World Environment Day - June 5, 2021
The dictionary defines environment as the natural world, the surroundings, or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives.
In the Encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis writes ‘The earth herself, burdened and laid waste is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor.
The Torah and the Hebrew Scriptures are replete in giving glory for the gift of the Earth.
Genesis 1 in the Story of Creation we read, and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:20 Then God said, Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly…
Deuteronomy 10: 14 To the Lord belongs even the highest heavens; the earth is his also and everything on it.
Job 38, God asks, Where were you when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it…
Isaiah 40: 12, Who has cupped in his hand the waters in the sea, and marked off the heavens with a span…
Psalm 8: 4 -9, When I see the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you set in place… All sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish in the sea…
The New Testament
Matthew 6: 26-29, Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
John 15: 5, I am the vine, and you are the branches…
Romans 8: 22-23, We know that up to the present time all creation is groaning in labor pains…
Revelation 21:1-5, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth …God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people…
Indigenous Spirituality
The Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth. We did not weave the web of life we are merely strands in it. - Chief Seattle
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors we borrow it from our Children. - Native American Proverb
Muslim Spirituality
Where would we be if Allāh withheld His provisions for us for even a moment? Not just the food, and drink, but everything in the entire universe required to sustain life on earth. If that was paused even for a moment, the consequences would be disastrous. -Sursh al-Mulk
Hindu Spirituality
The Earth is our Mother, and we are all her children. -Ancient Hindu Teaching Ahimsa – the principle of non-violence. Most Hindus believe that all living things are sacred because they are part of God as is the natural world.
The destiny of humans cannot be separated from the destiny of the earth.
Gardening is active participation in the deepest mystery of the universe.
-Thomas Berry
“The human brain now holds the key to our future. We have to recall the image of the planet from outer space: a single entity in which air, water, and continents are interconnected. That is our home.” - David Suzuki
How can something as fundamental as life on Earth be treated with such neglect? We need to completely change the way we treat our home. We, as do all other living beings, deserve the right to a healthy natural world. -Bill McKibben
Earth provides enough to satisfy everyone’s needs but not everyone’s greed. -Mahatma Gandhi
Grown-ups have failed us. We live as if we had the resources of 4.2 planets. - Greta Thunberg
World Environment Day
Submitted by Sister Ann Marshall, csj
TOGETHER WE CAN BE
