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.[204] On the subject of creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation,[205] permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value and the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God."[206]
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.[207]
339 Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection. For each one of the works of the "six days" it is said: "And God saw that it was good." "By the very nature of creation, material being is endowed with its own stability, truth and excellence, its own order and laws."[208] Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God's infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things which would be in contempt of the Creator and would bring disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment.
340 God wills the interdependence of creatures. The sun and the moon, the cedar and the little flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the spectacle of their countless diversities and inequalities tells us that no creature is self-sufficient. Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other.
341 The beauty of the universe: The order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them. Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call forth the admiration of scholars. The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man's intellect and will.
342 The hierarchy of creatures is expressed by the order of the "six days", from the less perfect to the more perfect. God loves all his creatures[209] and takes care of each one, even the sparrow. Nevertheless, Jesus said: "You are of more value than many sparrows", or again: "Of how much more value is a man than a sheep!"[210]
343 Man is the summit of the Creator's work, as the inspired account expresses by clearly distinguishing the creation of man from that of the other creatures.[211]
344 There is a solidarity among all creatures arising from the fact that
all have the same Creator and are all ordered to his glory:
May you be praised, O Lord, in all your creatures, especially brother sun,
by whom you give us light for the day; he is beautiful, radiating great
splendour, and offering us a symbol of you, the Most High. . .
May you be praised, my Lord, for sister water, who is very useful and
humble, precious and chaste. . .
May you be praised, my Lord, for sister earth, our mother, who bears and
feeds us, and produces the variety of fruits and dappled flowers and
grasses. . .
Praise and bless my Lord, give thanks and serve him in all humility.[212]
345 The sabbath - the end of the work of the six days. The sacred text says that "on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done", that the "heavens and the earth were finished", and that God "rested" on this day and sanctified and blessed it.[213] These inspired words are rich in profitable instruction:
346 In creation God laid a foundation and established laws that remain firm, on which the believer can rely with confidence, for they are the sign and pledge of the unshakeable faithfulness of God's covenant.[214] For his part man must remain faithful to this foundation, and respect the laws which the Creator has written into it.
347 Creation was fashioned with a view to the sabbath and therefore for the worship and adoration of God. Worship is inscribed in the order of creation.[215] As the rule of St. Benedict says, nothing should take precedence over "the work of God", that is, solemn worship.[216] This indicates the right order of human concerns.
348 The sabbath is at the heart of Israel's law. To keep the commandments is to correspond to the wisdom and the will of God as expressed in his work of creation.
349 The eighth day. But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ's Resurrection. The seventh day completes the first creation. The eighth day begins the new creation. Thus, the work of creation culminates in the greater work of redemption. The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendour of which surpasses that of the first creation.[217]
350 Angels are spiritual creatures who glorify God without ceasing and who serve his saving plans for other creatures: "The angels work together for the benefit of us all" (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I, 114, 3, ad 3).
351 The angels surround Christ their Lord. They serve him especially in the accomplishment of his saving mission to men.
352 The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect every human being.
353 God willed the diversity of his creatures and their own particular goodness, their interdependence and their order. He destined all material creatures for the good of the human race. Man, and through him all creation, is destined for the glory of God.
354 Respect for laws inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things is a principle of wisdom and a foundation for morality.
355 "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them."[218] Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is "in the image of God"; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created "male and female"; (IV) God established him in his friendship.
356 Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his
creator".[219] He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its
own sake",[220] and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in
God's own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the
fundamental reason for his dignity:
What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the
incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself!
You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her, by
love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good.[221]
357 Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead.
358 God created everything for man,[222] but man in turn was created to
serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him:
What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honour? It is man
that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God
than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and
all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his
salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does
he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised
man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand.[223]
359 "In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the
mystery of man truly becomes clear."[224]
St. Paul tells us that the human race takes its origin from two men: Adam
and Christ. . . The first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul, the
last Adam a life-giving spirit. The first Adam was made by the last Adam,
from whom he also received his soul, to give him life... The second Adam
stamped his image on the first Adam when he created him. That is why he
took on himself the role and the name of the first Adam, in order that he
might not lose what he had made in his own image. The first Adam, the last
Adam: the first had a beginning, the last knows no end. The last Adam is
indeed the first; as he himself says: "I am the first and the last."[225]
360 Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity, for "from
one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth":[226]
O wondrous vision, which makes us contemplate the human race in the unity
of its origin in God. . . in the unity of its nature, composed equally in
all men of a material body and a spiritual soul; in the unity of its
immediate end and its mission in the world; in the unity of its dwelling,
the earth, whose benefits all men, by right of nature, may use to sustain
and develop life; in the unity of its supernatural end: God himself, to
whom all ought to tend; in the unity of the means for attaining this end;.
. . in the unity of the redemption wrought by Christ for all.[227]
361 "This law of human solidarity and charity",[228] without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that all men are truly brethren.