This past Friday, our parish hosted the Village Interfaith Council Earth Day Service. I was blessed to give the message. Since I know that many of you were not at the service, I want to share a few of my reflections with you.
In my preparation for Earth Day, I read parts of Pope Francis' encyclical, Laudato Si, "On Care for Our Common Home." While it is an important teaching addressed to all Catholics throughout the world, its subject matter truly speaks to every person in the world regardless of race, color or creed. It is something that I was comfortable quoting at an ecumenical gathering, as was Friday's Earth Day service. While everyone has responsibility when it comes to the care of the earth which we inhabit for the span of our lifetime, Pope Francis speaks of a responsbility for the care of the earth that comes from our faith as he quotes Pope John Paul II from his message for the 1990 World Day of Peace. Christians in their turn "realize that their responsibility within Creation, and their duty toward nature and the Creator, are an essential part of our faith." Care for the environment is something for all Christians to take seriously in their lives. It is not just for a few who are zealots in this regard.
Everything that we and others do to care for God's creation, starts with a great respect and awe for the created world that God has given us. As the book of Genesis (1:1 - 2:2) tells us over and over, God found what He created "good" so we and future generations should find the creation that we are born into good, and do what is needed to keep it good or even better than we found it as we leave this created world to go to our eternal home in heaven. We are blessed here in Hot Springs Village to have all around us, God's Creation to appreciate even more deeply and to give thanks to God for, both in voices of praise and thanks, and in actions of care for God's creation.
Pope Francis does speak of practical things that we can do to care for and protect the environment, and I hope to speak about these in the future in this column and in other places. I recognize that our efforts in this regard will be challenging since we have been led to some bad habits that are doing harm to the environment. I pray that we will all be led to change some of our ways and inspire others to do the same. God will bless us and creation for it!
In my preparation for Earth Day, I read parts of Pope Francis' encyclical, Laudato Si, "On Care for Our Common Home." While it is an important teaching addressed to all Catholics throughout the world, its subject matter truly speaks to every person in the world regardless of race, color or creed. It is something that I was comfortable quoting at an ecumenical gathering, as was Friday's Earth Day service. While everyone has responsibility when it comes to the care of the earth which we inhabit for the span of our lifetime, Pope Francis speaks of a responsbility for the care of the earth that comes from our faith as he quotes Pope John Paul II from his message for the 1990 World Day of Peace. Christians in their turn "realize that their responsibility within Creation, and their duty toward nature and the Creator, are an essential part of our faith." Care for the environment is something for all Christians to take seriously in their lives. It is not just for a few who are zealots in this regard.
Everything that we and others do to care for God's creation, starts with a great respect and awe for the created world that God has given us. As the book of Genesis (1:1 - 2:2) tells us over and over, God found what He created "good" so we and future generations should find the creation that we are born into good, and do what is needed to keep it good or even better than we found it as we leave this created world to go to our eternal home in heaven. We are blessed here in Hot Springs Village to have all around us, God's Creation to appreciate even more deeply and to give thanks to God for, both in voices of praise and thanks, and in actions of care for God's creation.
Pope Francis does speak of practical things that we can do to care for and protect the environment, and I hope to speak about these in the future in this column and in other places. I recognize that our efforts in this regard will be challenging since we have been led to some bad habits that are doing harm to the environment. I pray that we will all be led to change some of our ways and inspire others to do the same. God will bless us and creation for it!