St. Francis Section:

All Creatures Created / Sustained by God

"Evening came, and morning followed - the fourth day. Then God said, 'Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.' And so it happened: God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying, 'Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth.' Evening came, and morning followed - the fifth day. Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.' And so it happened: God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. God saw how good it was." (Gen. 1:19-25)

 "The LORD God said: 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.' So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man. So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: 'This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken.' That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body." (Gen. 2:18-24)

"Then Ezra said: 'It is you, O LORD, you are the only one; you made the heavens, the highest heavens and all their host, the earth and all that is upon it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the heavenly hosts bow down before you.'" (Taken from NEH 9:6)

"A new hymn I will sing to my God. O Lord, great are you and glorious, wonderful in power and unsurpassable. Let your every creature serve you; for you spoke, and they were made, You sent forth your spirit, and they were created; no one can resist your word." (Jdth. 16:13-14)

"Surely, God cannot act wickedly, the Almighty cannot violate justice. Who gave him government over the earth, or who else set all the land in its place? If he were to take back his spirit to himself, withdraw to himself his breath, All flesh would perish together, and man would return to the dust." (Job. 34:12-15)

"LORD, your love reaches to heaven; your fidelity, to the clouds. Your justice is like the highest mountains; your judgments, like the mighty deep; all living creatures you sustain, LORD. How precious is your love, O God! We take refuge in the shadow of your wings." (Ps. 36:6-8)

"How varied are your works, LORD! In wisdom you have wrought them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Look at the sea, great and wide! It teems with countless beings, living things both large and small. Here ships ply their course; here Leviathan, your creature, plays. All of these look to you to give them food in due time. When you give to them, they gather; when you open your hand, they are well filled. When you hide your face, they are lost. When you take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust from which they came. When you send forth your breath, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth." (Ps. 104:24-30)

"And gives food to all flesh, God's love endures forever." (Ps. 136:25)

"The LORD is good to all, compassionate to every creature. All your works give you thanks, O LORD and your faithful bless you. They speak of the glory of your reign and tell of your great works, Making known to all your power, the glorious splendor of your rule. Your reign is a reign for all ages, your dominion for all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in every word, and faithful in every work. The LORD supports all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look hopefully to you; you give them their food in due season. You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing." (Ps. 145:9-16)

"It was I who made the earth, and man and beast on the face of the earth, by my great power, with my outstretched arm; and I can give them to whomever I think fit." (Jer. 27:5)

"He said to (his) disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life and what you will eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds! Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your lifespan? If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest?'" (Lk. 12:22-26)

"Rather it is [God who made the world] who gives to everyone life and breath and everything." (Taken from ACTS 17:25)

"Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created." (Rv. 4:11)

"There is no nature, therefore, which is not from God." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, circa 391 A.D.)

"[Animals are] fruit of the creative action of the Holy Spirit and merit respect" (Pope John Paul II)

"God alone [is] the Creator and last end of all things." (Pope Pius XI, "Quadragesimo Anno", 1931 A.D.)

"Nothing exists except that which God causes to be. There is nothing, therefore, which is hated by God" (St. Clement of Alexandria, circa 3rd century A.D.)

"...'for He has not only brought forth creatures, but sustains and fosters them once created'." (Pope Pius XII quoting St. John Chrysostom, Miranda Prorsus, 1957 A.D.)

"...all that does exist, insofar as it exists, and all that does not yet exist, insofar as it is able to exist, is from God." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, circa 390 A.D.)

"For all things were created out of nothing, and their being would return again to nothing if the Author of all did not keep that being in His guiding hand." (Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church, 6th century A.D.)

"There is nothing in this whole universe of beings from the first angel down to the last little worm and from the summit of heaven to the lowest depth which was not made by God's power." (St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church)

"God's will is the cause of all things. It must needs be, therefore, that a thing has existence, or any kind of good, only inasmuch as it is willed by God." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"No rational mind can doubt that all creatures live and continue to exist, so long as they do exist, by the sustenance afforded by that very Being through Whose creative act they are endowed with the existence that they have." (St. Anselm, Doctor of the Church, 11th century A.D.)

"He that is the Author of all things, on account of His goodness loves the excellence of all things, creates all things, perfects all things, contains all things, converts all things, and is the divine love, Good of Good for the sake of the good." (Divine Names, 6th century)

"Not only heaven and earth, not only man and angel, even the bowels of the lowest animal, even the wing of the bird, the flower of the plant, the leaf of the tree, hath God endowed with every fitting detail of their nature." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"[B]eing is found to be common to all things, however otherwise different. There must, therefore, be one principle of being from which all things in whatever way existing have their being, whether they are invisible and spiritual, or visible and corporeal." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"The Word of the Father is Himself divine, that all things that are owe their being to His will and power, and that it is through Him that the Father gives order to creation, by Him that all things are moved, and through Him that they receive their being." (St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church)

"In the same way that the heavens which are above us, the firmament and the sun and the moon and the rest of the stars and all their grandeur, did not always exist, but have been created and continue for a long time according to the will of God, so also he will not be far wrong who thinks likewise of souls and spirits and each and every created thing: for everything that has been made had a beginning to its own existence, and will continue for as long as God wills it to exist and to continue." (St. Irenaeus, 2nd century A.D.)

"For all things come from God, and return to God. By the very fact that they exist, inanimate objects partake of God, who, by the sublimity of His Essence is the being of all that is. Living things partake of His vital energy, which is superior to all life. Rational and intellectual creatures partake of His wisdom, which surpasses all reason and intelligence. The various beings approach nearer the Divinity, in proportion as they partake of It in more ways." (St. Dionysius)

"We must hold and believe unshakably that whatever creatures there are in the heavens, whatever on earth, whatever in the sea and in all the depths, they have been created by God; because, as we have already said: 'He made all that He willed, in the heavens and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths.' He was not compelled to make all that He made; rather, 'everything that He willed, He made.' The cause of all that He made is His will...God created by reason of His goodness; He was in need of nothing that He made; therefore, 'everything whatsoever He willed, He made.'" (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, circa 5th century A.D.)

"When He willed and in the manner in which He willed and in the times determined by Himself, He made known His Word through whom He created all things. When He wills, He does. When He thinks, He carries out. When He speaks, He manifests. When He forms anything, He contrives it by wisdom. All things that are made, He fashions through reason and wisdom: creating them by reason, and arranging them by wisdom. He made them, therefore, as He willed; for He [is] God." (St. Hippolytus of Rome, circa 200-210 A.D.)

"God is the author of all creation... Man is but a portion of His creation - animals are also the work of God...He willed all things which have being and He created all things that they might exist."

Also See: All Creatures Are Ordered to God | Animals Belong to God | Animals Merit Respect & Love | God's Love & Care for Creation | God's Presence in All Things | "Scripture for Animal Lovers"

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