1.5 Response

STAGE 1: Facing Reality

ENVIRONMENTAL SUFFERING

FACING CONSEQUENCES

RESPONSE

Aim: To acknowledge our weak responses to the crisis and to trust the ability of our heart to contribute more positive responses.

Readings

Human respect and justice (Isa 58:9b-12): If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach,the restorer of streets to live in.

The mustard seed (Mt 13:31-32): Jesus said another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches”.

Comment

The prophets Isaiah maintains that mutual respect and justice are the key to the “rising of the light in the darkness” and, we may add, to the rebuilding of the environmental ruins caused by human selfishness. Today, “we are called to be instruments of God our Father, so that our planet might be what he desired when he created it and correspond with his plan for peace, beauty and fullness” (LS 54).

The problem, continues the Pope, is that to such a call we give “weak responses”. Specifically:

“We lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths and meeting the needs of the present… ” (53).

In global summits on the environment, “economic interests easily end up […] manipulating information so that (nationalistic) plans (and gains) will not be affected…” (54).

The economic powers continue to find ways to minimize the problem. “Such evasiveness serves as a licence to carrying on with our present lifestyles and model of production and consumption…” (59).

Jesus, through the parable of the mustard seed, invites us to expand our vision and to trust our capacity for inclusiveness and “global” care. In this regard, Pope Francis writes: “In some countries, there are positive examples of environmental improvement: rivers, polluted for decades, have been cleaned up; native woodlands have been restored; landscapes have been beautified thanks to environmental renewal projects; beautiful buildings have been erected; advances have been made in the production of non-polluting energy and in the improvement of public transportation. These achievements do not solve global problems, but they do show that men and women are still capable of intervening positively. For all our limitations, gestures of generosity, solidarity and care cannot but well up within us, since we were made for love” (LS 58).

Personal Reflection and Sharing

What other “weak responses” to environmental crisis in today’s society am I aware of? In what ways am I also contributing weak responses, especially by means of indifference and/or evasiveness?

Which “positive responses” do I recommend and what can I personally contribute to my capacity?

[1-5] CALL RESPONSE COMMITMENT PRAYER