Day 42: The Work of Creation (290-298)


Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we thank you and we give you praise. Thank you for revealing yourself to us in these first words of the Book of Genesis. And revealing yourself to us what we need to know about you and what we can know about you by your revelation and by the unfolding of your revelation in our understanding in the history of the Church. Thank you so much. Thank you for those who have gone ahead of us and have figured it out and are passing it on to us today. In Jesus’ name we praise you. Amen”

Scripture References & Reflections

- compiled by Andrew Adamany


Bible Translation - RSVCE


CCC 291 "The New Testament reveals that God created everything by the eternal Word, his beloved Son."


John 1:1–5

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."


Colossians 1:15–17

"He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."


"The Church's faith likewise confesses the creative action of the Holy Spirit, the "giver of life", "the Creator Spirit" (Veni, Creator Spiritus), the "source of every good".


John 6:63 

"It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."


CCC 292 "The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, inseparably one with that of the Father. This creative co-operation is clearly affirmed in the Church's rule of faith: "There exists but one God. . . he is the Father, God, the Creator, the author, the giver of order. He made all things by himself, that is, by his Word and by his Wisdom", "by the Son and the Spirit" who, so to speak, are "his hands".Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity."



Psalm 33:6 

"By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, 

and all their host by the breath of his mouth."


Psalm 104:30

"When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; 

and thou renewest the face of the ground."


Genesis 1:2–3

"The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. 

And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light."



CCC 294 "The glory of God consists in the realization of this manifestation and communication of his goodness, for which the world was created. God made us "to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace"


Ephesians 1:3–6

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."


for "the glory of God is man fully alive; moreover man's life is the vision of God: if God's revelation through creation has already obtained life for all the beings that dwell on earth, how much more will the Word's manifestation of the Father obtain life for those who see God." The ultimate purpose of creation is that God "who is the creator of all things may at last become "all in all", thus simultaneously assuring his own glory and our beatitude."


1 Corinthians 15:28 

"When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one."


CCC 295 "We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom. It is not the product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance…"


Wisdom of Solomon 9:9

"With thee is wisdom, who knows thy works 

and was present when thou didst make the world, 

and who understand what is pleasing in thy sight 

and what is right according to thy commandments."


"We believe that it proceeds from God's free will; he wanted to make his creatures share in his being, wisdom and goodness"


Revelation 4:9–11

"And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, 

“Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, 

to receive glory and honor and power, 

for thou didst create all things, 

and by thy will they existed and were created.”


"Therefore the Psalmist exclaims"


Psalm 104:24

"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! 

In wisdom hast thou made them all; 

the earth is full of thy creatures."


Psalm 145:9 

"The Lord is good to all, 

and his compassion is over all that he has made."



CCC 297 "Scripture bears witness to faith in creation "out of nothing" as a truth full of promise and hope. Thus the mother of seven sons encourages them for martyrdom:


2 Maccabees 7:20–23,25-29

"The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord. She encouraged each of them in the language of their fathers. Filled with a noble spirit, she fired her woman’s reasoning with a man’s courage, and said to them, “I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws…

Since the young man would not listen to him at all, the king called the mother to him and urged her to advise the youth to save himself. After much urging on his part, she undertook to persuade her son. But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their native tongue as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: “My son, have pity on me. I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you. I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being. Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again with your brothers.”


CCC 298 "Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating a pure heart in them,and bodily life to the dead through the Resurrection."


Psalm 51:12

"Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, 

and uphold me with a willing spirit."


"God "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist."


Romans 4:16–17 

"That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist."


"And since God was able to make light shine in darkness by his Word, he can also give the light of faith to those who do not yet know him."


Genesis 1:3–4 

"And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness."


2 Corinthians 4:6 

"For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."