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The ornaments to print out for the Jesse Tree
Understanding the Jesse Tree
Monday of the First Week of Advent
Creation
Gen 1:1-2:3 (NRSV)
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; … And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” … God called the dome Sky. … And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. … The earth brought forth vegetation: … And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, … God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. … And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. … Then God said, “Let us make humankind … God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
As we celebrate the beginning of Advent and the beginning of a new year in the Church, it is fitting that we reflect on the beginning of creation. In the Genesis account, we see order and goodness as the basis of creation, not chaos and evil. Human beings were the last to enter into existence in this procession of creation being brought forth by the hand of God. It all started out as good, like so many of the good things we start. We know that in the plan of God, Christ came at the first Christmas because the original goodness of God's work was marred by humankind. The original goodness of creation is lost but Christ not only restores us to right relationship with God but He raises us even higher by his gift of grace to share in his divinity. In the words of the priest at every Mass when he mixes the water and wine for the Eucharistic sacrifice, “God shared in our humanity so that we might share in his divinity.”
God created everything in the entire universe—sun, moon, stars, plants, animals, and people. The first people that God created were named Adam and Eve. They were perfect, without sin, and God gave them a perfect place to live. They walked with God and had many good things to enjoy. God told them they could eat fruit from all but one tree in the garden. To eat from that tree would be to disobey God. Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit and disobey God. Disobedience to God is sin. When sin entered the world there was a need for a Savior. Christmas is all about God's plan to send a Savior and rescue the world from sin.
Have a conversation about the beauty of creation and the need to care for what God has created. Ask your children what they think are the most beautiful things in this world and what causes the destruction of God's creation. End with thanking God for giving us the world to live in.