Penguins and the Puzzle Palace.
Life, by God's design, is a puzzle palace for us. Were Adam and Eve's parents monkeys? Did we all evolve together? Are there tribes that are part human and part ape? Do we have superior human races and genetically inferior tribes? The truth, wrapped in God's poetry, is more compelling than these theories wrapped in hypothetical scientific narratives. God creates. We don't know when or how. We are all one human race, with Jesus as our Divine King, who "did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt. 20:28).
The puzzles of nature help us understand God's mind. A living penguin may be more fascinating than its evolutionary story. The acclaimed 2005 nature documentary, "March of the Penguins," depicts the annual journey of penguins in Antarctica. In autumn, all breeding-age penguins leave the ocean and travel inland to their ancestral breeding grounds. There, they engage in courtship rituals that, if successful, result in the hatching of chicks. To ensure the survival of their offspring, penguin parents must make numerous treacherous trips between the ocean and the breeding grounds in search of food.
Penguins are monogamous. The female lays a single egg, and both parents must cooperate for the chick to survive. The male tends to the egg in extreme cold, while the female returns to the sea to gather extra food. As temperatures drop to -80 °F, the males huddle together and incubate the eggs. When the chicks hatch, the males feed them a small meal. There is a scene in the documentary where almost-starving chicks extract sustenance from the throat sacs of their fathers. The mothers return to feed and bond with their young. In spring, as the ice melts and the distance to the sea decreases, the penguins make their return journey, leaving their chicks behind to fend for themselves.
The penguin's story imparts many practical life lessons. They are monogamous, with distinct and complementary roles for both parents in providing for and protecting their young. Penguins risk their lives to care for their offspring. The entire drama is a lesson in both triumph and tragedy. Our own lives resemble this in many ways. These amusing creatures help us unravel the mystery of our existence.
The puzzles of nature inspire us to appreciate and rejoice in the glorious reality of God's creation. The puzzles of our faith inspire us to enrich our lives with the vision of our eternal salvation.
Excerpts from Fr. Jerry Pokorsky
Torreciudad: The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Fruit of the 4th Joyous Mystery: Obedience to God’s Will.
Video: