27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Almost four years ago, the European Space Agency spent over a billion pounds to send a package of instruments to land on the surface of Mars. This was done in the hope of learning, among other things, whether Mars has, or could once have had, the conditions to sustain life. If evidence for life on Mars were to be found, there would be huge excitement.
The fascination with the quest to discover whether primitive life forms might have existed on a neighbouring planet serves to highlight what an extraordinary place our earth is - filled with thousands upon thousands of species of plants and animals. In the Book of Genesis the Creator rejoices in the abundance of life on earth. After each day of creation, 'God saw that it was good'.
The high point of the Genesis account is the creation of human beings in the image and likeness of God. It was then that 'God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good'. (Gen 1:31).
Men and women are unique in this world; we alone can appreciate the wonder of creation, can love, can choose, can seek to grasp the meaning of life, and can come to know the God who made us. We do not know if any other beings like us exist in the whole vast universe.
The earth is a wonderful creation, and life is at its centre. That is what we celebrate when we rejoice on harvest Sunday. The harvest symbolises all that is positive and productive about our creation and about humanity. 'God saw all that he had made and he found it very good.' Today, on harvest Sunday, we rejoice with God in his creation and we thank him for having us as co-creators.
Yet we all know that pain and suffering are also part and parcel of life. Very often it is pain and suffering that destroys our faith in the goodness of the world and even the goodness of God. The logic behind this reasoning runs as follows: if the creation is cruel, surely its creator is still more cruel. And, as one writer put it, the kindest attitude to such a God is to grant him the charity of non-belief. This is the dilemma faced by the author in our first reading from Habakkuk: "Why do you set injustice before me, why do you look on where there is tyranny? Outrage and violence, this is all I see, all is contention and discord flourishes." Then the author has a vision: "The upright will live by faithfulness" he is told. Faith will sustain the human being in difficult times, if he or she has patience.
This faith is a habit of mind, it is an attitude, it is the compass we take with us as we walk out into the world. We must have faith in life first of all; we must trust life; we must trust our fellow pilgrims on this planet, or at least link up with some we can trust. Life would be quite impossible if we got out of bed every morning expecting only the worst. We must have faith in each day. Even faith the size of a mustard seed, according to Jesus in today's gospel, will do wonderful things for us. And he came that we might have life and have it abundantly!
Today is designated by the Irish bishops as the annual 'Day for Life'. Everything that threatens life must be urgently addressed. Traditionally, human beings were at their most vulnerable at the beginning and at the end of the spectrum we call human life. Because they are no long or are not yet useful in the utilitarian sense, they are regarded in some quarters as dispensable. Or at the very least, they are not afforded and rendered the respect and dignity the humanity and life merits. You can read more in this matter in the little leaflet prepared by the Irish bishops for today. You will find them at the back of the Church as you leave.
We thank you Lord for the gift of life.