Reflection for World Environment Day

Amazonia - wiki image

Imagine you go to the doctor because you are finding it difficult to breathe and he or she tells you: "You have lung cancer. You are rapidly dying. But we are not going to do anything." Wouldn't you object, panic, kick up a stink, demand action?

The Amazon rain forest has been called by Pope Francis the lungs of the world. When it is healthy all of us will be healthier. But the Amazon is being destroyed.

This great forest, 55 million square kilometres, regulates the world's climate, produces one third of the fresh water entering the oceans and is a living, breathing temple to diversity and beauty.

Many men and women have fought and died to protect the trees, the creatures of the rainforest and the people who live there.

But there are those who don't care. They are cutting down the trees and destroying the homes and culture of the indigenous tribes whose home that place is. They see nothing of what matters except the financial gain that is in it for themselves.

Today we are celebrating five years since Pope Francis wrote his encyclical letter Laudato Si'. It is prophetic and planet that God has given to us to be our home.

In Greenland four trillion tons of ice is melting and causing sea levels to rise because of global warming.

The State of Louisiana loses land the size of a football field every 45 minutes due to the rising sea levels

As this continues people have to move because nothing grows where they are living because it is too dry or under water

Laudato Sii challenges all of us not to leave these problems to someone else to solve. Every one of us can play a part in the solution. If we don't, then we are part of the problem.

At the height of this Covid crisis the world was emitting 17% less toxic emissions. Just imagine! On that basis if we were kept strictly locked down for just over a year all toxic emissions would cease. Well that would be one good thing that would come out of the pandemic!

The air is cleaner. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener and I would love to know if the incidents of asthmatic attacks are down these last few months. I expect so.

We as a human community had failed to take the necessary decisions to do something about the environment ourselves so it's like nature decided to force it on us by sending this virus!

So what can I do? Well, get politically involved. Join organisations that keep the pressure on the politicians. We do not want to go back to where we were before this pandemic started do we?

And personally what can I do?

Eat less meat.

Buy what I am going to eat in the shops and no more. The amount of food wasted is a human scandal while so many people starve.

Recycle your waste.

Share journeys when we travel by car - use public transport or walk or cycle.

Fly less

Watch my use of water in the bathroom. Don't leave taps running while I am not using the water.

Turn down the heating and wear warm clothes round the house instead

Friday 5th June is world environment day. If you were to stand before our Lord and he asked you what you wanted for the world and the environment, How would you answer him?

Maybe you could write down your answer in the form of a request to him - a prayer and email it to me. Get the children to draw a picture relating to this subject or write such a request also. We could put them all together and put them on our website.

You can put your name to it or do it anonymously.

We wouldn't allow a doctor to diagnose a life threatening illness for us and then say we are going to do nothing about it. Neither should we allow such an illness be diagnosed for our Mother, The Earth and decide to just stand by and watch her destruction.

Canon Pat Browne, parish priest at Holy Apostles, Pimlico, and Roman Catholic Duty priest in the Houses of Parliament gave this homily on the 7th Sunday of Easter.

LINK

Laudato Si' - www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html