April 03, 2021

 Holy Saturday

Gn 1:1, 26-31a

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Imago Dei

The Scripture options for our prayer at the Easter Vigil couldn’t be richer. Nowhere else in the liturgical year are the bells of our faith rung so beautifully, awakening our collective memory as believers. From the foundations of the earth, to the Easter gift of God’s son, Jesus, to our own present moment in time, we are reminded that God has been with us all along.

Life is full of uncertainty and fear, but we do not make our journey alone. And one thought from Genesis looms with special power: God created humankind in his image. We might linger in this incredible mystery. We resemble our Creator and so does everyone around us. 

So when a gunman opens fire in a spa in Atlanta or hunts down shoppers in a supermarket in Boulder, it is the Divine Image that is being targeted and torn. The mirrored image of God in all men and women demands our care and respect. Jesus had the clearest eyes of all for the imago Dei— the image of God— in every person he met. We can pray for our portion of this gift!

Easter is here! Our souls bless the Lord who remembers and redeemed us! It is very good!

 —Joe Kraemer, SJ, is a scholastic of the Jesuits West Province in his second year of Theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California.

Prayer

Bless the Lord, O my soul.
  O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honour and majesty,
  wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
You set the earth on its foundations,
  so that it shall never be shaken.
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
  the waters stood above the mountains.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
  they flow between the hills,
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
  they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
  the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
  and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
  In wisdom you have made them all;
  the earth is full of your creatures.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
  and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!

—Psalm 104

Please share the Good Word with your friends!