“For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son, so that everyone who believes in God may not perish but may have eternal life.” John 3:16
“Once we lose our humility and become enthralled with the possibility of limitless mastery over everything, we inevitably end up harming society and the environment.” Laudato Si’, 224
Reflect:
Humility is fundamental to recognizing our identity as creatures, dependent on the Creator, and rejecting the idea of harmful dominion over the Earth. The ecological crisis reflects our failure to acknowledge our limits. The manger reveals divine humility: Christ is born in vulnerability and poverty, among the marginalized. Advent invites us to kneel before this mystery, to rediscover our place among all creatures, and to walk gently upon the Earth.
Gratitude arises when we recognize that all creation is a divine gift. Every creature speaks of God’s generosity. Advent invites us to remember that the coming of Christ is the supreme expression of this gift: God gives God’s self entirely out of love for the world. To live gratefully is to imitate God’s self-giving love.
Act:
Something to think about in this holiday season: when you visit or host others, do it attentively, listen deeply, share time more than things, and enjoy simplicity. As you gather to eat, pause to give thanks for the food, the hands that prepared it, and the Earth that nourished it.
Pray:
O God, our Creator, you revealed your love to us and creation once and for all through the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. By the grace of Your Creator Spirit, teach us to celebrate our faith in the Incarnation that took place in creation.
Jesus, Savior of creation, we ask that You may be born in us once again as we seek to cultivate hope for our common home. As Your followers, teach us to care for the dignity of all human beings and all creation, now and in the future.
In a season too often marked by over-consumption and excess, let us give thanks and honor the goodness of all your gifts in the natural world. Help us to contemplate the mystery of creation as we celebrate the mystery of incarnation.
We pray for today’s victims of global warming, both human and nonhuman. We pray for more ambition in the energy transition, in this country and globally. We pray for our governments to negotiate a global and fair phase-out of fossil fuels.
And, finally, we pray for the courage to be prophets of our time, calling upon our leaders to bear fruits of ecological justice.
Come Emmanuel! Make us ever more hopeful people for a hopeful planet. Let us be part of Your light of hope to the world.
Amen.
[from the Laudato Si’ Movement]