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Year A: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Second Reading: Romans 8: 18-23 As we continue to read from the letter that St Paul wrote to Christians in Rome, we are offered another image of life being born. St Paul acknowledges that suffering is part of the human condition - but that it is as nothing compared to what awaits us. This promise keeps us going - but he then puts it into a cosmic context. Not only are humans groaning to be liberated into the fullness of life - so too is the entire creation. Somehow, he sees that human failing and sin prevents creation being all that it was created to be - and so, longs for the moment when human beings are restored to the glory of their risen lives so that creation can be re-born too. The deep links between humanity and creation is a mystical vision - one that mystics from other faiths share. A renewed interest in “Creation Spirituality” and Celtic religions - and others - may suggest that people are again sensing something of this vision. Often, though, they see it as extra to their faith - unaware of readings such as this - the Psalms - and a tradition within the Church of finding God in His creation. As with all mystical visions, words fail to convey the fullness of the truth within them - and the words can be misunderstood. Sometimes, it is better to read them and then stand before the mystery in silence - marvelling at the work of God’s hand and His promise to bring it even more fully to birth....and then find a Psalm such as the one offered today (Ps. 64) and praise God in words that have sustained Jewish and Christian believers and wonderers for generations. What does it mean for me?
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