Monday 6 February 2023

Today is Monday the 6th of February, the feast of Ss Paul Miki SJ, & Companions; Bb Charles Spinola SJ, Sebastian Kimura SJ, & Companions, Peter Kibe Kasui & Companions, in the fifth week of Ordinary time.


Salt of the Sound sings, ‘Praise to the Lord’. Can you join in with this song today?

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation
Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near
Join me in glad adoration
Praise to the Lord, above all things so wondrously reigning
Sheltering you under his wings, and so gently sustaining
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do
If with his love he befriends you
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him
Let the Amen sound from his people again
Gladly forever adore him
Let the Amen sound from his people again
Gladly forever adore him

Today’s reading is from the Book of Genesis.


Gen 1:1-19

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

There is something almost mesmerising about the Genesis account of creation. It reads like an incantation. Most striking is the power of the repeated refrain, ‘God saw that it was good’. Do you take time to acknowledge and savour the goodness of creation? What strikes you within it as particularly good?


Creation is not simply good in itself. It is good because it is created by a good and loving God. Creation reflects back to us in many different ways that goodness of God. There is a strong sense within the account of creation of purposefulness and connectedness. Can you get in touch with that sense as you recall the words of the reading?

As we listen again to part of the reading, notice what strikes you and why. Does the account of creation prompt particular feelings or responses in you?

How do you normally respond when you are struck by the goodness of creation? What would you wish to say to God, our good and loving Creator? Take some time now to express what you feel.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.