Day 41: Origins and Ends (285-289)

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father, Almighty. God, All Powerful. You are good. You are merciful. You are powerful. You have created all things out of nothing. And you created all things for yourself. You have created us for yourself. You have created this universe for US, to get to know you. To reveal you to us and to bring us closer to you. And so, today, we ask you to please bring us closer to you. Bring us into your grasp. Bring us into your heart and there, we will find joy. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”

Scripture References & Reflections

- compiled by Andrew Adamany


Bible Translation - RSVCE


CCC 286 "Human intelligence is surely already capable of finding a response to the question of origins. The existence of God the Creator can be known with certainty through his works, by the light of human reason, even if this knowledge is often obscured and disfigured by error. This is why faith comes to confirm and enlighten reason in the correct understanding of this truth: 


Hebrews 11:1–3 

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear."


CCC 287 "The truth about creation is so important for all of human life that God in his tenderness wanted to reveal to his People everything that is salutary to know on the subject. Beyond the natural knowledge that every man can have of the Creator,


Acts 17:24–29 

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us, for 

‘In him we live and move and have our being’; 

as even some of your poets have said, 

‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man."


 Romans 1:19–20 

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made."


"God progressively revealed to Israel the mystery of creation. He who chose the patriarchs, who brought Israel out of Egypt, and who by choosing Israel created and formed it, this same God reveals himself as the One to whom belong all the peoples of the earth, and the whole earth itself; he is the One who alone "made heaven and earth".


Isaiah 43:1

"But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, 

he who formed you, O Israel: 

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; 

I have called you by name, you are mine."


Psalm 115:15 

"May you be blessed by the Lord, 

who made heaven and earth!"


Psalm 124:8 

"Our help is in the name of the Lord, 

who made heaven and earth."


Psalm 134:3

"May the Lord bless you from Zion, 

he who made heaven and earth!"


CCC 288 "Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the first step towards this covenant, the first and universal witness to God's all-powerful love."


Genesis 15:5

"And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”


Jeremiah 33:19–26

"The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Thus says the Lord: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.” 

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Have you not observed what these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two families which he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his descendants to rule over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy upon them.”


"And so, the truth of creation is also expressed with growing vigor in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms and the liturgy, and in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People."


Isaiah 44:24 

"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, 

who formed you from the womb: 

“I am the Lord, who made all things, 

who stretched out the heavens alone, 

who spread out the earth—Who was with me?"


Psalm 104:5–8

"Thou didst set the earth on its foundations, 

so that it should never be shaken. 

Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment; 

the waters stood above the mountains. 

At thy rebuke they fled; 

at the sound of thy thunder they took to flight. 

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down 

to the place which thou didst appoint for them."


Proverbs 8:22–31

"The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, 

the first of his acts of old. 

Ages ago I was set up, 

at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 

When there were no depths I was brought forth, 

when there were no springs abounding with water. 

Before the mountains had been shaped, 

before the hills, I was brought forth; 

before he had made the earth with its fields, 

or the first of the dust of the world. 

When he established the heavens, I was there, 

when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 

when he made firm the skies above, 

when he established the fountains of the deep,

when he assigned to the sea its limit, 

so that the waters might not transgress his command, 

when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 

then I was beside him, like a master workman; 

and I was daily his delight, 

rejoicing before him always, 

rejoicing in his inhabited world 

and delighting in the sons of men."