Protecting our world
The Holy See is aiming to reduce its environment impact by embracing renewable energy sources, with the goal of zero emissions by 2050. In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, the Governorate’s Director for Infrastructures and Services explains the path undertaken by the Vatican. See the full article by CLICKING HERE
We must do what we can, and urge others in authority, to protect our beautiful planet.
Bella Harding has shared with us her Laudato Si Chaplet to pray and meditate on, for ourselves and for the safety of Mother Earth. Thank you Bella.
"Just a few words to share a way of saying the chaplet to promote gratefulness at this season when we might be feeling instead all that we lack, freedom, seeing friends and family and so on. I find it great for reminding me of how lucky I am, and how I can be more grateful and careful
So the chaplet is basically
*Praise to you my Lord, through Brother Air*
(repeat as many times as you like, once, 3 or 10)
I use as a chorus each time, as it is easy to remember,
*To you be glory and praise forever*
with the Glory be after each set.
*Praise to you my Lord through Sister Water*
*Praise to you my Lord through Brother Fire*
*Praise to you my Lord through Sister Earth*
Just like the rosary you can use this repetitive prayer to meditate on various related things, for example with Brother Air we can think how wonderful it is to wake up each morning having slept while all the time breathing clean air, that keeps us alive, the bright morning sky, the atmosphere that surrounds the earth making life possible, the winds that sweep away the rain or smoke, the colonies of migrating birds and insects which are all part of the necessary cycle of life, the air currents that create our stable climate and allow us to grow our food
Then I feel sorrow for the way we have polluted the air, burning fossil fuels, so that people are dying of air pollution, like Ella Adykisidebra, and 297 Bristolians a year, mostly in the poorest areas.
*Forgive us my Lord for how we pollute Brother Air.
With Sister Water, we can thank God for the gift of rain that keeps all things growing, for the beauty of rivers and seas and streams, for the joy of quenching our thirst, washing or swimming in water, for all the varieties of water from snow and ice to mist and fog and beautiful clouds and rainbows
We also pollute the water with plastics, pesticides, we cause drought by diverting water and using it in industrial processes so that people nearby have no clean water, or are relocated because of dams
*Forgive us my Lord for how we pollute Sister Water
With Brother Fire, we can thank God for the sun, which rises each day giving us light and warmth in which we can live, bringing about growth, for the uses of fire for heating and cooking and making things
We also misuse fire by burning fossil fuels, causing global warming, by burning ancient forests, by creating weapons such as guns and bombs and using them in war, for creating industrial dependence on cars and planes so that we can’t imagine life without them
*Forgive us Lord for how we misuse Brother Fire
And finally Sister Earth, we can feel the depth of earth beneath our feet and think of the beautiful fragile planet hanging in space, for the land and all the minute life forms that make the earth fruitful, for all the animals birds and fish that are a source of wonder, for the trees and peat bogs that clean our air of carbon and produce the oxygen we need, and often contain medicines that cure us, for the stability of the earth and its coastlines
We have extracted materials, forced growth through chemicals in monoculture, impoverished peoples and taken their land, destroyed the riches of the ancient forests, we have warmed the earth so the glaciers are melting and the sea rising.
*Forgive how we have mistreated the earth our common home"
Apart, yet together. #ChurchAtHome
