A little ecumenical prayer during this week of Laudato Si

I'm in the thick of planting time, so online moodling isn't exactly a priority right now. But I'm still moodling (musing and doodling) about life each day, just not at my computer keyboard. These gorgeous spring days that exhibit the Creator's immeasurable creativity offer an immense collection of beauty to appreciate, and the awe and wonder that nature inspires should be a clear sign to everyone on the planet that we are loved! Unfortunately, we forget to be amazed when we take it all for granted...

Five years ago this week, Pope Francis and his team of encyclical writers published their letter to the world known as Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home -- so that we stop taking our world for granted. It's easily the most important letter ever written by a pope, and calls everyone on earth to a greater awareness of and care for our planet. In these days of COVID-19, it's easy to forget about the environment in our concern for humanity's struggles with this disease. But we can't continue to exist if we don't begin to make some of the different kinds of lifestyle changes we have had to adopt during this pandemic. There are many places on our planet that are experiencing natural rejuvenation because we have slowed down our consumption of resources and reduced our use of fossil fuels. Animals are also breathing a sigh of relief as we have become quieter... have you noticed? I really believe that the way we are living through this pandemic can be the beginning of positive changes that will give us a chance to live in a much healthier place.

But it won't happen without a lot of deep thought, prayer and action. 

We can make the world a better place once the virus has passed us by if we can use the immeasurable creativity shared with us by our Creator to come up with solutions that work for all, but especially for the marginalized members of creation. Can we forgive debts? Live within our needs? Spend love miles rather than airmiles? Share our abundance? Protect nature? Appreciate all that is and recognize that everything is gift? And revisit the wisdom of Laudato Si?

The ecumenical prayer video below was made for this Easter season by the pastor of St. Luke's Anglican church and only three musicans so that appropriate social distance could be maintained. I invite you to take a bit of time to sing some Alleluias with us, and to pray that our entire planet (not only the humans) will emerge from this pandemic with better health, deeper love, and more wisdom. Lyrics are below... to sing is to pray twice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq-NsJ3vNz0&t

O--- Surrexit Christus, alleluia! O--- Cantate Domino, alleluia! (translation: Christ is risen, alleluia! Sing to God, alleluia!)

Laudate omnes gentes, laudate Dominum. Laudate omnes gentes, laudate Dominum.

(Kiswahili lyrics: Si-fu-ni wa-tu wo-te si-fu-ni Mwen-ye-zi. Si-fu-ni wa-tu wo-te si-fu-ni Mwen-ye-zi.

English lyrics: Sing praises, all you peoples, sing praises to the Lord. Sing praises, all you peoples, sing praises to the Lord.)

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Cantate Domino, alleluia, alleluia! Jubilate Deo! (translation: Sing to the Lord, alleluia, alleluia! Rejoice in God!)

Jésus, le Christ, lumière intérieure, ne laisse pas mes ténèbres me parler. Jésus, le Christ, lumière intérieure, donne moi d’acceuillir ton amour. (English lyrics: Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let not my doubts or my darkness speak to me. Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let my heart always welcome your love.)

Nada te turbe, nada te_espante; quien a Dios tiene nada le falta. Nada te turbe, nada te_espante: solo Dios basta. (English lyrics: Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten. Those who seek God shall never go wanting. Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten. God alone fills us.)

O Lord, hear my prayer, O Lord hear my prayer. When I call answer me. O Lord hear my prayer, O Lord, hear my prayer. Come and listen to me.

I am sure I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Yes, I shall see the goodness of our God, hold firm, trust in the Lord.

O—Psallite Deo, psallite! O—Alleluia, alleluia! (English lyrics: This is the day the Lord has made! Alleluia, alleluia!)

Simple Suggestion #281... Make every day Earth Day

Yesterday was a strange Earth Day, to be sure. I wonder what might have happened if there was no corona virus keeping us all apart. Marches and rallies? Earth Day parties and concerts? Pollution as per usual?

In an effort to mark it in some way, two days before the event, I went out and decorated our front sidewalk with chalk, reminding people about Earth Day, and inviting them to give her a some love by joining in my little Resurrection Project (click here to read that moodling) and cleaning her up.

In many ways, our covid confinement is cleaning her up. Because we are staying home, there are less fossil fuel emissions, some waterways are cleaner in usually crowded tourist places, our songbirds are heartened by a reduction in noise pollution and are singing more, and other species are enjoying some places from which they've been displaced by humans. Scientists are noticing these things... are we?

I can't help but hope that we will learn something from all of this, though I worry that once covid restrictions are lifted, humans will return to our old ways with a vengeance, as if to make up for all the "deprivations" of being stuck at home.

While we have a chance to notice the good things this enforced simpler living is doing, I'd like to appeal to our higher natures to consider carrying many of the good habits we are developing now into our covid-free future. Things like one grocery trip a week, and saving our elderly neighbours trips to the store. Going for long walks. Spending love miles instead of air miles. You can probably name a dozen other things you might be doing differently that are having a small but positive impact on our planet's health.

It's been a long while since I've posted a Simple Suggestion, mainly because, after 280 of them, it seems I've covered a lot of the possibilities... But every day can be an Earth Day, and global climate change won't stop just because we're all stuck at home for a few months. We really need to live Laudato Si... and do more to protect and care for our common home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=KIVuISZGdug

Let's let this covid crisis and our 50th Earth Week be a dress rehearsal for how we're going to save our planet from further disaster.

If you're looking for more Simple Suggestions, click here.

Laudato Si Sunday Reflection: Making wisdom our bottom line

Today's reflection is brought to you by 
1 Corinthians 3: 16-23.

We are your temple,
O God,
because your Spirit dwells in us.

But your Spirit also dwells
in all that you have made,
so all of creation
is your temple.

And how many of your temples
we have destroyed!

Our wisdom is foolishness
compared with yours.

But we pretend
that we know
all that's worth knowing
even as things fall apart around us.

Remind us
that we
and all that you have made
are sacred to you.

Help us to hold creation
and one another
as you do --
within your protective embrace.

Let us make your wisdom
our bottom line.

+Amen.

* * * * * * *

Chapter Five of Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home is, in my humble opinion, the best part of Pope Francis' encyclical. He and his encyclical writing team spent the previous 4 chapters "pointing to the cracks in the planet that we inhabit as well as to the profoundly human causes of environmental degradation"... but "now we shall try to outline the major paths of dialogue which can help us escape the spiral of self-destruction which currently engulfs us" (paragraph 163).

Of course, it's going to take more than discussion to sort out the ecological and social messes we find ourselves in, but before I get ahead of myself and the Pope, we're looking at paragraphs 163-167 this week. You can read them for yourself if you click here and scroll down.

I like the first line of paragraph 164 -- "Beginning in the middle of the last century and overcoming many difficulties, there has been a growing conviction that our planet is a homeland and that humanity is one people living in a common home." Basically, this underlines the idea that we are interdependent -- "one world with a common plan." Unfortunately, we've been sold a bill of goods by consumer culture that insists we must all exist independently, apart from our neighbours, with our own homes, possessions and live-it-up-lifestyles that take us far from the idea of the common good. Similarly, our countries too often act independently of each other when what we really need is to pull together:

A global consensus is essential for confronting the deeper problems, which cannot be resolved by unilateral actions on the part of individual countries. Such a consensus could lead, for example, to planning a sustainable and diversified agriculture, developing renewable and less polluting forms of energy, encouraging a more efficient use of energy, promoting a better management of marine and forest resources, and ensuring universal access to drinking water (paragraph 164).

Imagine what that would look like! Canada growing grains for drought-ravaged Sudan, Sudan developing solar farms that can give energy to Europe, Europe and the Pacific Rim countries working together for better ocean management programs (Canada being one of that group) and everyone everywhere working together to protect our most precious resource, water, and ensure that all species on earth have enough of what we need to live.

Utopia? No, reality -- if we can set aside our differences, listen to our scientists, and follow through on some good management by working together.

Perhaps our biggest challenge is found in the first lines of paragraph 165: "We know that technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels -- especially coal, but also oil and, to a lesser degree, gas -- needs to be progressively replaced without delay."

Jason Kenny, wake up! The environment is the bottom line -- we can't eat money or drink oil. Even your Pope tells you that climate change is a reality (there are rumours that you're Catholic). But Pope Francis is talking about politicians like you when he says,

"Politics and business have been slow to react in a way commensurate with the urgency of the challenges facing our world. Although the post-industrial period may well be remembered as one of the most irresponsible in history, nonetheless there is reason to hope that humanity at the dawn of the twenty-first century will be remembered for having generously shouldered its grave responsibilities."

Wake up, Jason Kenny! It's time to reduce greenhouse gases! You can do it! (If you're not sure who I'm talking about, Jason Kenny is Alberta's premier, who is pretending that the rest of the world is not shifting to alternate forms of energy and who is pushing for more climate change-increasing carbon emissions with his insistence on pipeline and tarsands mega projects even as the price of crude oil falls below the point where it will bring the province any kind of economic return).

Paragraphs 166 and 167 mention how "Worldwide, the ecological movement has made significant advances," (paragraph 166) and that World Summits have tried to be responsible for getting us on the right path to saving our planet, though in many cases, the lack of political will to implement the Summits' recommendations has caused too much delay. Pope Francis and friends note that that 1992 Earth Summit in Rio was "a real step forward, and prophetic for its time," but that "its accords have been poorly implemented, due to lack of suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic review and penalties in cases of non-compliance" (paragraph 167).

The Earth Summit (ECO92) came up with 27 principles (that you can read by clicking here) that I somehow missed until I read Laudato Si the first time. Some of the encyclical's ideas sound like they come directly out of them. For example, here's principle 6:

The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least developed and those most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special priority. International actions in the field of environment and development should also address the interests and needs of all countries.

I can't help but wonder where we would be as a planetary people if we had inscribed these principles on our hearts and begun to live by them almost 30 years ago... but I think my church was too busy preventing one of its liberation theologians, Leonardo Boff, from speaking at the Earth Summit to really pay attention to what the Earth Summit was all about. I appreciate that Pope Francis is revisiting that territory now, but in the meantime, we've lost valuable time to dig ourselves out of all this trouble we're in.

The northern hemisphere is slowly moving into spring, the south into fall. The edge season we are in is a wonderful time to consider our earth as it begins to reawaken or settle into its dormant season. But no matter where we live, we are all called to wake up to the actions we can take to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel energy, to cut our emissions of CO2 as much as possible. When I was reflecting on this part of Laudato Si four years ago, we decided to take a big step, installing solar panels to provide most of our electricity. Though most of them are covered with snow, today they produced about 1800 watts of electricity, enough to light our home.

Here is an excellent list from Ontario of ten ways for anyone to reduce greenhouse gases:

Ten Ways to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

How many do you follow? And how many more can you try to implement? How else can we employ God's wisdom as our bottom line in the way we care for creation?

Laudato Si Sunday reflection: Becoming God's glory

This week's reflection is brought to you by
Philippians 3:20 - 4:1.

O God,
if we really believed
that we are citizens of heaven,
would we treat your earth the way we do?

If we see your Christ in all that you have made,
shouldn't we be sprucing our world up
instead of messing it up?

We are partners with you,
O God,
in your creation,
and we trust that you can set all things right.

But we also need to do our part --
to conform ourselves and our world
to your will
so that you can bring everything into your glory.

We are all your people,
called to stand firm
in you.

Help us to truly become your joy and crown,
your glory,
by the way we work
to bring your heaven to earth
for the sake of all your creation.

+Amen.

* * * * * * *

This week's Sunday Reflection is looking at paragraphs 43 to 47 of Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home, which can be accessed by clicking here. They're a pretty decent summary of what's wrong with human life in general, pointing out that we have a right to life and happiness -- but that through causing environmental deterioration with our flawed models of development and the throwaway culture that goes with them, we're affecting many lives in a negative way (paragraph 43).

The last time I read through paragraphs 44-47 of this week's reading, I came up with the following litany of modern woes, a sort of slam poetry summary of what Pope Francis is decrying:

Unruly growth, urban chaos, poor transportation,
noise, unhealthy neighbourhoods, visual pollution.
Gated homes, crowded slums, inefficient cities,
cement, asphalt, glass and metal, no access to beauty.
Wasted energy and water, lack of green space,
technology assuming human interaction's place.
Social breakdown, violence, new forms of aggression,
drugs and trafficking, the silent rupture of cohesion.
Digital overload, distraction, loss of identity,
lack of wisdom, deep thought, and loving community.

In an effort to make my slam poem work better, I left out quite a bit of what the Pope and friends name as contributing to society's breakdown, so I really encourage a reading of paragraphs 43-47.

Then, lest we fall into the "harmful sense of isolation" (paragraph 47) also known as 'overwhelm,' that can arise from our awareness of all this heavy stuff, we must realize that we are a big part of the solution. We can choose to stand with Christ, and listen as he asks, "Is this really the quality of life you want? How do you want your society to be? What needs to change to make it so? What are concrete steps toward changing it?"

And the slam poem changes...

God is my light and my salvation...

Careful growth by wise planning, shared public transportation,
birdsong, healthy neighbourhoods, no more pollution.
Inviting homes, empty slums, highly efficient cities,
parks, trees, flowers, and a plenitude of beauty.
Energy and water saved, open growing space,
activism and conversation in our meeting place.
Friendship and happiness, no forms of aggression;
sharing what we have is the creation of cohesion.
Wise use of media helps build true identity,
wisdom, deep thought, and loving community.

Sounds like utopia... and unfortunately, to many of us been raised to think that utopia can't possibly come true. But Jesus believed in utopia. He was always saying, "The reign of God is among you." He knew how we really want to live, and showed us how to go about it -- by loving. He was always building community.

Pope Francis is also reminding us that we need to love more than just our own lives, families, and friends -- we need to love those on the margins, and everyone and everything in creation besides.

So let's ask ourselves: How can I live and love like Christ so as to bring about a higher quality of human life and a healthier society? What is one small thing I can do today to better my own neighbourhood and build community? What is one cause I can commit to? How can we all work together to make a difference?

If you have any ideas to share, as always, I'd love to hear them. Oftentimes through discussion, change takes shape... and if we want to become God's love in the world, God's glory, we'll need to change...

Sunday Reflection: To live self-controlled, upright and godly lives

This reflection is brought to you by
Titus 1:11-14 and Pope Francis' encyclical
Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home.

Your grace, O God,
is with us always.

But too often we treat your world
like it isn't holy.

Our "worldly passions"
prevent us from
living with self-control,
uprightness,
and godliness.

We forget that your glory
is in everything that you have created,
that creation is sacred,
and that we are called
to see ourselves not as stewards of resources,
but as partners with you
and all your creatures
in the great web of life.

And now our beautiful earth
needs more than prayers
and pious platitudes.

We need to pray
and act,
to do what we can
to avert further climate catastrophe.

We need to heed the scientists
and work a true metanoia,
a real change of heart
in the way we live.

It's a tall order.

But you are so powerful,
John the Baptist felt unworthy
to undo even your sandals.

If anyone can help us
to do the things that we must do,
to make sacrifices for the sake of our future,
you can.

Please,
help us,
O God.

+Amen.

* * * * * * *

I'm finding it a challenge to meditate on scripture when climate scientists from all over the globe are telling us that we need a radical rethinking of our lifestyle... and when our city is under an air quality advisory today because of smog that makes it hard for some to breathe. 

As a result, it feels like I'm being pushed to revisit Laudato Si, Pope Francis' 2015 letter to the world about our struggling planet and what we need to do for it. I've been thinking and praying about this for weeks, and dragging my feet at the same time, because my last foray into the encyclical was a huge amount of time and effort. 

Still, I invite you, if you missed the last go 'round, to join me in looking at sections of the Pope's letter over the Sundays ahead. I'll try to be a little more succinct this time, picking and choosing the most critical pieces, and hopefully I can attach some updated information and links for further reading. And I'll end with a two line prayer/mantra instead of the wonderful Prayer for our Earth found at the end of the encyclical (see the image below).

Come, Holy Spirit,
help us to heal our home and all its creatures.
+Amen.

Celebrating Earth Day Sunday

It's Earth Day Sunday today, and what is my church doing about it? Not much that I can see. But that needs to change.

Almost three years ago, Pope Francis wrote  Laudato Si, a letter to the world about how human beings have to change our ways for the sake of our sister, Mother Earth, and I was very hopeful that it would be the catalyst for major ecological efforts in Catholic churches, and, at the very least, lead to more prayer and reflection designed to make our communities more aware of environmental issues. But while our Catholic liturgies often give passing mention to human beings affected by poverty, oppression and natural disasters, they still ignore the plight of our planet's other zillions of creatures. Praying "for our good and the good of all creation" isn't really on our radar, and I have yet to hear a priest give a homily on something found in Laudato Si.

Other churches have been on the Earth Day bandwagon for years, and do all kinds of things on Earth Sunday and other Sundays to raise their communities' awareness of the importance of reducing human impact on our planet. Here are just a few ideas adopted by other Christian denominations:

--Art and Garden shows (a bit too early to do that here this year, though we could do the art part!)
--Seedy Sunday Gardeners' Gatherings where seeds are swapped and composting is taught
--Speakers about Indigenous Spirituality and Creation Care
--Walk, Bike or Bus to Church Day
--Community litter collection on church grounds and in local parks
--Church energy efficiency audits
--Nature walks
and even solar panel blessings!

And these are just a few ideas. Lots more can be accessed by clicking here. Personally, I would really love to hear a good homily on how being good to our planet is part of living Christ's imperative to do to others as we would have them do to us, and encouraging us to reduce our impact on the earth. And not just one homily on Earth Sunday... many homilies, on many other Sundays throughout the year, with bits and pieces taken directly from Laudato Si, backed with solid ideas for environmentally friendly actions that individuals can undertake. In fact, it's been on my mind so much that I'm tempted to write some Laudato Si homily helps and post them here on a regular basis, if only I can find the time.

Today I might write about how our Good Shepherd looks at every being in creation, not only people, as his sheep. It wouldn't be theologically correct to suggest that God worries as much as I do about the 76 remaining Salish Sea Orcas whose existence will be even more threatened by tanker traffic and potential oil spills if the Kinder Morgan Pipeline goes through. However, I'm sure that nature would be better off, and we along with it, if we could find ways to rely less on fossil fuels for the sake of all of God's amazing creatures. So my homily help would include a recommendation that we find ways to cut our fossil fuel use for at least one day this week. It might mean extra effort or inconvenience on our parts, and it might not have a huge impact on our planet, but if enough of us do one small thing, small things add up.

It's all been said before, but it needs to be repeated until it really makes a difference. Our churches have been so focused on our souls and the things of heaven for so long that it seems we're forgetting about the things of earth that we're also supposed to look after. What's the old saying? Act like everything depends on you, and pray like everything depends on God. Catholics seem to be good at the latter, but the former needs attention too!

Here's my favourite prayer from Laudato Si, below. Pray it with me? And then think of and carry through on your own action to live more lightly on our earth in the week ahead...

 from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Every Sunday should be Earth Sunday

Some Christian churches have designated the Sunday nearest to Earth Day as Earth Sunday -- and I'm wishing my church was one of them. I know it's the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday too, but I feel like our sister, Mother Earth, needs a lot more attention. Pope Francis tried to wake us up with Laudato Si almost two years ago, but it's almost like his own church didn't even hear him. His encyclical letter to the world about the plight of our planet has hardly made it into our pews yet, and I'm still waiting to hear a homily about it (though I've given a few of my own...)

I know that some churches offer a stewardship prayer, but to me it feels like they're praying more for full collection plates than for us to wake up and act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with the creation God has given us. Couldn't we incorporate the prayer from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home into tomorrow's liturgy? And every liturgy?  Just to get us thinking a little more about how we are treating creation, the poor, the abandoned and the forgotten of our world? It would be a good start... especially if we make the prayer into our action, don't you think?

Laudato Si: Sunday Reflection #50... The Grand Finale, period

I'm feeling a little emotional, believe it or not. It's been just over a year since we began to read Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home together, and it's been an interesting journey -- I know I learned a lot, especially from the footnotes of the document, which you can access by clicking here and scrolling down. The endnotes contain a lot of references to other important documents, many of which I hadn't heard of before reading Laudato Si. So if you are looking for more material about helping our sister, Mother Earth, to regain her equilibrium, I'd encourage you to check them out at your leisure.

With this last reflection, our year of study is over, can you believe it? And with garden harvest imminent, it's time to put my dog-eared, water-stained, highly-highlighted copy away (though I'll refer back to it often, no doubt).

I hope you've enjoyed the journey as much as I have. The first time I read Pope Francis's letter from start to finish, I did it in a hurry, without too much thought about how it actually applied to my life. Writing these reflections forced me to slow down and consider the ways to apply Laudato Si's teachings every day, and gave me an appreciation for what weekly columnists go through! Sometimes it was a struggle to figure out how the Pope's words in particular sections translated into action, but there was always something.

Pope Francis and his writing team make it clear that human beings need to change our outlook on life from that of a self-centred, narcissistic, materialistic, and resource-gobbling society to one that is a generous, interdependent community of people who live simply so that creation can simply live. And for a Grand Finale to be really GRAND, we need to remember what we have learned in the past year and continue to apply it. The titles of Laudato Si's chapters (which it seems I somehow mostly managed to ignore) lay it all out:

Chapter One -- What is Happening to Our Common Home -- points out how very bad things have become for our planet and many of its inhabitants.
Chapter Two -- The Gospel [Good News] of Creation -- reminds us that all that surrounds us is God's gift, not just resources for our use.
Chapter Three -- The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis -- underlines human misunderstandings that have contributed to ecological and social dis-ease in our world.
Chapter Four -- Integral Ecology -- encourages us to see ourselves as one small part of the Big Picture rather than the pinnacle of creation, and to take our proper place in God's plan for the earth.
Chapter Five -- Lines of Approach and Action -- offers concrete things we can do to support the common good and to return our planet to better health.
And Chapter Six -- Ecological Education and Spirituality -- calls us to connect our belief in God present in all creation to the lifestyle changes we must make for the sake of our sister, Mother Earth, and all her inhabitants.

As promised last week, here's part 2 of my summary of what we can do to improve life for all creatures on our planet, some directly from and some inspired by our readings:

• Support small, local businesses. Buy at farmer's markets when possible. If it's necessary to shop at big chain stores, opt for human cashiers instead of automated check outs.
• Have an attitude of gratitude for the labour saving devices provided by technological advances.
• Make choices in life with integral ecology in mind: What will this decision cost the planet? Who will be affected? Are fossil fuel emissions involved? Is this sound ecological practice?
• Help struggling peoples in our world by supporting organisations that work WITH communities at the grass roots to create their own solutions.
• Focus on the fact that God loves every person on the planet as much as She and He loves you and me.
• Be welcoming and hospitable to people of every "stripe."
• Make "fostering the common good" our superpower.
• Decrease the size of our ecological footprints.
• Take some simple steps to reduce personal greenhouse gas emissions.
• Appreciate organisations that works for a planet-saving cause by contributing to their efforts financially or actively and/or offering moral support.
  
• Ask those with power to make positive environmental and social change to do so by phone, letter, email, or in-person conversation.
• Question everything, asking: How does this contribute to an integral ecology? See where improvements can be made and work to bring them about. Take one small step to push change.
• Sacrifice. Live with less.
• Reimagine the world with sufficiency as goal. Educate our leaders toward that goal.
• Participate in ecological/scientific discussions as people who bring a faith perspective.
• Overcome individualism by broadening personal and local community and bring someone along with you to deepen their awareness. Groups can accomplish more than individuals in most cases.
• Support ecological causes that focus on fixing ecological problems.
• Say grace before and after meals. Don't miss an opportunity to give gratitude to God.
• Do random acts of kindness for the earth and each other.
• Appreciate and participate in weekly rest as an opportunity to relax and contemplate the Big Picture.
• Remember that the world is in God's hands and frequently ask for God's help to meet the challenges our planet faces.
• Remember that "everything will be okay in the end," one way or another, and sing as we go.

I've decided that I'll compile all these ideas into a little "Laudato Si Says" standard-sized paper poster, and if you would like a copy of it emailed to you (as a pdf file) you can email me (my e-address is under The Moodler profile on the sidebar). Anyone who asks will receive a copy to print up and post on the fridge, or at the office. Why not pique the curiosity of others who may never read Laudato Si?

There's no way to do justice to all of the thoughts in the Pope's letter to the world. All I've managed to do is share what struck my small intelligence and pull together some of the inspirations it brought me -- ideas about things we can all do to improve the health of our sister, Mother Earth, who supports all life as we know it (and probably life we can't even imagine). The true Grand Finale is how we do what is necessary to reduce the effects of climate change, fix other environmental and social problems caused by our human lifestyles, create more just and equitable societies, and treat everything with the love our Creator has for every single part of creation.

Over the past year, I have really come to love the prayer which concluded most of these reflections, so today let's pray it together one more time, in heartfelt supplication:

A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united

with every creature

as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace.

+AMEN.

(A prayer for our earth and all quotations from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Laudato Si: Sunday Reflection #49... Grand Finale, part 1 of 2

Gold Stream Falls, one of my favourite natural places
on our common home

We've reached the end of Pope Francis' letter to the world, Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home. As you know, I think it's a hugely important document -- in the year since it was published, it's been feeling like the world is really starting to pay attention to the problems human beings have created for our planet and its inhabitants. I was hoping that Christianity as a whole would grab onto it and start talking about it every Sunday, but that hasn't come to pass, at least not that I know of. I haven't even heard a homily about it in my own church, and so far, all that's been underlined in our parish bulletin is the idea that we should remember to pray before and after meals. That's a good idea, yes, but...

There's so much more to Laudato Si, and so many possible lessons and practices we can take from what it says. It reminds us that we are just one small but powerful part of creation, and that we can do much better when it comes to protecting our environment and caring for the marginalized. It notes the many challenges our earth is facing and calls us to work together toward potential solutions.  It challenges us to reconsider the consumptive lifestyles we are living in favour of a deeper, more satisfying simplicity. Everything (in creation, including us) is connected, everything is related, everything is interrelated/interconnected is its oft repeated refrain that needs to be considered with every choice we make, every day of our lives.

For my own summary, I choose to underline some of the ideas for helping our sister, Mother Earth, which came to me from out of our weekly readings of the encyclical:

• Pray "for our good and the good of all creation" every Sunday Mass during the Preparation of the Gifts.
• Consider how we are using (or abusing) the soil, water, air, natural resources and lives of other creatures with whom we share our planet.
• Ask: "what is one small thing I can do to make a positive difference for the earth's inhabitants today?"
• Undertake a personal garbage audit and determine how to waste less.
• Use less energy through alternate forms of transportation (walk, bike, take transit, carpool, buy local foods).
• Appreciate water and consider how we can protect and conserve it. Carry refillable drinking bottles.
• Spend some time outdoors, appreciating the natural life where we live.
• Ask: Is this really the quality of life we want? How do we want our society to be? What must we change? How do we go about changing it?
• Drop the complacency of indifference and choose to care about all our human and non-human brothers and sisters with us in the web of creation. Support a just cause, or more than one.
• Consider all that we take for granted, and appreciate it more. Share it more.
• Practice gratitude by using things wisely.
• Ask: where is there a "disordered use of things" in my life? How can I change my life to improve care for all God's creatures?
• Be a sign, a role model, an example of doing the just thing -- no matter who is watching (and even if no one is).
• Let local, national and world leaders know that we want positive, just changes for the sake of our planet's future generations. Speak out for our environment and all its inhabitants. Become an activist in some small (or larger) way.
• Note the places where God's action and goodness are present in creation and in life.
• Give some thought to the needs of creation in its entirety, and remember that our planet's life isn't just about human beings.
• Own less. Travel less. Eat simply. Share. Live in sufficiency, not excess. Appreciate everything.
• Consider: How would Jesus live in our present era -- and change our lives to match his.
• Practice spirituality (connecting with God) and self-restraint.
• Ask: Is technology serving its rightful purpose in our lives, or distracting us from what's really important?
• Slow down to appropriate technology's "positive and sustainable progress that has been made, but also to recover the values and great goals" that have gotten lost along the way.
• Ask; "Are we always the best examples we can be in caring for creation?"
• See the world with its Creator's eyes.

These ideas are just from the first half of Laudato Si -- and I think this last one is key. We have all had the experience of creating something and giving it to someone else in the hope that they will appreciate it. What would it be like to create a world and then watch how human beings are treating it now? If we can imagine the world as our home rather than our playground, and desire only what is best for all living things, we will do things differently, won't we? And that's what God and Pope Francis are calling us to do.

To save this summary from being completely overwhelming, I'll look at the second half next week, and wrap it up, whew! Until then, I will close with the end of the final prayer of Laudato Si. Please pray with me:

God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth,
for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.
Enlighten those who possess power and money
that they may avoid the sin of indifference,
that they may love the common good, advance the weak,
and care for this world in which we live.
The poor and the earth are crying out.
O Lord, seize us with your power and light,
help us to protect all life,
to prepare for a better future,
for the coming of your Kingdom
of justice, peace, love and beauty.
Praise be to you!

+AMEN.

Next up: The Grand Finale, period

(A Christian prayer in union with creation and all quotations from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Laudato Si: Sunday Reflection #48... Everything will be okay in the end

Being something of an optimist, I've always appreciated the saying that appears above. The Pope is also an optimist, I'm guessing, and his way of saying the same thing appears at the end of this last section of Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home, when he says, "At the end, we will find ourselves face to face with the infinite beauty of God" (you can find this week's reading by clicking here and scrolling down to paragraphs 243-245).

The Grand Finale of Pope Francis's letter to the world, Laudato Si, is a little section called Beyond the Sun, and two lovely prayers. The Pope and his writing team begin by trying to express a bit of what heaven will be like: "Eternal life will be a shared experience of awe, in which each creature, resplendently transfigured, will take its rightful place and have something to give those poor men and women who will have been liberated for once and for all."

We are reminded that, until then, we still have work to do to care for this earth and all its creatures as we journey to God. I really love the lines at the end of paragraph 244: "Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope."

As a somewhat musical person, I can't help but love the idea of singing as we go, and I had hoped to end these reflections with a song which is not quite ready yet, so please watch this space because I will share it in the near future. And, as promised at the very beginning, there will be fifty reflections -- two more posted on the next two Sundays because I'm seeing the need to pull together what we've been studying for the past year in a way that will hopefully be helpful to my readers.

The final paragraph of Laudato Si (245) reminds us that "In the heart of this world, the Lord of Life, who loves us so much is always present" -- we are not alone, because God is in all that God has made, and God's love will help us find our way. In spite of all the difficulties and trouble our world is facing, there is always hope because God is with us, and that's reason enough for Pope Francis and friends to to end the encyclical as it begins --

Laudato Si!

*******

Instead of ending with "A prayer for our earth" as I have every other, I close today's reflection with the final stanza of "A Christian prayer in union with creation" found at the end of the encyclical:

God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth,
for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.
Enlighten those who possess power and money
that they may avoid the sin of indifference,
that they may love the common good, advance the weak,
and care for this world in which we live.
The poor and the earth are crying out.
O Lord, seize us with your power and light,
help us to protect all life,
to prepare for a better future,
for the coming of your Kingdom
of justice, peace, love and beauty.
Praise be to you!

+AMEN.

Up next: Grand Finale, part 1 of 2

(A Christian prayer in union with creation and all quotations from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Laudato Si: Sunday Reflection #47... And now, a word from our sponsors

We're almost there, my friends, just a few paragraphs from the end of Pope Francis's encyclical, Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home. This week's two sections make me chuckle a bit, because they seem like the advertisements at the end of a TV program -- hence the title of this reflection.

The first section, paragraphs 238-240, is titled The Trinity and the Relationship Between Creatures, and the second, paragraphs 241-242, is Queen of All Creation (they can be accessed by clicking here and scrolling down). To me, it feels like the encyclical writers, good Catholics that they are, decided they had better hurry up and make mention of Mary and the Trinity before closing time. Even so, these two sections contain some good reminders for those of us who aspire to follow the will of the Triune God, and who take Mary as a model of how to do that.

Paragraphs 238-240 remind us that God is the source of everything, that Jesus is God united to creation through his humanity, and that the Holy Spirit, who blew over the waters of creation is the one responsible for "inspiring and bringing new pathways." When we give thanks for creation, we are praising all three persons of our One God. When we are one with God, we will see the deeper inter-connectedness of God's "constant and secretly woven relationships" throughout creation. What a time that will be! The eleventh and final refrain of the "Everything is interconnected" Laudato Si song is heard once again, calling us to relationship and "a spirituality of that global solidarity which flows from the mystery of the Trinity."

The summer I was fourteen, our family took a trip to the West Coast and visited an aquarium where an injured young killer whale was recovering. At some point (I think while the trained seals were doing a show) I wandered by myself back to the young whale's pool. A piece of straggly sea weed floated near its edge, and I was able to grab it and toss it to the middle of the pool. The whale brought it back to me, and waited for me to throw it again, which I did, over and over. I remember feeling sad for the whale, living in a small enclosure instead of with its pod out in the open ocean -- but I was even sadder that we couldn't communicate. A bit of global solidarity inspired by the Trinity? It was a spiritual experience, or I probably wouldn't remember it today. And one day, when the new heaven and the new earth come about, communication with all of creation won't be an issue, of that I am convinced. We will all know how interconnected everything is!

As Mother of God, Mary stands with the crucified Christ once again as she "grieves for the sufferings of the crucified poor and for the creatures of this world laid waste by human power." In paragraph 241 the encyclical writers note that her human life, lived according to God's will, is one part of creation that has "reached the fullness of its beauty.... Hence, we can ask her to enable us to look at this world with eyes of wisdom."

Of course, since St. Joseph is Mary's partner and the patron of the universal Church, it wouldn't do to forget about him. As caregiver of the Holy Family, "he too can teach us how to show care, he can inspire us to work with generosity and tenderness in protecting this world which God has entrusted to us."

In reading these paragraphs this week, I can't help but think that it's a call to humility for those of us who take up the challenge to work for change, for justice, and for the good of all creation. Perhaps you've heard that saying, "We must pray as if it all depends on God, and work as if it all depends on us." But these paragraphs seem to reverse that -- we must pray as if it all depends on us, and work as if it all depends on God. It is God's creation, and it is God who gives the success. Otherwise, our activist egos might get in the way and sabotage the change that is required. Oh heck, everything depends on God, doesn't it?

In the week ahead, whenever we run into news about environmental or human disasters, let's pause and put them into the hands of "our sponsors" before we look for possible solutions. Let's pray as if it all depends on us to ask for the Spirit's help and inspiration (because without God we can do nothing), and then let's be God's hands and feet and get to work!

*******

A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united

with every creature

as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace.

+AMEN.

Up next: Everthing will be okay in the end

(A prayer for our earth and all quotations from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Laudato Si: Sunday Reflection #46... The other 3 Rs

Are you old enough to remember when Sundays were Sundays? By that I mean, when churches were open but stores were closed, when most people had the day off to go to church and/or spend with their loved ones, and no one expected anything different.

All that changed in 1985 when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that banning Sunday shopping was unconstitutional. These days, in our multicultural society, some faith traditions observe days other than Sunday as sacred, but from the look of the mall parking lots on most traditional days of worship, many people would rather check out the chapel of consumerism's newest gizmo rather than spend time praying or thinking about the mystical connections between God, ourselves and creation.

This week's reading of Pope Francis' letter to the world, Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home reminds me of the importance of Sabbath time, which in observant Jewish culture is actually from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night, a full 24 hours. So many of us don't have Sundays off anymore, but it's a good idea to try to set 24 hours of Sabbath aside for God at some point in the week, simply because our consumption-oriented culture barely takes an hour a week of God time, if any at all.

Paragraphs 233-237 of the Pope's encyclical (which you can access by clicking here and scrolling down) reminds us of the importance of making time each week for R&R&R -- rest, relaxation and reverence. They are just as important as reduce, reuse and recycle, because if we give them proper place in our lives, our faith can lead us to a change of attitude that encompasses deep care for the earth.

Sunday, Sabbath, sacred time on whichever day of the week fits your faith, is super important time -- so important that Pope Francis devotes five paragraphs to it in a section entitled Sacramental Signs and the Celebration of Rest. Celebration of Rest, I like that. The whole section is excellent -- if you have some understanding of Eucharist. (I guess Pope Francis forgot that a lot of people in the world might not know the meaning of that word -- or maybe he wants to inspire curiosity about it.) The basic idea is this: God comes to us through the beautiful and ordinary things of creation, so really everything can be a sacrament -- a sign of God's presence and love. And if we can see everything in our world as sacred, as somehow connected to the Creator, we give thanks (the word Eucharist means thanksgiving) for it, we become more receptive to God's presence in it, and we will want to do our utmost to care for it.

Cameron Lake, in Waterton Park AB

I feel like we've come full circle as I post this picture from the third Laudato Si Sunday Reflection way back when. That's when I asked if my readers ever stood in awe before creation, exultant or speechless, and somehow aware of God in it all. Sabbath time is meant to give us an opportunity to take a break from the usual rat race and find God in everything. Really, that's what this entire section is about, and I would encourage you to read it for yourselves because it holds many beautiful ideas. So this week, I'm just going to quote one piece of paragraph 237, which talks about the importance of making time for the rest that allows us to be reverent and aware of God's presence in everything and everyone around us:

We tend to demean contemplative rest as something unproductive and unnecessary, but this is to do away with the very thing which is most important about work: its meaning. We are called to include in our work a dimension of receptivity and gratuity, which is quite different from mere inactivity. Rather, it is another way of working, which forms part of our very essence. It protects human action from becoming empty activism; it also prevents that unfettered greed and sense of isolation which make us seek personal gain to the detriment of all else.... Rest opens our eyes to the large picture and gives us renewed sensitivity to the rights of others. And so the day of rest, centred on the Eucharist, sheds its light on the whole week, and motivates us to greater concern for nature and the poor. 

In this gorgeous week of summer ahead of us, let's find a place of rest where we can be aware of the beauty with which we are surrounded, the Creator who gives it to us, and the work we need to do so that everyone may enjoy it in simplicity, peace, and freedom.

*******

A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united

with every creature

as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace.

+AMEN.

Up next: And now, a word from our sponsors

(A prayer for our earth and all quotations from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Laudato Si: Sunday Reflection #45... Rebuilding a culture of care

This week's Laudato Si reflection comes at a good time, because a lot of what's said in paragraphs 228-232 has been on my mind lately. Our world seems to have taken the low road rather than the high on too many occasions in the last few months. This is what I feel like saying every single time:

Especially to a certain presidential candidate south of the border! He gets wayyyy too much media attention for his nasty comments, and doesn't seem very interested in creating positive change. And he's not the only one -- there are all sorts of public figures in the news whose personae are built on tearing down the good. But Pope Francis takes exception -- this week's section of his letter to the world, Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home, encourages us toward a culture of care. Section V is entitled Civic and Political Love, and it can be accessed by clicking here and scrolling down.

Even if the non-inclusive language in this section could use some improvement, Pope Francis says some very important things:

We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it. We have had enough of immorality and the mockery of ethics, goodness, faith and honesty. It is time to acknowledge that light-hearted superficiality has done us no good (paragraph 229).

AMEN, brother. Sing it loud and clear! There are two problems here, as I see it -- 1) the public figures who grab headlines with their outrageous mean-spiritedness, and 2) the media who give them coverage. The solution? A small step -- protesting, boycotting those networks, "unfollowing" those public figures or otherwise letting them and their agents/networks know that they must work for a culture of care, not nasty negativity. Clearly, if we are to re-establish a culture that values our planet and its life, supporting people with small and narrow minds won't help. We need more people with wide and loving hearts to lead us.

That's why I love that the Pope holds up St. Therese of Lisieux's "little way of love" as an alternative in paragraph 230 -- and encourages everyone on the planet "not to miss out on a kind word, a smile or any small gesture which sows peace and friendship." St. Therese was a young woman who lived a short and hidden life in a small convent, focusing on the little things she could do to show love. Her autobiography, Story of a Soul, had a deep impact on me in my teen years, teaching that something as simple as acknowledging people with a smile is a tiny but important step toward defeating the negativity that can seem overwhelming in our world -- a tiny but important step worth taking.

"An integral ecology is also made up of simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness," the Pope says. I suspect that, like St. Therese, he does many such things about which we'll never know. He knows and reminds us that it's these "random acts of kindness" and the "paying forward" of goodness that stops misery in its tracks. And every time he's caught doing one of these simple things, love for him fills the cyber sphere. That kind of "good press" blows me away.

Pope Paul VI might have been the first to use the words "Civilization of Love" for the World Day of Peace in 1977, but the phrase has been echoed ever since as something we need to create -- or there may be no civilization at all. Paragraph 231 emphasizes the importance of love in all spheres of human social activity -- cultural, economic and political. Encouraging "a culture of care" which permeates all of society is a good thing, but let's take it a step further and ensure that we also care for everything that God has made.

Paragraph 232 reminds us that even if we aren't the kinds of people who feel we can engage directly in political life, people like us can connect through organizations that "work to promote the common good and to defend the environment, whether natural or urban." When I became a Voluntary Simplicity practitioner, I wanted to save the world, but soon realized that, as an introvert, I'm not built to deliver impassioned speeches that can move people to change. God gave us all different gifts, and mine lead me to share what I know via these moodlings, encouraging change with my little suggestions and the sharing of the work of good people around me. I could never be a politician, or a TV host! I'm not crazy about leading workshops; I'm much happier working in my garden.

That doesn't mean that I don't support other organisations that can do more. Attending rallies, donating to an environmental cause, signing petitions and sharing information are all important because even the smallest of our actions can help to

cultivate a shared identity, with a story which can be remembered and handed on. In this way, the world, and the quality of life of the poorest, are cared for, with a sense of solidarity, which is at the same time aware that we live in a common home which God has entrusted to us. These community actions, when they express self-giving love, can also become intense spiritual expriences" (paragraph 232). 

I'm thinking of yesterday's moodling about Supersu's party boxes, and all the conversations about reducing waste that result because of them. Not quite "intense spiritual experiences," but people realize that they hold the same value of caring about our planet in those moments, and that they can make a difference, too.

The moral of this week's story is that it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the negativity in our world, but we all have the capacity to be agents of change. So in the week ahead, let's give some thought to the little things we can do to rebuild a culture of care for our Sister, Mother Earth, and for all her creatures.

I shared the video below in another moodling a few years back, but it's an inspiration that's too good to forget. We all need to care as much as the hummingbird, and do the best we can, as Wangari Maathai did. Have a good week, and don't forget your little acts of kindness for the earth and each other...

*******

A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united

with every creature

as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace.

+AMEN.

Next up: The other 3 Rs

(A prayer for our earth and all quotations from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Laudato Si: Sunday Reflection #44... Simplicity and prayer

Did you grow up with Grace and Gratitude? My years of working in our family church supplies business ensured that I did. Grace (circa 1918 by Eric Enstrom/Rhoda Nyberg) is a portrait of a man praying before his meal, and Gratitude (by Jack Garren in the 1960s) is the companion picture of a woman in a similar posture.

What I always liked about these two was the simplicity of the images. They seem to say that if you can live in gratitude and try to be aware of God's grace -- even if you don't have many possessions -- you have enough.

Which fits with the theme of this week's section from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home, which is entitled Joy and Peace (paragraphs 222 to 227. It can be accessed by clicking here and scrolling down). This section of Pope Francis' letter to the world is all about choosing to live more simply, which is, of course, my favourite topic.

Less really is more these days. Choosing simplicity is downright subversive and counter-cultural in a society that has been brainwashed into believing that if we don't buy, buy, buy, the economy will die, die, die. What our brainwashers have failed to notice is that excessive consumption has brought our world to its present ecological problems... the overemphasis on buy, buy, buy leads directly to die, die, die for too many of our ecosystems. In paragraph 222, Pope Francis and his writing team remind us that

Christian spirituality proposes an alternative understanding of the quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption. We need to take up an ancient lesson, found in different religious traditions and also in the Bible. It is the conviction that "less is more". A constant flood of new consumer goods can baffle the heart and prevent us from cherishing each thing and each moment.

This makes me think of Christmas, the big consumer holiday of the year. When our children were little, we quickly learned that if they received too many gifts, things got lost in the shuffle and were under-appreciated. So we cut back on the gifts, and our little ones were just as happy. More stuff does not equal more happiness. As noted later in paragraph 222, choosing a simpler existence "allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the opportunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack."

"In reality, those who enjoy more and live better each moment are those who have given up dipping here and there, always on the look-out for what they do not have," say Pope Francis and friends in paragraph 223 of Laudato Si. The entire paragraph is just excellent (read it for yourself!!), and seems to echo wise teachers from the past... I'm thinking in particular of Richard Gregg, a follower of Mahatma Ghandi, who summed up Ghandi's practice of Voluntary Simplicity (in 1936) as follows:

Voluntary simplicity involves both inner and outer condition. It means singleness of purpose, sincerity and honesty within, as well as avoidance of exterior clutter, of many possessions irrelevant to the chief purpose of life. It means an ordering and guiding of our energy and our desires, a partial restraint in some directions in order to secure greater abundance of life in other directions. It involves a deliberate organization of life for a purpose. (Quoted in Mark A. Burch's book, Stepping Lightly: Simplicity for people and the planet. (2000, ISBN 0-86571-423-1) pp. 9-10.

I love the line about restraint in some directions which can lead to a greater abundance of life in others. Isn't that what our consumer-driven society is really looking for -- abundance of life? But we mistakenly think our possessions are what brings us joy. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I invite you to consider three high points in your life -- the times you felt most joyful and fulfilled. Then note who you were with, what you were doing, why you were so happy, and what, if any material items were required for the experience. We do this exercise in Simplicity Study Circles all the time, and it's always interesting to note how few consumer items are actually required for the happiest moments of our lives.

"Even living on little, they can live a lot," says Pope Francis in paragraph 223, and of course he is talking about all of us when we find joy and satisfaction

• in relationships,
• in serving others,
• in using our talents,
• in enjoying or creating music or art,
• in relating to nature,
• in prayer.

This brings to mind another old song on YouTube, which kind of says the same things using a musical format...

Paragraph 224 reminds us of the personal, societal and environmental imbalances created by 1) consumerism, 2) an overemphasis on autonomy, 3) a lack of faith in our Creator, and 4) the belief that our feelings are the best indicator of "what is right and what is wrong."

Instead, we need to find inner peace, says paragraph 225, the kind that is connected to simplicity, to care for the environment and to working for the common good. Because so many of us fill our lives with so much noise and frenzied activity in our pursuit of being good people who are doing good things, we forget that less is more when it comes to spirituality. We can't enjoy God's gifts to us if we don't make the time to appreciate them. We really won't find peace if our possessions and activities are doing violence to God's creation somewhere behind the scenes.

"We are speaking of an attitude of the heart," Pope Francis says, "one which approaches life with serene attentiveness, which is capable of being fully present to someone [or to creation, I would add] without thinking of what comes next, which accepts each moment as a gift from God to be lived to the full." Our culture is too much like the rich young man in the tenth chapter of Mark's gospel, worried about our possessions while Jesus is looking at us with love -- but are we too tied up in our stuff to notice?

In an attempt to encourage this "attitude of the heart", Pope Francis has recently begun something of a campaign to remind people to pray in thanksgiving before and after meals -- paragraph 227 has been appearing in church bulletins lately. Yes, maybe some of us need to get back to the basics of simple mealtime graces before we can attempt more serious ecological reforms, but I was hoping for a more challenging campaign -- like perhaps encouraging us to try a year of living really simply -- buying only what we need, or finding ways to cut our use of energy by 20 or 30 percent, churches included. (Note to Pope Francis and all the other bishops out there: I'm also still waiting for places of worship to have regular sermons about saving our environment...) But maybe eventually those mealtime graces will lead us to a more respectful "attitude of gratitude" -- and remind us of the importance of prayer and meditation for keeping in touch with the Source of all life as we work toward the more difficult challenge of seriously reducing consumption for the sake of creation.

I know I haven't moodled much about the importance of prayer in these Laudato Si reflections, probably because I feel the urgency for action to return our sister, Mother Earth, back to health before it's too late. But the very first Sunday reflection was about the encyclical's A Prayer for the Earth, which I've posted at the end of every reflection since in the hopes that my readers pray it with me every weekend. Prayer is also necessary in the work Pope Francis is calling us to do -- it helps us to live in hope, to keep our eyes fixed on God's love for the great web of creation, and inspires us to work for the common good of all of creation.

So for the week ahead, let's do like our Grace and Gratitude people at the top of this moodling and give some attention to our spiritual practices. Do we remember to give thanks for our food? Do we offer some time and attention to Christ, who looks at us with love even when we are too busy? Let's simplify some spaces in our lives to make room for the richness of life Christ promised in my favourite verse of scripture, John 10: 10b -- "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

*******

A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united

with every creature

as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace.

+AMEN.

(A prayer for our earth and all quotations from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Next up: Rebuilding a culture of care