Today's Good News Reflection

One of my patron saints is Francis of Assisi. He reminds me of what today's first reading and responsorial Psalm teach us: All creation is sacred. God made everything and declared it "good."

We don't worship creation, but by appreciating it and protecting it we worship the Creator. This is why St. Francis could genuflect before every person he met, even very un-Christian folks. He bowed to honor the creation God had made, no matter how unlike God the person behaved, and in doing so, he worshipped the Lord in every person.

Imagine what would happen if all of us starting doing this today and it became a new Christian fad! Respect for one another would increase dramatically. Eventually it would spread to produce a culture of respect even for the unborn and the elderly and the handicapped who seem to have no value in this world.

All of creation is a reflection of God and an opportunity to worship him. Why waste time in front of the artificial world of the television screen when we can be delightfully entertained in our back yards watching the shows that God produces? They're all commercial-free!

For example, after a rain or in the early morning mist, go find the dew drops. Simple, little dew drops are far more enjoyable than early morning TV gossip shows. When the sun touches these tiny globes of water, they sparkle like shiny diamonds, and when God touches them with a gentle breeze, they glitter with bursts of rainbow colors. Each one is a precious gift from the Creator. God placed those dew drops there for our benefit! Sadly, we miss a lot of his shows. So many dew drops never get appreciated.

Well, that's not true. God sees every dew drop in the entire world, and he thoroughly enjoys watching them. He started entertaining himself with dew drops long before he created people who could appreciate them.

If he gets this delighted over simple dew drops, imagine how wonderfully happy he feels about you! You are far more delightful to him than mere bits of water. He smiles over every nice gesture, every kind deed, every helpful outreach, every use of your gifts and talents, even the tiniest ones. And when you do something that displeases him, he's still thrilled by everything that's good about you.

As reflections of God, let's follow his example. Even if we don't genuflect when we meet his creations, we can silently (or not so silently) say, "Wow Lord!" in every encounter with people, with dew drops, and with all the gifts of creation through which he likes to delight us.