8th Week in Ord. Time, Thursday – 1st June 2023 – Sirach 42,15-26; Mark 10,32-45
God’s Mystery in Creation
The first reading describes how God wonderfully created the world and preserves all of creation. Creation then becomes an expression of God’s very being, reflecting his truth, his goodness, and his beauty, and God has total insight into all that takes place in his creation. Thus, Sirach speaks of the glory of God manifested in the beauty and marvels of creation. It is the product of God’s word, his creative, life-giving word. This is one of the first mentions of the creative “word” of God. In it God’s total knowledge (omniscience) and wisdom (ability to apply knowledge to action) are also described. There is nothing which can be hidden from God’s knowledge. The future, too, is known to him from all eternity. He reveals what has been and what has yet to be. Not a single thought escapes him, nor can anything remain hidden from him. In the same way, the fruits of his wisdom can be seen everywhere and he remains unchanging from all eternity. There is nothing that can be given to him which he does not already have, nor can anything be taken away from him. He needs no one to give him advice on how he should act. Down the ages, the beauty of our world has never ceased to mesmerize artists of all kinds – poets, painters and musicians. This beauty is something which will endure in one form or another as long as our created world exists, while, at the same time, each created thing has been brought into being to meet a particular need determined by him. These are evident as one looks upon what God has created and continues to keep in existence.
