Do you tend to worship science as a god in itself, opposed to God who is the creator of all science? - Daily Reflections February 9,2015

THE LANGUAGE OF FAITH

What is a kiss? I Googled the definition of “kiss” and I found two contrasting definitions. The first defined a kiss as “the anatomical juxtaposition of two orbicularis oris muscles in a state of contraction.” The second said a kiss “is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.”

         Two totally different definitions, but one and the same thing. How is it that the same true reality can be described in two totally different ways? It’s because it can be looked upon from many angles. The first definition was given by a medical doctor lecturing in his physiology class; the second by Hollywood leading lady Ingrid Bergman.

       Today and in the weeks that follow, the liturgy begins with a reading from the book of Genesis. The first chapter describes the story of Creation. God utters His word, “Let there be…” and the world, and everything in it, come into being. Many disciples of science dismissed the book of Genesis, and the Sacred Scriptures as a whole, as an assault to rationality and scientific thinking.

       What they are missing is that the Bible or some books of the Bible use different literary forms. Some make use of history, poetry, philosophy and theology to express and describe truth and reality. The book of Genesis describes the story of creation not in scientific language, but in theological language. Genesis is interested not in presenting a detailed historical and scientific definition of how creation came into being, but in engendering faith in a Creator-God who is the source of everything. Ultimately, Genesis is not a story of how the heavens go, but how to go to heaven.

       Faith and science are not contradictory. Both have God as their origin. We need more than the language of science; we also need the language of faith. To use Ingrid Bergman’s analogy, faith is the lovely trick designed by God to stop speech when science becomes superfluous. Fr. Joel Jason

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you tend to worship science as a god in itself, opposed to God who is the creator of all science?

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8).