Christians are called to care for God's creation. That was the pope’s message at Mass this Monday morning at the Casa Santa Marta. The Holy Father also spoke about the "second creation," the one performed by Jesus that he "re-created" from what had been ruined by sin.
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."
