“May
God give to you of the dew of the heavens and of the fertility of the earth
abundance of grain and wine.” Genesis 27:28
“No
one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness
pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine
into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the
skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are
preserved.”
Matthew 9:16-17
Piety
Prayer for Our Earth[i]
All-powerful God, you are present in the
whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your
tenderness all that exists. Pour out upon us the power of your love, hat we may
protect life and beauty. Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers
and sisters, harming no one. O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our
lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow
beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts of those who look only
for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth. Teach us to discover the
worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that
we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your
infinite light. We thank you for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray,
in our struggle for justice, love and peace.
Study
Both are preserved…the vessel and the
contents. The body of Christ is preserved in our bodies. Our outer vessels are preserved by partaking
in the body of Christ. Such an
interconnectedness pervades a very important document released last month.
The images of Isaac giving his son a blessing
filled with the fertility of the goodness of the earth reminds me of the
encyclical LAUDATO SI issued by Pope Francis last month. It begins:
1. “LAUDATO
SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this
beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is
like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her
arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother
Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with
coloured flowers and herbs”.
2. This sister now
cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our
irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We
have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at
will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in
the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in
all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is
among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22).
We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen2:7);
our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive
life and refreshment from her waters.
How fitting that @Pontifex opens this
document with a prayer by his papal, saintly and spiritual namesake. In the
spirit of our stewardship of the Earth, the gospel reminds us that we must
preserve the gifts given to us in fresh wineskins so that we – the passengers
on Spaceship Earth – are protected as is the “common home” where we live.
Action
Pope Francis calls for “a new dialogue about
how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which
includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its
human roots, concern and affect us all.”
Pope Francis reminds us that Jesus lived in
full harmony with creation and that our Savior invites us to do the same. This
encyclical offers a plan of action moving forward based upon shared dialogue “which
can help us escape the spiral of self-destruction which currently engulfs us.”
Many things have to
change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change. We lack
an awareness of our common origin, of our mutual belonging, and of a future to
be shared with everyone. This basic awareness would enable the development of
new convictions, attitudes and forms of life. A great cultural, spiritual and
educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set out on
the long path of renewal.
Repent!
Change. The Kingdom of God is at
hand.
[i] First
of two prayers presented at the end of encyclical LAUDATO SI’ http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html
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