Who else is ready for Spring? After the 5 p.m. Mass on Sunday night, I looked at the sky as I walked across the parking lot to the rectory and thought to myself, “It's still light outside. Hallelujah! Spring is around the corner.”

Pondering the beauty of the day, I’m drawn to share some of the text from the Book of Genesis that was proclaimed at Mass this morning:

"In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”

Thus evening came, and morning followed–the first day. Then God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. And so it happened: God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it. God called the dome “the sky.” Evening came, and morning followed–the second day.

Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear.”  And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared. God called the dry land “the earth,” and the basin of the water he called “the sea.” God saw how good it was.

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it.” And so it happened: the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed–the third day.

Then God said: “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years, and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth.” And so it happened: God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night; and he made the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed–the fourth day.”

How often do we ponder the majesty of creation as being the handiwork of God? How often do we thank him for the heavens; the rhythm of the day; water; trees; seeds; light and darkness? Everything we inhabit has been designed and created by Almighty God. Soon, as the temperatures warm, there will be an explosion of new life in our world. Might we thank God for it all, as he is the author of creation.