Pope Francis released his encyclical letter on the environment entitled,”Laudato Si’” ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME in June 2015. On October 10, 2020, he appeared in a TED talk to address the socio-environmental crisis that was explained in the encyclical and that continues to be a global challenge. This crisis “requires us, all of us, to face a choice between what matters and what doesn’t. Urgent action is required.”
The Pope Francis TED talk addresses many of the important issues that are discussed in Laudato Si’ and can be viewed on Youtube with the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHuwaKrHuR0
“The Gospel of Creation”
After the Pope’s diagnostic chapter about what’s happening to our “common home,” the second chapter of the Pope’s encyclical argues that our faith convictions can and should motivate Christians to assume their responsibility as caretakers of creation. Often many Christians feel that environmental stewardship is secondary to living out the faith, but the Pope wants to wipe this sentiment away. Science has a role to play in the conversation about the future of the world but so does our Christian faith. In support of this argument, Pope Francis begins by highlighting the many biblical narratives that speak of the love and wisdom of a God who is Creator and sustainer of all Creation. The biblical narratives “suggest that human life is grounded in three fundamental and close intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbor, and with earth itself” (66). While all of these relationships have been negatively affected by our assertion of power and dominion, our particular calling as people of faith is for wholeness, reconciliation, and peace. This calling challenges us to be the kind of people who will not let the earth be despoiled and people forgotten.
The Pope also meditates on the mystery of the universe, which he sees as a continuing revelation of the divine, “a gift from the outstretched hand of the Father of all” (76). It is our faith in Christ that “allows us to interpret the meaning and mysterious beauty of what is unfolding” (79). Referencing the medieval Franciscan thinker St. Bonaventure, Pope Francis points to an ancient understanding of the world as the “book of creation,” God’s precious book “whose letters are the multitude of created things present in the universe” (85). In this way, the Pope asks us to re-learn how to “read” Creation in order to discover the message and meaning within it. One of the key messages that Pope Francis reads in the “book of creation” is that we are “linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family” (89). In God’s created order “everything is connected” (91). We are connected to the rest of the human family, to the created world, and to those who will come after us in future generations. Now we have the responsibility to care for and protect it and all people, who are part of creation. Protecting human dignity is strongly linked to care for creation.
The Pope ends this chapter with reference to Jesus who embodies the tenderness, the contemplative awareness, the in-touch-ness with nature and people, the wonder and awe before God’s gifts, and the reconciliation that the Creator so desires for all of Creation.
Picture credit: St. Michael's Catholic Church, Brattleboro, VT by Brian Buettner
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A Simple Resolution for 2021
Each week make one of your dinners meatless. Meatless dinners can be delicious, healthier and often less expensive than meat. Try a vegetarian chili, homemade macaroni and cheese, black bean enchiladas, or potato cheddar cheese soup. Other meatless dishes can be made with lentils and legumes like navy beans, pinto beans and garbanzo beans.
Livestock production accounts for 4% of Americans’ greenhouse gases, according to the EPA. Adopting this pratice of going meatless one day per week will contribute to our commitment to take better care of Creation and honor Catholic social teachings.
About the Laudato Si' Ministry at St. Teresa
The Laudato Si' (“Praise be to You”) ministry offers an opportunity for St. Teresa parishioners to respond to the moral and spiritual challenge of the social, economic and environmental crises that face the world. As a parish we are called to care for Our Common Home that has been created for us. Our goal is to raise awareness of these issues as presented by Pope Francis in the encyclical letter, Laudato Si' and develop ways in which to implement changes that will preserve and protect our planet.
We welcome all interested in taking action as individuals and as community to raise awareness, educate and motivate others to take better care of creation and create a “climate of life” in which all can thrive.
To expand your knowledge and find ways you can become involved please log onto catholicclimatecovenant.org or laudatosigeneration.org
Contacts: Rose Wood (818)433-9960 mailto:roselaterriwood@gmail.com; Mary Jo Buettner (619)246-7925 mailto:maryjobuettner@yahoo.com; Barbara Ford (530)906-6793 mailto:bford32446@gmail.com.