III.
THEMYSTERYOFTHEUNIVERSE
76.
In the Judaeo-Christian tradition, the word “creation” has a broader meaning than “nature”, for
it has to dowithGod’s loving plan inwhich every creature has its own value and significance. Nature
is usually seen as a systemwhich can be studied, understood and controlled, whereas creation can only
be understood as a gift from the outstretched hand of the Father of all, and as a reality illuminated by
the lovewhich calls us together intouniversal communion.
77.
“By the word of the Lord the heavens weremade” (
Ps
33:6). This tells us that the world came
about as the result of a decision, not from chaos or chance, and this exalts it all themore. The creating
word expresses a free choice. The universe did not emerge as the result of arbitrary omnipotence, a
show of force or a desire for self-assertion. Creation is of the order of love. God’s love is the
fundamental moving force in all created things: “For you love all things that exist, and detest none of
the things that you havemade; for youwould not havemade anything if you had hated it” (
Wis
11:24).
Every creature is thus the object of the Father’s tenderness, who gives it its place in the world. Even
the fleeting life of the least of beings is the object of his love, and in its few seconds of existence, God
enfolds it with his affection. Saint Basil the Great described the Creator as “goodness without
measure”,
44
while Dante Alighieri spoke of “the love which moves the sun and the stars”.
45
Consequently, we can ascend from created things “to the greatness ofGod and tohis lovingmercy”.
46
78.
At the same time, Judaeo-Christian thought demythologized nature. While continuing to
admire its grandeur and immensity, it no longer sawnature as divine. In doing so, it emphasizes all the
more our human responsibility for nature. This rediscovery of nature can never be at the cost of the
freedom and responsibility of human beings who, as part of the world, have the duty to cultivate their
abilities in order to protect it and develop its potential. Ifwe acknowledge the value and the fragilityof
nature and, at the same time, our God-given abilities, we can finally leave behind the modern myth of
unlimitedmaterial progress. A fragile world, entrusted byGod to human care, challenges us to devise
intelligentways of directing, developing and limitingour power.
44
Hom. inHexaemeron,
I, 2, 10: PG29, 9.
45
TheDivineComedy,Paradiso
, CantoXXXIII, 145.
46
BENEDICTXVI,
Catechesis
(9November 2005), 3:
Insegnamenti
1 (2005), 768.
