A reflection on Psalm 24 for Monday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time.
By November, my garden can look as though I never loved it. The tomato plants are finished, and something has eaten the squash I thought might last until frost. But underneath all that, the soil is busy. I can put the tools away for winter. Quite a bit will go on without my supervision.
I find that really helpful. I also tend to forget it when taking credit for a good crop.
Psalm 24 begins, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” Before the psalm asks anything of us, it tells us something about God. This world belongs to Him because He made it. His care for it continues whether anyone notices or gives thanks. The soil under a parking lot is as much His creation as the ground beneath a cathedral.
Catholics speak of creation as good. We say it so automatically that we can forget what it means. Physical matter is worth God’s attention. The Son of God took flesh and ate food grown from this earth. At Mass, we offer bread and wine. Because of this, our worship depends on a harvest, on somebody’s labor, on rain arriving when it is needed.
So concern about the environment is an optional interest Catholics might take up if they happen to enjoy hiking. Some of us would rather sit on the porch. We all still need clean water.
Church teaching recognizes private ownership, while insisting that the earth’s goods are meant to support everybody. That can make for uncomfortable discussions. A business may own land beside a river, but people downstream need safe drinking water, and the business has a responsibility to protect it.
Unfortunately, I don’t always think this way when making purchases. Usually I am checking the price. Finding out how something was made takes effort, and sometimes the answers are difficult to get. So I need the psalm at Mass, where I hear myself acknowledging God’s claim on the earth before going out to use a little more of it.
God, help us care for the ground that feeds us and the water we share. Give us the honesty to account for what our way of living costs other people. Amen.
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