Earth-Friendly Habits: Living Laudato Si’
Week Nine: Ash Wednesday and Lent
The natural environment is a collective good, the patrimony of all humanity and the responsibility of everyone…the bishops ask, “What does the commandment ‘You shall not kill’ mean when twenty percent of world’s population consumes the resources at a rate that robs the poor nations and future generations of what they need to survive?”
Laudato Si’
Many people have a habit of giving up favorite foods or beverages as part of their Lenten practices to pray, fast, and give alms. This year spend some time thinking about a Lenten practice that would help heal the planet. Pick up one of the Creation Care Lenten Practices booklets available in the Gathering Space by the Almsgiving envelopes. Each day of Lent there is a suggestion of something you can do in your life that demands sacrifice.
Consuming more of the earth’s resources than you need is a form of gluttony that denies others the right to life.
GOAL: Community Resilience and Empowerment
This goal encourages the development of cultures and policies that protect our common home and all who share it. A proposed set of actions to make progress towards this goal includes the following:
- Advocating for social and ecological causes by identifying a social/ environmental policy focus; organizing community events with officials to discuss advocacy issues; maintaining a regular review of policies and sharing updates with the community; and having a parishioner talk about advocacy issues
- Engaging the wider public by organizing social/ecological events, regularly exploring the local environment as a group, and writing for local papers or commenting on local news stories related to Laudato Si’ themes
- Developing a social response to shared challenges by collaborating with leadership to identify ways the Church can support local social/ecological programs, such as recycling, and developing a community coalition to prepare for and respond to emergent social crises
- Developing resilience by analyzing the physical, social, and spiritual ways our community is likely to be affected by climate change and biodiversity loss and making a plan to resiliently prepare for those changes, ensuring buildings are prepared for changes in heat, cold, and storm intensity
