Here's some food for thought that I just submitted as an article to my parish bulletin. I like the blending of care for God's creation with care for God's children in the Pope's encyclical.
Scripture: The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. – Genesis 2:15
Pope Benedict: The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole. -- Caritas in Veritate #48, Pope Benedict XVI
Top Ten Reasons to Care for Creation:
1. God is the Creator of the Universe and maintains its existence through an ongoing creative will.
2. God has blessed and called "very good" all that is created.
3. God's plan for Creation is one of harmony and order. Creation forms a whole, a cosmos.
4. God loves the community of life.
5. God's creatures share a common home.
6. God's presence is discernable in all Creation.
7. God intends the Earth's goods to be equitably shared.
8. Within Creation, the human person enjoys a consummate dignity. Inherent to this dignity is that of exercising a wise and just stewardship over the rest of Creation.
9. Sin brought division into the entire world, but not only within and between human persons. The consequences of sin also affect the Earth.
10. In a mysterious way, Christ's redemptive mission extends to all of Creation.
-- from the Catholic Conservation Center, http://conservation.catholic.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment