2026-09-06 - When We Destroy Creation, We Forget the Creator Author: Fr. Camillus Nwaigwe
6th of September 2026
23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
(Mass of the care of creation)
Wisdom 13:1-9 _Colossians 1:15-20 _Matthew 6:24-34
Today, in Nigeria, the Church celebrates the Mass for the Care of Creation, observed on the First Sunday of September. It is a special celebration that invites us to pause and recognise that the world in which we live is God's creation and a gift entrusted to humanity.
The celebration is rooted in a simple but profound truth: God is the Creator, and we are stewards of His creation.
The *First Reading* from Wisdom reminds us that creation is not an end in itself. The beauty of the heavens, the waters, the wind, the stars and all that surrounds us should lead us to the One who made them. From the greatness and beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.
In other words, creation is God's handwriting; creation carries the fingerprints of the Creator. When we look at nature, we should see more than resources to be exploited. We should see a gift entrusted to us by God.
But there is a danger: when we forget the Creator, we begin to treat creation as though it belongs entirely to us. We cut down trees without planting others. We pollute rivers and streams. We dump refuse indiscriminately. We destroy the land in the pursuit of money. We engage in illegal mining and other forms of exploitation without considering who will inherit the consequences.
The *Second Reading* takes us even deeper, "All things were created through him and for him... and in him all things hold together.
Creation belongs ultimately to Christ. The earth is not simply a commodity. The river is not merely something from which we can make money. The forest is not simply timber waiting to be harvested. The land is not merely something to be exhausted for immediate profit. They are part of God's creation, and we are stewards, not owners.
This is where the Gospel becomes very relevant. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and mammon."
Sometimes our destruction of creation is a consequence of allowing mammon to become our master. When profit becomes more important than people, we can destroy the environment without remorse. When money becomes our god, we can pollute the water that poor families drink, destroy farmland on which people depend, and exploit natural resources while leaving communities to suffer the consequences. That is why the liturgy particularly remembers the poor, victims of flooding and those who suffer from the deterioration of the earth. It warns us not to destroy creation "for gain at the expense of the poor of the earth."
The deeper question is, "Do I recognise God in what He has created, and does my faith affect the way I treat His creation?"
If I praise God in church but pollute the environment outside, something is wrong.
If I thank God for the rain but block the drainage with refuse, something is wrong.
If I pray for the poor but participate in practices that destroy the land and water on which they depend, something is wrong. If I call God Creator but treat His creation as disposable, then perhaps I have remembered the creation but forgotten the Creator.
The Mass for the Care of Creation therefore calls us to recover a spirituality of stewardship: to admire creation, protect creation, use creation responsibly and hand it over to the next generation in a condition worthy of God's gift. Even the Collect asks that, guided by the Holy Spirit, we may "lovingly care for the work of your hands."
When we remember the Creator, we will treat His creation differently. We will not see the earth merely as something to consume, but as something to care for.
We will not ask only, "How much can I gain from it?" but also, "What am I leaving behind for others?" Because ultimately, how we treat creation reveals how seriously we take the Creator.
*Happy Sunday and God bless you*
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