Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Pastor’s Column, 9/3/07



Father Pat Casey, St. John’s Catholic Church, Darwin

As we celebrated Labor Day recently, the Dassel community gave us an opportunity to celebrate the weekend with food, fellowship, and reflection with many events that catered to all ages and interests.

We can go to the first book of the Bible, Genesis 2:15, and read: “The Lord God then took (the man and woman He had created) and settled (them) in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.”

As we reflect on this revelation today, we recognize that the God we have come to know is “Lord God,” a God who not only creates all that is, but One who places within and between all that is, forces that follow or unfold according to the pull or push with all that is around it.

In this “place,” He settles human beings He has created, men and women, who are to “cultivate and care for it.” We use what is created by God to re-shape and re-form what is here to fulfill expectations formulated by us to fulfill our needs (sometimes, we are only concerned about fulfilling our own needs, but that is for another column.)

Our hand in cultivating and caring for what is in the garden of life (Eden) is work.

We have a hand in the work of re-creation through our willingness to make something of ourselves and this world. Our dreams, our loves, our desires, our efforts, our plans, our faithfulness, our integrity, our capabilities, our blood, our sweat, and our tears all contribute to the good, the common good, that we can see makes this world worthwhile.

We can pray with the psalmist, as in Psalm 90, “Lord, give success to the work of our hands.”

Together, we can pray – “God our Father, by the labor of humankind, you govern and guide to perfection the work of creation. Hear the prayers of your people and give everyone work that enhances their human dignity and draws them closer to each other in the service of their brothers and sisters. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.”

God bless us all.

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