Welcome to Assumption Parish!

The first reading for this weekend is from the Book of Wisdom which was written only about 100 years before the birth of Christ and is therefore the last book written in the Old Testament. This is full of significance for us Christians because it marks the edge of the Old and the beginning of the New Testament where the fullness of revelation will come in the person of Christ. In this passage the author of Wisdom makes four statements about the very nature of God:

• First, he affirms that God is God, utterly different from creation and indeed the source of all that exists. Even the entire universe is but a small grain that might be used for weighing something or just a passing drop of morning dew compared to the immensity of God Himself.
• Second, God loves all things that are and loathes nothing that He has made. This sounds almost like the Apostle John when he tells us that, “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” [1 John 4: 16].
• Third, in the very act of creating God has put something of Himself into creation, “Your imperishable spirit is in all things.” This God who is both “Lord” and “lover of souls” has put His Spirit in all things.
• Fourth, God is patient. Little by little He reminds His people to abandon what is destructive and separates ourselves from God and to return to Him.

This is a great reading to have during this time of year as we witness the changing of the season and the completion of the harvest. We can simply look out the window and see both the beauty of creation as well as its limits and cycles. The book of Wisdom invites us to be thankful for the goodness of the earth that we are able to enjoy today, and also remember from whom all this goodness originates. Today is a good day to pause and say a prayer of thanksgiving for the beauty and love that God does share in our lives.

~ Fr. Tony Pelak