February 19, 2025

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

I hope that you have noticed that the first reading at each of the daily Masses for these weeks before Ash Wednesday is from the beginning of the Book of Genesis. In many ways I think of this as a gift to us all. This first Book of the Old Testament, Genesis, is a perfect way to begin your Scripture reading these days. I encourage you to take some time to go to the beginning of the Bible to Genesis for your personal Scripture reading. Genesis is a reminder that our Creator wants to be part of our lives. God wants to walk with us as we now prepare to dedicate ourselves spiritually for the time of Lent.

Today, a little about Genesis. First, Genesis is not about science. We know well that the most learned and spiritual in those early days knew little about the science of our planet and universe. We, twenty-first-century people, can be rather scientifically sophisticated. Each one of us – even us ordinary people – know a great deal of the science of our universe – its formation and development.

Reading Genesis – especially as a prayer, we will realize how the people of those days, were overwhelmed by the magnificence of our world, of our universe. The authors of Genesis, through the beauty of their words attempted to proclaim the beauty of the world and the power of the Creator. They wanted to demonstrate their gratitude to God for the gift of creation – the uniqueness of all that has been formed for all of us.

The Book of Genesis is a structured account that presents creation as an ordered and intentional act of God. So, it is rich in theological meaning rather than a purely scientific chronology. Many great theologians and scientists write a great deal; I am thinking here of Teilhard de Chardin showing how we can harmonize Genesis with evolutionary theory.

Let us consider the very first Chapter of Genesis, the Seven days of Creation. The first three days, God creates the background, that is the stage on which God places the elements of creation. So, on day one, God creates light, separating it from darkness. Then God creates the dome – the sky – that separates the waters above from below. Then God creates the dry earth, the plants and trees.

Then on the next three days God creates all that is to take part in this scene. First, God creates the celestial bodies, the sun, the moon and the stars. They will mark out the seasons. Then God creates fish, sea creatures and birds. God blesses them to be fruitful and multiply. On the sixth day, God creates the land animals. Then we are told that God creates humankind (male and female) – created in the image of God. They are then given dominion over the creation.

We are then told that on the seventh day, God rests. God blesses and sanctifies the seventh day, a sacred day of rest. Over the centuries people have found many ways to consecrate the seventh day – give it honor.

In faith – there are so many important messages and teachings – for me, one of the most powerful and important gives us our belief that all humankind is born in the image of God. We, you and I, are touched by the divine. Our very existence joins us in life and love with our God, our Creator. Our very existence is sacred.

Many saints and theologians have written about our being “born in the image of God,” the Creator. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “humans reflect God through their intellect – our capacity to know the truth – and our will, our ability to love and choose the good.”

St. Paul writes in Colossians 7:15, where he calls Christ “the image of the invisible God,”  teaching that we should realize our divine image by conforming ourselves to Christ.