Pope Francis, following in the steps of Orthodox Patriarch
Bartolomeos, has asked us to set aside today as a day to care for God’s
creation.
What is striking about Pope Francis’ encyclical on creation,
Laudato Si’, is his insistence on care for creation and for the
poorest among us. He and many others know that the environmental crisis affects
the poor more.
Sunday, before Mass here in Plan Grande, I was speaking to a
young man who farms. He noted that up to half of the basic grains harvest has
been lost due to the drought. That means that many will not have enough food to
eat and that prices for these grains will be controlled by those who have the
money to buy up and store the grains.
The drought is serious. Even though we have had three strong
rains in the past ten days, the damage has already been done. Some farmers did
not plant since the rains had not fallen to loosen up the soil. Others lost
some or all of their crops due to the drought. Even some coffee farmers are
seeing the effects of the drought with premature ripening of coffee beans as
well as some infestations that cannot be controlled since the inputs need rain
to get rid of the insects.
A friend who has been here in Honduras for 32 years recently
told me that this is the hottest and driest year she has ever experienced.
Global warming and a strong El Niño are possible causal factors.
But the situation is complicated by deforestation as well as by the burning of
fields which I saw even yesterday.
And so today is the time to begin to find ways to really
care for the creation which God has shared with us and to help all experience the "global ecological conversion" that Pope John Paul II called for and that Pope Francis reiterated in his encyclical.
If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs.
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1 comment:
I have been increasingly pleased with how Francis has used his papacy, seeking reconciliation and confronting the powerful.
A long time ago, when I had misgivings because of events during the Argentine junta, you told me that he was a good man. I am beginning to see that you were right.
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