The psalmist
in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today proclaims all we can see
about God in the Creation around us. The awesome beauty of Creation becomes
clothed in spectacular colour in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year.
The stage is set in Nature for contemplation as we stroll in the cool air and
witness the beauty of the return of the life giving foliage to the ground to
become the starting and protecting material for the regeneration of green in
the Spring. This cycle of death giving life is important for the Christian to
consider as the warnings of Paul to the Romans about loving the creature more
than the Creator settle into our consciousness. The self centered attention or
the narcissism which Jan Schnack is reminded about in an interview of Pope
Francis with Repubblica, is the root of the evil which breaks our relationship
with the Divine. God is Love which moves outward to the other. Our nature too
often is very concerned with taking care of “number one”. The incompatibility of
narcissism and following Jesus is part of the strong message in the Gospel of
Luke that Jesus delivers to the Pharisees who protect themselves behind
cleanliness “laws” which encourage superficial attention to others in hypocrisy
of being people of God. The Spirit calls the followers of Jesus to fall like
the foliage in October and surrender to the Will of God through which life is
the fruit of death to self.
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