We are the only ones of God's creatures who are fitted out with mouths for praising him.

Thursday, 5/1/14

Our Catholic liturgy often goes to the Book of Daniel for the song of the three young men in the fiery furnace. They called on everything in nature to bless the Lord.  They sang, “Sun and moon bless the Lord, Stars of heaven bless the Lord, Every shower and dew bless the lord, all ye winds bless the Lord.”

That was never a favorite prayer of mine. I wondered how those inanimate things could ever formulate words of blessing. My guess was that their marvelous existence itself somehow gave worship to the one who devised them. It seemed to me that we rational creatures were the only ones who could consciously praise God.

Two days ago, something, I don’t know what, prompted me to return to that thought. Right, we rational creatures are the only ones who can consciously praise God.

When I neglected my mother she would sometimes say, “I don’t know what I had you for.” Could God make that same complaint against us?

I like recalling the second part of our baptisms. The priest reminds us that by being baptized into Christ we come to share in his role as prophet and priest. After recalling that, I like going on to recalling how in Old Testament times a prophet was called a Nabi, which originally was a child’s word for his mouth.

God created us to use our mouths to do what wind and rain do in the canticle of the “Three Young Men.” We are put on earth to use our mouths for praising God.