When he was at table with them, he took the bread. He blessed the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him!(Luke 24:13-35)

Monday, February 11, 2019

The evening and the morning are filled with the goodness of God.


Marilyn, Alicia and Lily went to Legoland today, leaving me (at my request) alone at the hotel on the beach in Carlsbad. I brought along the book “Jesus, A Pilgrimage” written by Father James Martin, SJ to read while sitting on the patio waiting for their return. But I haven't picked it up yet. I decided to read the Scripture for mass this morning and write a reflection instead. I'm glad I did. The Holy Spirit has a way of speaking to me that continually surprises me while at the same time freaks me out in a pleasant sort of way.

As I sit here gazing out to the ocean and listening to the waves crash onshore no more than 100 feet away from me, I realize all of creation is a reflection of God and an opportunity to worship him.

The first verses of Genesis (Genesis 1: 1-19) speak of the earth as a formless wasteland where darkness covered the abyss. God decides to create. He orders, organizes, gathers, and shapes the formless stuff into something nothing short of magnificent. To do this, He only needs to speak the word. Then, after the creation occurs, He stands back, looks at His creation and says, "Man, that is good!" I thought about the use of the exact words in the book. It's not simply that he thinks his creation is good. He sees just "how good it was." It reminds me of those times when I help Lily with her Legos. We build different things with them, we say “Wow! Look what we did!”, then we can play make believe with the results. There is joy that comes from taking a bunch of scraps and seeing what can be done with them.

The psalm for today includes parts of Psalm 104. The psalmist calls upon his inner being to bless the Lord. God is so great; His robe is majesty, glory, and light. God organized everything so that it works together beautifully. The earth and the ocean each have their place. The fuller reading of the psalm really emphasizes how everything has its own role but complements the rest of creation. For example, God places birds in the sky but then also gives them branches from which they can send forth their song. What would the birds do without branches? God takes care of the seemingly insignificant parts of His world. He sees it all and says, "Man, that's good." How much more does He take care of us, who He made in His own image and likeness?


In the Gospel reading we continue to see the creative power of God at work in Jesus. Jesus is both fully human AND fully divine. So being human, like His disciples, He gets tired and has times when He tries to get away from the crush of people who want His attention. However, they always seem to find Him. They want to hear from Him and they want to be cured of their illnesses or bring their relatives and friends to be healed. Jesus cannot speak to everyone or lay hands on everyone. The people discover, though, that this is not necessary. "If only we can touch the tassel on his cloak...." And all who touch it are healed. Jesus frequently got angry when He saw how illness or demonic possession could twist a human being into knots and make their lives miserable. When the people are healed, I see Jesus, just like in creation, standing back and saying, "Man, that is good."

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