By Leon Bent –
Pope Francis has proclaimed a “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation,” which is celebrated annually on September 1.
Inspired by the Laudato Si’ encyclical, the Global Catholic Climate Movement, invites Catholics to celebrate the “Season of Creation” worldwide, following the example of other Christian denominations, and the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines. The season begins on September 1 and ends on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. It is time to learn how to reduce our ecological footprint, how to advocate, and how to pray.
A true ecological approach always creates a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear, both, the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings, and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society. (Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home (Laudato Si’.nos. 49, 91).
We human beings are not only the beneficiaries, but also the stewards of other creatures. Thanks to our bodies, God has joined us so closely to the world around us that, we can feel the desertification of the soil almost as a physical ailment, and the extinction of a species as a painful disfigurement. Let us not leave in our wake a swath of destruction and death, which will affect our own lives and those of future generations (Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Guadium, no. 215).
The environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole. Our duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards the human person, considered in himself and in relation to others. It would be wrong to uphold one set of duties while trampling on the other. (Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate, nos. 48, 51).
The “gospel” (“Good News” in Greek) is a way of speaking of the teachings at the heart of the Christian faith. At “Care of Creation” we believe that, in the words of the “Call to Action”, creation care is, and should be “an integral part of our mission, and an expression of our worship to God for his wonderful plan of redemption, through Jesus Christ. Therefore, our ministry of reconciliation is a matter of great joy and hope, and we would care for creation even if it were not in crisis.”
Please understand: The crisis in creation is real. People, animals and plants are dying because we human beings have abused God’s world. But this is not the primary reason for our work. This is what makes us different from every other “environmental” organization you have encountered: We do what we do, because we love God and his world. If there were no environmental problems, we would still be tending his world with compassion and gentleness – and asking you to do the same.
The Government of the State of Maharashtra, has this first week of September 2019, declared Aarey Colony, in Mumbai, not a forest. It has over 4,80,000 Trees, 86 Butterfly species, 13 Amphibian species, 90 Spider species, 46 Reptile species, 34 Wildflower species, 77 Bird species. This pristine, rich, forest, spread over hundreds of sq. kilometres, which offers ample oxygen to highly polluted Mumbai, is being destroyed.
Further, it sad to know that the “Amazon Fire” in Brazil’s fantastic, lost-for-ever-Rain Forests, which was raging fiercely last week, God’s Gift of a fantastic, fabulous “Lung”, for humankind, was “lit” by man for his utterly, selfish, materialistic designs! It is one of nature’s pristine, dense, evergreen, Eden-like masterpieces! This ‘wild life, and millions, nay, billions of years-old green space”, more precious than gold and diamonds, has been reduced to ashes! What a tragedy! An “unforgivable mortal sin”!
This gold nugget! The Church – properly understood and functioning in the full power of God – is the only institution or organization available to the human race that can address a problem with this many dimensions…” (Our Father’s World, p. 83).
And this final flourish! Our mission is to pursue a God-centred response to environmental challenges that brings glory to the Creator, advances the cause of Christ, and leads to a transformation of the people and the land that sustains them.
The punch line! Our ministry of reconciliation with nature and the cosmos is a matter of great joy and hope, and we should care for Creation, even if it is not in crisis!
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.