YOUCAT Question n. 46 - Part I. Why does the Book of Genesis depict creation as “the work of six days”?
(Youcat answer) The symbol of the work week, which is
crowned by a day of rest (Gen 1:1-2:3), is an expression of how good,
beautiful, and wisely ordered creation is.
A deepening through
CCC
(CCC 337) God himself created the visible world in all its
richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator
symbolically as a succession of six days of divine "work", concluded
by the "rest" of the seventh day (Gen 1:l-2:4). On the subject of
creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation
(Cf. DV 11), permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value and
the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God" (LG 36 § 2).
Reflecting and
meditating
(Youcat comment)
From the symbolism of “the work of six
days” we can derive important principles: (1) Nothing exists that was not
called into being by the Creator. (2) Everything that exists is good in its own
way. (3) Something that has become bad still has a good core. (4) Created
beings and things are interrelated and interdependent. (5) Creation in its
order and harmony reflects the surpassing goodness and beauty of God. (6) In
creation there is an order of complexity: man is superior to an animal, an
animal is superior to a plant, a plant is superior to inanimate matter. (7)
Creation is heading for the great celebration when Christ will bring the world
home and God will be everything to everyone.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 338) Nothing
exists that does not owe its existence to God the Creator. The world began
when God's word drew it out of nothingness; all existent beings, all of nature,
and all human history are rooted in this primordial event, the very genesis by
which the world was constituted and time begun (Cf. St. Augustine, De Genesi adv. Man. 1, 2, 4: PL 34,
175).
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