Laudato Si Sunday Reflection: Easter Alleluias

Today's reflection is brought to you by
Revelation 1: 17b - 19.

You touch us with your healing hands
and say,
"Do not be afraid."

You are the first
and the last.

You live in us and in all that you have made.

Your death and resurrection
show us
that we
and all of creation
will die
and rise again.

You are alive forever,
and you hold the keys
to our existence.

Show us the way
to the fullness of life
that you have promised.

Help us to work with you
toward a world of resurrections!

+Alleluia, Amen.

* * * * * * *

This is the season when we remember that we are Easter People -- that all the evil and darkness in our broken and messed up world can not overcome light and love.

The anointed one known as Christ helps us to realize that we are all children of God, and as such, we are loved beyond all telling. Even so, we are far from perfect, and our planet is suffering from our particular faults -- greed being one of the main. With 7.7 billion of us inhabiting our Mother Earth, the importance of remedying our greed is critically important -- or life will become unsustainable.

None of this is news -- we have known for a very long time about the poverty, pollution, deforestation, war, global climate change and other destructive problems created by the human race. The difference now is that we are reaching the tipping point. Recent floods, storms and fires constantly in the news are making this abundantly clear.

Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home is Pope Francis' letter to the world, his insistence and encouragement to make necessary changes in the way we are living. Combining it with the example of a Good Friday that has never been completely forgotten, we know that resurrection is possible, and that the light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness has not overcome it. So as bleak as our environmental outlook is for the moment, there is hope. Especially if the Easter People of Mother Earth speak up for her every chance that we get.

So here's what we do: we take every opportunity presented to us to make choices that help our planet, and remind others to do the same. We talk to our priests and pastors about our sister, Mother Earth, and our concerns for her. We ask them to share the ideas of Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home from their pulpits (especially Chapter 5). We continue to lobby our elected officials to keep creation and all our family members affected by climate change at the forefront of their minds as they govern. We think, act, and pray for positive changes in the way resources are shared and managed around the globe.

And we continue to sing our Alleluias until things improve...