Feast of St. Scholastica

St. Scholastica was the sister of St. Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism. His Benedictine Rules were designed to help laymen lead a life as closely to the spirit of the gospel as possible. They turned out to become a blueprint for many other monasteries and religious orders. Around 6^th century, there were already many houses and convents for virgins dedicated to God. St. Benedict was in great demand to give them spiritual guidance. His sister, Scholastica, must have been an indispensable helping hand for St. Benedict. She died in 543 A.D. closely followed by her brother St. Benedict.
Today, we come to the remaining part of the Creation story in Genesis 1. Though the Catholic Church does not find evolution theory incompatible with the Creation story, many hardcore scientists reject Creation outright. The Church only insists on the message that God is the origin. The Bible only tells us what has happened and leaves out the details of the how. The scientific community has a free rein in hypothesizing whatever scientists think reasonable. Evolution is a splendid idea. Living things develop from simplicity to complexity. Those more capable of adapting to the surrounding survive. Others are extinct, leaving room for other forms of life to occupy. Yet, life is not passive. Its interaction with the environment modifies it and itself. The world is vibrant with all sorts of interactions. The world is highly animated. The origin of life on earth has occupied many brilliant minds for decades. The final goal is yet to reach.
From the Bible, we are comfortable to read that God is the origin. We are jubilant that man was made in the image of God.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after 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 earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26)
Therefore, man can be intelligent and creative just as God is. Furthermore, man has a destiny beyond this earthly existence because we are images of God. To fulfil this destiny, we are entrusted with the stewardship of this world. The world is a stage and man is to play out his role here. It is our responsibility to take good care of this world while we are playing out our roles because God says several times that His Creation is good.
And God saw that XXX was good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).
This environmental protection message is loud and clear.
And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done (Genesis 2:2).
Unrestrained pursuit of success will only lead to downfall. Overprotection will only bring up weaklings, over-supervision only mediocrity and overwork only breakdowns. God is wise. He knows when to work and when to stop. After six days of work, He takes a rest and allows His Creation to unfold its fullness without further intervention. We cannot fully fathom His wisdom. Nowadays, we can only talk about sustainable development to approximate this great wisdom.

My Lord, teach me to strike the right balance between prayer and work, Ora et Labora. May my life be a song singing praises to Your wisdom and wonders. Amen.