St. Paul introduces us to the cosmic dimensions of salvation. “For creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21)
Adam was taken from the earth, Adam sinned and the effects of that sin were absorbed by the earth and by creation in its entirety. Paul had an intuition into the organic connection among all created beings. Then the so-called Big Bang Theory of the Catholic Priest Georges Lemaitre, showed it to be a scientific fact. Just as we humans await the redemption of our bodies, so, too, does creation because its freedom is linked to the fullness of our adoption as sons and daughters of the Father thanks to the Holy Spirit living in us. This refers to the resurrection from the dead.
The effects of Adam’s sin continue to reverberate down through the centuries and are manifested in the abuse to which humanity has subjected creation through greed and indifference. Pope Francis writes in his encyclical on care for creation entitled “Laudato Si’I”: “This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. Her cry, united with that of the poor, stirs our conscience to acknowledge our sins against creation.” Then, quoting the words of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Pope reminds us: “For human beings … to destroy the biological diversity … by causing changes in its climate, is to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins."
Evil, however, will not have the last word because one of the results of the Kingdom of God breaking into our world is the progressive liberation of the earth and the cosmos from the effects of sin. Even small efforts with God’s power can contribute to freeing of the earth from corruption manifested in the multiplication of forest fires, floods, the melting of the ice caps and the consequent rising of the level of the seas that have already flooded some island nations causing their populations to flee.
Linked to the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God and the cosmos is the Eucharist we celebrate. The bread and wine, fruit of the earth, become the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and our liberator.
Here is what Pope Francis writes in this regard. ”It is in the Eucharist that all creation finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave himself as food for his creatures. The Lord, in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter. ... In the Eucharist, fullness is already achieved; it is the living center of the universe, the overflowing core of love and of inexhaustible life. Joined to the incarnate Son, present in the Eucharist, the whole cosmos gives thanks to God. Indeed the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the World. The Eucharist joins heaven and earth; it embraces and penetrates all creation. The world which came forth from God’s hands returns to him in blessed and undivided adoration: in the bread of the Eucharist, creation is projected towards divinization, towards the holy wedding feast, towards unification with the Creator himself. Thus, the Eucharist is also a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment, directing us to be stewards of all creation.”
May all of us who celebrate the Eucharist be mindful of our duty to care for creation and to take steps that will lead to the progressive liberation of creation from the effects of sin.
The Most Rev. Peter A. Rosazza is auxiliary bishop emeritus, Archdiocese of Hartford.
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Faith Matters: Be mindful of our duty to care for creation - New Haven Register
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