Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons for World Earth Day 2016

The apse of St Apollinare, Ravenna, showing Paradise

Two of our present major Church leaders, Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis, have repeatedly drawn attention to the plight of our small blue planet, the only common home we have. In his Encyclical Laudato Si, the Pope mentions the clear and continual commitment the Patriarch has to the problems of our 'Mother, the Earth', in recent years he has tirelessly worked to draw attention to the problems facing all of us, yet at the same time look to the roots of such problems to see how we can best change for the better, as Pope Francis wrote:

'Patriarch Bartholomew has spoken in particular of the need for each of us to repent of the ways we have harmed the planet, for "inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage", we are called to acknowledge "our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation".'

We might not see our individual contribution to the mess and loss of life on earth as very significant, but it all adds up, for like so many things in life, the solution starts with an inner change of heart, the step that moves us out of egocentricity into a compassionate understanding of the connection we have with life. This is the repentance we are called to seek, but it is not easy to achieve, for too many things crowd and cloud our vision, not least the implicit greed humans have when faced with their own desires. But there is hope, not last because the still small voice of the Creator speaks to us still.

St Francis wrote in his Canticle of all Creatures:

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,

who sustains and governs us,

and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.

This is an image of paradise that can and shall be regained; here sustenance is through the fruits, not the animals, a symbol of redeemed life when all living things shall be in harmony. It is no accident that the next verse touches upon that deep compassion found in merciful forgiveness.Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love,and bear infirmity and tribulation.Blessed are those who endure in peacefor by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.

Here is Francis' vision of hope for our planet, we bear trials and tribulations, we pardon transgressions but 'we endure', and that endurance is not passive but active and constructive living, doing the very best we can. Pope Francis, in Bartholomew's words echoes the Canticle's call, which we can turn into our prayer for this day:

Lord may we be called "to accept the world as a sacrament of communion, as a way of sharing with You and our neighbours on a global scale". May we find in our hearts the humility to understand that the divine and the human "meet in the slightest detail in the seamless garment of God's creation, in the last speck of dust of our planet". Amen

Fr Robin is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Britain. He is also an Honorary Canon of Christchurch Cathedral Oxford.