A NEW HEAVENS
AND A NEW EARTH
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “A New Heavens and a New
Earth.”
Today - April 22, 2019 - is Earth Day.
The call is to take good care of our earth - not just
today - but every day.
Today is Easter Monday - and Easter in this northern
hemisphere is tied into Spring - a season when nature shows up in bursting
beautiful new life.
COLOSSIANS
It’s not today’s one of today’s readings, but check out Colossians 1: 15-20
He is the image of the unseen God
and the first born of all creation,
for in him were created
all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
Thrones, Dominions, Sovereignties, Powers -
all things were created through him and for him.
Before anything was created, he existed,
and he holds all things in unity.
Now the Church is his body,
he is its head.
As he is the Beginning,
he was first to be born from the dead,
so that he should be first in every way;
because God wanted all perfection
to be found in him
and all things to be reconciled
through him and or him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace
by his death on the cross.”
There is a spirituality and a theology in Christ’s
resurrection - that ties into creation.
Christ came to bring resurrection not just to humans but to all of
creation.
I don’t have my hands or my mind on this creation nuanced
theology.
I know what to avoid: pantheism - or “all is God!”
Some stuff - some places - some sounds - are heavenly.
However stuff is not God.
Yet, there is a call in scriptures to see the call to
sacredness in all people - and all life.
Each of us needs to ask: “How well do we humans take care of our plots in nature’s
fields?”
I kill mosquitos and swat flies - but I feel some
hesitation when I do so. I hear a tiny voice: “Come on give this fly another
chance to dance to fly.”
I know some religious teachers give a warning about
killing any kind of life - yet I eat hamburgers and corn on the cob - after
it’s cut down.
A COUPLE OF RANDOM
COMMENTS
We were just over to Japan in February. When our English
speaking guides spotted Cherry Blossom trees - then mentioned the Cherry
Blossom trees which the government of
Japan gave to Washington D.C.
We went to a tea ceremony - that took about an hour. I now have a new series of thoughts about having a cup of tea.
We saw people washing their hands at washing stations
before going into the temple as well as sort of washing their hands in smoke
outside the temple.
Look into Irish Spirituality and you’ll get some glimpses
about creation centered spirituality.
Read Irish blessings and you’ll catch an awareness of trees and
mountains, shamrocks and roses, salmon and homes.
I just received the following prayer in an e-mail the other day from Martin O'Malley, our former governor, who was big on caring for our earth. It’s a
poetic prayer by Patrick Kavanagh:
Sometimes when the sunlight
comes through the gap,
These men know God the Father
in a tree.
The Holy Spirit is the rising sap,
and Christ, the green leaves at Easter
that will come
from the dark and sealed tomb.”
I just had a funeral this morning and the prayer on the
back of the memorial card for Philip J. Maher had the following Irish Blessing
that we all know. Notice the earth stuff.
Irish Blessing
May the road rise up
to meet you,
May the wind be
always at your back.
May the sun shine
warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft
upon your fields,
and until we meet again
may god hold you
in the palm of his hand.
It’s Easter - don’t forget to see and smell the beautiful
flowers at the altar and the beautiful earth and flowers outside.
We’re at Mass - right now - close your eyes and see the evolution
and the path of bread and wine - becoming bread and wine and then becoming Christ.
