Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale554

eyes.12 Immersed in such beauty, who could not echo the words of the Psal-

mist in praise of the Creator: "how majestic is your name in all the earth?".13

And there is more - something hardly perceivable from the sky - men

and women, made in nothing less than God's own image and likeness.14 At the

heart of the marvel of creation are you and I, the human family "crowned

with glory and honour".15 How astounding! With the Psalmist we whisper:

"what is man that you are mindful of him?".16 And drawn into silence, into a

spirit of thanksgiving, into the power of holiness, we ponder.

What do we discover? Perhaps reluctantly we come to acknowledge that

there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth: erosion, deforesta-

tion, the squandering of the world's mineral and ocean resources in order to

fuel an insatiable consumption. Some of you come from island nations whose

very existence is threatened by rising water levels; others from nations suf-

fering the effects of devastating drought. God's wondrous creation is some-

times experienced as almost hostile to its stewards, even something danger-

ous. How can what is "good" appear so threatening?

And there is more. What of man, the apex of God's creation? Every day

we encounter the genius of human achievement. From advances in medical

sciences and the wise application of technology, to the creativity reflected in

the arts, the quality and enjoyment of people's lives in many ways are

steadily rising. Among yourselves there is a readiness to take up the plentiful

opportunities offered to you. Some of you excel in studies, sport, music, or

dance and drama, others of you have a keen sense of social justice and ethics,

and many of you take up service and voluntary work. All of us, young and

old, have those moments when the innate goodness of the human person -

perhaps glimpsed in the gesture of a little child or an adult's readiness to

forgive - fills us with profound joy and gratitude.

Yet such moments do not last. So again, we ponder. And we discover that

not only the natural but also the social environment - the habitat we fash-

ion for ourselves - has its scars; wounds indicating that something is amiss.

Here too, in our personal lives and in our communities, we can encounter a

12 Cfr Gen 1:1 - 2:4. 13 Ps 8:1. 14 Cfr Gen 1:26. 15 Ps 8:5. 16 Ps 8:4.