(Photo of Kelly O’Mahony, SCN, helping with Nazareth Waste Audit)
REFLECT
(From an Invitation to Ecological Conversion for U.S. Catholics, written by Louisville Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre and Bishop of Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon A. Elias Zaidan)
“‘The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast.’ For this reason, the ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion.” (Laudato Si’, 217).
Indifference and distance from one another have led to devastating consequences for God’s creation, including the poor. The conversion that we need is both metaphorical and physical. As it is, we rarely pause to listen to “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor,” nor do we regularly reflect on how our choices impact our brothers and sisters around the world.
Our world is hurtling toward unsustainable climate conditions that will affect the flourishing of people all over the planet. This unsustainable situation is, in part, caused by ever-increasing consumption enabled by the ability to accumulate with a simple click of the button, and incessant marketing to convince us that we all need more.
Receiving the brunt of the burden are people seeking refuge from disasters, farmers struggling to adapt to erratic weather patterns, children suffering from dehydration and hunger, migrants who flee their homes due to loss of livelihood, and species declining in forests and coral reefs. Never has it been clearer that everything is interconnected.
ACT
In order to live a more zero-waste lifestyle, what habits can we change to reduce the waste in our lives? Take a moment to sit and reflect on where we generate waste. So much of our waste comes from packaging. What do we purchase that we could make instead? Is it drinks? Candy? Could we buy things in bulk to reduce packaging? What are we using that is disposable- could we find a reusable substitute? If you need inspiration, talk with others about ideas, or post your idea in the comments section below.
PRAY
Creator of our common home,
You fill the earth and sea and sky with life.
Forgive us our neglect of your creation
The choking waste of our pollution
The damage done by careless habits
And our indifference to future generations.
Help us to amend our lives
To refuse more plastic if we can’t reuse it
To lift our voice for lasting change
And to live well and gently on the earth.
To the glory of your Son, the Living Word
Through whom you made this fragile world.
Amen.
By the Rt. Revd. Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford