SAVING THE PLANET CALLS FOR INNER CONVERSION
The Church has declared today, September 1, to be World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Given the long, hot summer we have just survived, the planet could use all the prayers we have.
This past summer, Canada has suffered through 4,793 wildfires, some of them still burning. As of late August, 4.1 million hectares (just over 10 million acres) of mostly wild forest have been destroyed, not to mention numerous homes, livelihoods, even lives. Though not the worst summer on record, it should still give us pause.
The United States had its share of wildfires, with 51,434 fires destroying 7.9 million acres (3.19 million hectares). Europe was scorched too, with 632,169 hectares (1.56 million acres) destroyed by wildfires, much of that concentrated in southern France.
Those are just the figures for destruction caused by wildfires, abetted by extraordinarily high seasonal temperatures and drought. Indeed, drought has also afflicted regions around the globe, drying up rivers and lakes, reducing water supplies, and killing crops.
This is the deadly harvest of global warming, much of it induced by human activity. Such dire harm to the entire planet and all its occupants is what provoked Pope Francis to declare 11 years ago that September 1 would be devoted to prayer and reflection on our stewardship of the earth.
As Pope Leo XIV pointed out in his message for this year’s Day of Prayer, both prayer and reflection are essential and need to lead to action.
“Dear brothers and sisters, the path before us is clear, though it is not easy,” he says in his message. “We are called to allow our hearts to be renewed, so that we might seek peace and care for creation.”
“If we take up this task with humility and faith, we will become collaborators in God’s work of renewal. We will move, slowly but surely, from desert to garden, from division to communion, and from violence to peace.”
Pope Leo observes that environmental degradation does not happen in a vacuum. It is the outcome of human activity that cares only for self, that fails to recognize the consequences of its own zeal to pour energy, human ingenuity and resources into passions that harm the planet and its inhabitants.
The Pope draws a clear line between environmental destruction and global conflict. This Pope, who unceasingly uses his office to strive for peace in the world’s current wars, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. war against Iran and the ongoing fighting between Israel and its neighbours, reminds us that war creates its own ecological nightmares wherever it occurs.
“What is more,” the Pope says, “war creates wounds that damage the whole fabric of life, harming not only individual persons and communities, but also their broader network of relationships with the whole human family, and their harmony with creation. It reveals a deeper failure to live in God’s image and likeness, to respect life and to care for the earth entrusted to us. This is not only a political failure, but also a moral and spiritual one. Rooted in distorted desires and the misuse of human freedom and power, war stands as a counter-witness to the Gospel of peace.”
Pope Leo calls for a deep inner conversion of each of us as individuals. Our hearts need to be changed to “bear fruit in a deeper fidelity to God, love of one another and respect for the gift of creation.”
Indeed, no change to political or social structures will take place until enough of us recognize the extent of our failures and the innate worth of all creation, he adds.
Though not naive regarding the enormous challenges we face as a planet, Pope Leo reminds us that with God, there is always hope. “In place of the weapons of war, the God of peace grants us the strength to heal, to reconcile and to build a civilization of love. In this way, we are called to safeguard the many ‘ecosystems’ entrusted to us: the ecosystems of creation, of human relationships and of the human heart itself.”
This first day of September, may our prayers and thoughts draw inspiration from this message so that our reflections may lead to action.
Joseph Sinasac is a retired Publishing Director of Novalis Publishing. He has been involved with religious communications for more than 45 years as an author, journalist, editor and TV and radio commentator on all things Catholic.
