The earth is the LORD'S,
and the fulness thereof;
the world,
and they that dwell therein. (Ps 24:1)

 

 

Man's body is at one with the earth and it cannot live without its nurturing resources. The food we eat comes from the earth; the air we breathe comes from plant life; the water we drink comes from oceans recycled by the sun's energy. In short, man is alive not on earth but within the earth. Rahner defines a human person as a "spirit-in-the world" which shares in the salvation of mankind. This is why we speak of the "salvation of the world."

Now to the question of man's sinful use of the earth. This began when Adam and Eve willing to act as gods and the consequences this brought about. The land would now bear fruits through sweat, toil and suffering. "The truth that ancient human intuition that human behavior and the well being of the land are inexorably linked is clear for those who have eyes to see. Careless disposal poisons the water. The worship of speed and convenience requires fossil fuels whose exhaust threatens global scorching. Powerful forces, both institutional and personal, resist the cost of change, the repentance that would avert the wrath of nature violated." We may now add genetic modifications which when wrongly used will bring dire consequences. (Robert Corin Morris, Weaving, Stewards of Creation, Vol. XXIII, No. 5, Sept/Oct, 2008, p.13)

At death man's body returns to the earth which is our promised land because with the Resurrection we will be refashioned from the same earth. Our relationship with the earth will never cease regardless of how it will be transfigured in God's infinite and eternal wisdom in Christ Jesus. Or, to put in another way, "What form the "glorification" of human being on earth may take is something we know only in amazing events like the Transfiguration, where a mortal human body shine with the light of the Divine itself, ... Whatever the ultimate meaning of the symbols, glorified and renewed world, in which the kings of the earth bring all their treasures in tribute to a great City that has descended from heaven to earth is presented as the end-game of God's plan for us." (Ibid. p.15)

This prayer of Solomon is a plea for all generations to discover God's ways for us in this world.

"God of my fathers, LORD of mercy, you who have made all things by your word
And in your wisdom have established man to rule the creatures produced by you,
To govern the world in holiness and justice, and to render judgment in integrity of heart:
Give me Wisdom, the attendant at your throne, and reject me not from among your children;
For I am your servant, the son of your handmaid,
a man weak and short-lived and lacking in comprehension of judgment and of laws.
Indeed, though one be perfect among the sons of men, if Wisdom, who comes from you,
be not with him, he shall be held in no esteem. (Ws 9:1-6)

 

11. St. Isidore the Farmer