Five years ago, Pope Francis repeated these words of his namesake from Assisi, “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs”.
Then he continues, “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… We have forgotten that… our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.” [LAUDATO SI’—ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME]
Perhaps this last year has given us a small taste of how very wrong things can go for all of humanity when one tiny element, like a virus, brings ruin across the globe. Perhaps we have been jolted by how dependent we are on every physical reality on earth, like oxygen and vaccines discovered by scientists. Maybe this crash course in our global poverty has given us time to stop and think, time to realize that all of humanity is needy and powerless. All of us, and the earth itself, are much poorer that we have ever imagined.
We believe that now is the time to humbly embrace this reality and incorporate newer and deeper kindnesses towards one another and towards all living beings. Now is the time to let go of our dependence on instant gratification through material objects and turn towards nature as a source of delight. It is time to examine the cost of plundering, instead of blessing, our environment and limited resources.
There are signs of hope that our Creator is giving us the inner strength to do so. Activities like cooking and baking have flourished in kitchens across our country. Demand for bicycles has climbed while mileage on cars decreased. Exploring parks has reemerged as a pastime. Beautifying our yards, decks and windowsills has become important. So, think about what earth-friendly activities you have adopted during this past year that might lead you to say, “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our sister, Mother Earth. In this way, we can truly become a tiny, but important, instrument of healing for “soil, water, air and all forms of life.”