Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Safeguarding creation not as "eco-warriors" but as Christians who respect the work of God, both the first creation, the universe, and the re-creation accomplished by Jesus, who reconciled us with the Father, said Pope Francis at Mass this morning at St. Martha, commenting on the passage in Genesis, in the first reading, which tells of the creation of the universe.
God creates the universe but creation does not end, "he continues to sustain what he has created." That was the focus of Pope Francis' homily as he dwelt on a passage from Genesis, in the first reading, which recounts the creation of the universe. "In today's Gospel", the Pope commented, we see "the other creation of God", "that of Jesus, who came to re-create what had been ruined by sin."
We see Jesus among the people, he said, and "those who touched him were saved" it is the "re-creation". "This 'second creation' Pope Francis, is even more wonderful than the first; This second work is wonderful. "Finally, there is "another job", that of "perseverance in the faith" that which the Holy Spirit works on:
"God works, continues to work, and we can ask ourselves how we should
respond to this creation of God, which is born of love, because he works
through love. In the 'first creation' we must respond with the responsibility
that the Lord gives us: 'The earth is yours, take it forward; let it grow '.
Even for us there is a responsibility to nurture the Earth, to nurture
Creation, to keep it and make it grow according to its laws. We are the lords
of creation, not its masters. "
The Pope warned, however, that we must be "careful not to become masters
of Creation, but to make it go forward, faithful to its laws."
Therefore, he added, "this is the first response to the work of God: to be
protectors of Creation":
"When we hear that people have meetings about how to preserve creation, we
can say: 'No, they are the greens!' No, they are not the greens! This is the
Christian! This is 'our response to the' first creation 'of God. And' our
responsibility. A Christian who does not protect Creation, who does not let it
grow, is a Christian who does not care about the work of God, that work that
was born from the love of God for us. And this is the first response to the
first creation: protect creation, make it grow. "
On the subject of the "second creation Pope Francis looked to the figure of
Saint Paul saying, this Saint tells us to let ourselves be "reconciled to
God", "go on the road of inner reconciliation, community
reconciliation, because reconciliation is the work of Christ." And again,
echoing the words of Saint Paul, the Pope said that we should be grieved that
the Holy Spirit is within us, that he is within us and works in us. The Holy
Father added that we "believe in the person of God": "the person
is the Father, Son and the person of the Holy Spirit":
"And all three are involved in this creation, in this re-creation, in this
perseverance in re-creation. And to all three of them our response is: to
preserve and nurture Creation, let ourselves be reconciled with Jesus, with God
in Jesus Christ, every day, and do not be grieved by the Holy Spirit, not drive
it away: he is the host of our hearts, he who accompanies us, he who makes us
grow. "
"May the Lord - Pope Francis concluded - give us the grace to understand
that he" is at work "and give us the grace to respond appropriately
to this labour of love."