the gift of creation.  One of the most loved Christian hymns "How Great Thou Art," praises God for wonders of creation:

O Lord my God!  When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy pw'r throughout the universe displayed;

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art, how great thou art!

It is a gift to be able to look at creation, and to be filled with wonder and awe at what God has done.  It is in fact one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be filled with wonder and awe at the works of God.  Like all the gifts, wonder and awe needs to be cultivated.  Spending time in nature, considering how beautiful God must be if his creation is so beautiful.

In our modern age, with such an abundance of technology we sometimes fail to appreciate the beauty of creation.   A real tree, real clouds, real snow will always be more beautiful and more reflective of the Creator than their digital counterparts. 

Many of our young people don’t even go outside to play anymore.  It is bad for the soul to spend so much time alienated from nature for nature is created good by God himself. 

Old Father Wilfred Smith, long time pastor out at St. Mary’s in Mentor, upon retirement came to live at my home parish out in Madison for many years.  He would often say, we need to learn to thank God for the sunrise, and thank God for taste buds.  Thank God for the ability to experience his beauty in creation, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.