The Heavens proclaims the glory of God

Gen. 1:20-2:4, Mk 7:1-13. Today's first reading proclaims the sacredness of the created world, culminating in the creation of human beings in the divine image. As the pinnacle of creation, God crowns His work by forming humankind: Male and Female, “in the image of God He created them.” While each stage of creation was created to be “good“, the status of human beings was as the pinnacle of creation, suggesting that the interplay of the sexes in marriage and the family is a significant image of God’s inner being and God must continue to be present. After this ultimate completion of all works on the sixth day, God proceeds to “rest from all the work He had done” and so “blessed the seventh day.” This is not a withdrawal from His newly created world in order to rest, rather God rests in the midst of all its beauty and goodness to show us the need for rest.

The world is God’s true sanctuary; the sound of wind and surf, thunder and birdsong are hymns of praise to God who created all things in being. In the rhythmic hymn of the Psalmist, we reverberates with the special place of humankind in creation. God created humans and gave them a position of caretakers of the rest of creation. God endowed man and woman with the highest position in all earthly creation, which is also a position of responsibility. In today's Gospel, Jesus accuses the Pharisees and lawyers of ignoring the commandments of God, which is for us to respect and appreciate the world, as blessed by God but were grimly insisting on keeping human regulations. Jesus recognised that the religious traditions of His time did not always correspond to God’s will as revealed in the Scriptures and in a much fuller way by Jesus. When observance of laws become an instrument of enslavement or become heavy burdens, then there is need for reform in the light of the Gospel. The response given by Jesus challenges us to give a heartfelt worship to God where we seek the good of people instead of their downfall.

May the Lord continue to sow in us the seeds of His love, faith and hope, so that, we may grow ever closer to Him! Amen!! Good morning and have a great day!!!