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Online Resource - Lenten Reflections The Grace of GOD REVEALING, GOD INSPIRING, GOD CHALLENGING “Our is talking to us and we must listen to it and decipher its message if we want to survive” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, 2007

world, revealing to us the love God has for all life, all creatures. The divine Trinitarian relationship of Week 6 - Animal Life God, Christ and Spirit in the created world fills us with wonder at love. Jesus shows us the way “Take and eat; this is my body.” to relate to all creatures, even the microscopic Matt 26:26b ones – with respect for their and their integrity. Jesus and the Natural World, Fr Denis Edwards. God Revealing….. But ask the , and they will teach you; the of the air, and they will tell you; Getting to know Animals Job 12: 7

Scientists have no clear of how many How do you relate to animal life? - from to blue - live on God Inspiring….. earth. Estimates are up to 100 million of which Image source: flickr by EpochCatcher only about 1.8 million have been named so far. are but one of those species. Though God Challenging….. the exact number is impossible to determine, an unprecedented mass of life on Earth is We are part of the web of life. Many strands have occurring. Scientists estimate that between 150 already been broken. Help people encounter fellow creatures and through them experience and 200 species of life become extinct every 24 God’s creatures in a new way. hours. There have always been periods of extinction in Responding to God’s call the planet’s history, but this episode is greater than anything the world has experienced for Many conservation groups are engaging people the past 65 million years – the greatest rate of Image source: flickr by EpochCatcher as citizen scientists to observe and monitor extinction since the vanishing of the . animal life. From to Life, Fr Sean McDonagh. Meditation 1. Find out how you can get involved, even by using your own backyard. If the science tells us we come from the Reflect on the words of Pope Francis, “The Spirit of life dwells in every living creature and calls us same source, the extinction of species is the Eg: www.gondwanalink.org extinction of another mode of divine presence to enter into relationship with him. Discovering www.npansw.org.au John Feehan and Thomas Berry this presence leads us to cultivate the ‘ecological virtues’.” Laudato Si’ #88 Reflection Hold a “choose life” ceremony. Praise God, O LORD, how manifold are your works! “Blessed are you Lord God of all creation”. In wisdom you have made them all; the earth Name some animal life - large and small. is full of your creatures. Ps 104:24 We pray in gratitude for the diversity of animal life “ And God saw that it was What is the relationship with others of the from bugs to , from to whales, from good.” Gen 1 animal species?” Australian theologian, Fr Denis to to . Help us to be more considerate Edwards says that human beings, created in the of our fellow animal species. image of God, can relate personally with God. Jesus, the Word made flesh entered into the Use your Creation Mandala.

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