September 24. Heritage Day. WE ARE CO-CREATORS WITH GOD.  (From BECOMING ECO-FRIENDLY FAMILIES)

The statement “We are co-creators with God” highlights how important we are, particularly as human beings, in God’s plan of creation.  Although Genesis may tell us that God created busily for 6 days and then rested, this myth only tells part of the story.  Creation was and still is an ongoing process. Every living thing has the potential to reproduce, alongside God who still holds the key to life.  Sexual reproduction is the key to almost every species where male and female parts combine and their reproductive acts produce one or more new creatures that continue the dynasty. This ability is God-given, an aspect of ongoing creation. We could say that God does continue to create all the time, or do we say he set the process in motion and lets us get on with it, evolving or developing new formats.  If God creates and recreates us constantly is that our task too?  The wonder of co-creation with God in conception and child-birth are in the realm of the sacred, experienced with wonder and awe, as parents well know, and may even have experienced it on a number of occasions.  It is one of the great joys of family life. 

There is another side to co-creation, an extreme and at times negative side. Understood and studied widely, science today has and continues to manipulate the elements of life.  Although this has been happening for many centuries in agriculture, present-day genetic modifications in all areas of creation place a great responsibility on us as humankind. Do we fully recognize this responsibility and can we predict the ultimate consequences whether they are positive or negative?   

Reflect, share, act. Scripture: Jesus was told, your mother and your brethren are standing outside, desiring to see you. But he said to them, my mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it.  Luke 8:19-21.   Pope Francis:  Everything is interconnected. Just as the different aspects of the planet -physical, chemical and biological are interrelated so too living species are part of a network which we will never fully explore and understand.   LS 138. God himself created sexuality which is a marvellous gift to his creatures. If this gift needs to be cultivated and directed it is to prevent the impoverishment of an authentic value. AL 150. The couple that loves and begets life is a true, living icon capable of revealing God the Creator and Saviour.  Eco-tip and prayer:  On this Heritage Day in SA discuss integral ecology and the family and how to become an eco-friendly, family-friendly society, also keeping our own cultural heritage in mind.  Pray the Glory Be for a lasting eco-friendly focus in all families, i.e. our World, a Family of Families.