God, our Creator, shows us her power and divine nature through the things she has created.Science is the exploration of how our world functions, from atoms to galaxies and from DNA to nervous systems.When you believe that God created the universe, knowing how God created the universe is a way of getting to know God.We can look at science, and math, as our way of trying to understand the Creator better.
This video of Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ helps to explain how faith and science go together.
Br. Guy spends his time exploring God’s creation in the stars.What a great way to see the wonder and awe of God’s creation.
Read Br. Guy's article; A Canticle to Creation from St. Anthony Messenger, July 2017. This next video is with Neil deGrasse Tyson – a rock star in the world of astrophysics.If you’ve never heard of him, he has done many programs on PBS and other stations as well as written many books. He is also the face of downgrading Pluto from being a planet.
Science and faith have gone together since the beginning.
There are so many scientists who are also Catholic.On Wikipedia, if you look up Catholic Clergy scientists, they have a list of 263 names.For lay Catholic scientists, there are 145 men and women listed. To give you a very brief snapshot of the amazing work that Catholic scientists have done, here are a few from the Middle Ages to the present:
REFLECTION/DISCUSSION: (use the short biographies above, or explore Catholic Scientists)
Did you know that there is a society of Catholic Scientists?
https://www.catholicscientists.org/ In their first year alone they registered over 500 members. Their mission is:
(Knowledge with devotion, research with wonder) The website also has videos from their conferences. this is an example of two of them. (2017 Conference)
The more we discover about the world around us, the more we realize it is very ordered and not as chaotic as it first appears. DNA, atoms, the jet stream and galaxies all have order. The periodic table is very ordered. Our biological systems are ordered.Science tries to make sense of the world around us. The more we discover, the more we realize what we don’t know. Each discovery fills in the puzzle of God’s creation.
Math and science go hand in hand. Math helps to explain the order of the Creator. "The argument is that mathematical laws, in order to be properly relied upon, must have attributes which indicate an origin in God. They are true everywhere (omnipresent), true always (eternal), cannot be defied or defeated (omnipotent), and are rational and have language characteristics (which makes them personal). Omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, personal… Sounds like God. Math is an expression of the mind of God." -Jerry Bowyer, contributor for Forbes. Read the full article “God In Mathematics” .
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Math is ordered. Math is everywhere. Fractals are another way to see God in Math.
This video is a brief explanation of what a fractal is. (Only the first 1:22 minutes is needed to understand fractals.) Now that you've seen the order of fractals, let's take a lood at the wonder and awe of the Creator.
These are examples of fractals in nature. With all the order in the world and the universe, how can you not believe in God, our Creator?
DNA -deoxyribonucleic acid is the building block for every living thing and contains our unique genetic code. DNA contains the instructions needed for humans and other organisms to develop and reproduce. This genetic information is found in every cell and passed down from parent to child. Every human shares 99% of their DNA with every other human being. We are brothers and sisters!
10 Interesting DNA facts. This is from Valerie Schultz's – How your DNA points to the existence and intricacy of God, America Magazine, 2/1/2018
"DNA – it’s like a blueprint of your soul, which is another sacred thing that is not like anyone else’s in the world... Your DNA traces your history and your future... It determines who you came from and whom you will create.It is a miracle of life. God is in the microscopic details... Could something as astounding as our DNA have come from anywhere else but a loving Creator?" Our Creator has done amazing things. How can you lood at a sunset, a flower, the stars, the Grand Canyon or a newborn baby and not believe?
EXPERIMENT - How to extract DNA from a strawberry.
Explore the wonder and awe of our creator in DNA, right in your own kitchen! This is an experiment you can conduct with a few simple ingredients: strawberries, isopropyl alcohol, dish soap, salt, water, sealable plastic bag and a small glass. Here are a few different variations for the same experiment Choose the version you prefer.
Where do you see the
wonder & awe of God? Math and sciece are both ways that we begin to understand the order, beauty and basis of the world that God has created.
A week and a half before exploring LIFTed by Science - Supported by God, there was an opportunity to meet with Br. Guy Consolmagno, the Director of the Vatican Observatory, for an evenings reflection on the Cosmos. For Br. Guy, studying the universe is an act of worship. He is constantly surprised by the joy of the discoveries that he makes. Br. Guy said that when he is surprised by the joy of our Creator's work, he feels like he can hear God whispering in his ear, "isn't that cool! Wait until you see what I have to show you next!" What will our Loving Creator reveal to you next? Our faith journey is full of many choices.
The Wonder of the Creator
In the morning dawn as the sun rises above the horizon, Bringing light to replace the darkness of night. We see the wonder of our Loving Creator In the trees and flowers that awake from their winter slumber, Shading us with their branches and bringing beauty and fragrance to our lives We see the wonder of our Loving Creator With the songs of the birds, the chatter of the animals and the buzzing of the bees We see the wonder of our Loving Creator In the faces of the people we meet, their smiles, their hands that serve, their eyes that look back at us and the uniqueness of each one of us We see the wonder of our Loving Creator In the rivers, creeks, lakes and oceans we see the life giving water, fish and amphibians that live in these waters We see the wonder of our Loving Creator With the night sky and the display of stars and planets, looking at the vastness of our universe We see the wonder of our Loving Creator Loving Creator We only understand such a small part of your creation. From DNA and atoms to continents and the universe, Your creation is vast and wonderful. Help us to appreciate all of your creation and never lose the wonder and awe that it inspires in us. Amen The lighter side of math and science:
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