Friday, July 3, 2015

Youcat commented through CCC. Question n. 46 – Part I.




YOUCAT Question n. 46 - Part I. Why does the Book of Genesis depict creation as “the work of six days”?


(Youcat answer) The symbol of the work week, which is crowned by a day of rest (Gen 1:1-2:3), is an expression of how good, beautiful, and wisely ordered creation is.        

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 337) God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine "work", concluded by the "rest" of the seventh day (Gen 1:l-2:4). On the subject of creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation (Cf. DV 11), permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value and the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God" (LG 36 § 2).

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) From the symbolism of “the work of six days” we can derive important principles: (1) Nothing exists that was not called into being by the Creator. (2) Everything that exists is good in its own way. (3) Something that has become bad still has a good core. (4) Created beings and things are interrelated and interdependent. (5) Creation in its order and harmony reflects the surpassing goodness and beauty of God. (6) In creation there is an order of complexity: man is superior to an animal, an animal is superior to a plant, a plant is superior to inanimate matter. (7) Creation is heading for the great celebration when Christ will bring the world home and God will be everything to everyone.   

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 338) Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God the Creator. The world began when God's word drew it out of nothingness; all existent beings, all of nature, and all human history are rooted in this primordial event, the very genesis by which the world was constituted and time begun (Cf. St. Augustine, De Genesi adv. Man. 1, 2, 4: PL 34, 175).    

(This question: Why does the Book of Genesis depict creation as “the work of six days”? is continued)

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