Climate Justice

The Live Simply prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, help me to live simply

To follow your steps,

To share what I have,

To think about those who have nothing.

Help me to be kind and helpful to people;

Help me not to waste food or water;

Help me to eat smaller meals;

Help me not to destroy your world,

But to think before I do things.

Lord Jesus Christ, help me to live simply,

So that others may simply live. Amen

(St.Peter’s Community, Hinckley,First Communion Children 2007)

"THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S AND ITS FULLNESS THEREFORE" (psalm 24)

Creation, even without humanity, is intrinsically good. And so it is that the bible starts with Genesis and thus creation.

We are not asked to see the earth as separate from ourselves but rather that nature in its own right indicates a deeper reality of God’s unfathomable power and creativity. We are the stewards of the earth and as such bear a heavy responsibility in its preservation not just for the lifestyle that we are used to but for the generation to come and the generation after that, and .... the generations after that.
It is through prayer and meditation, through awareness and reality that we are called to take up the mission of:

"Caring for our Planet, Stewards of Creation"

How do we do this? In the first instance we will take a look at ourselves and then we look to find a way to live in harmony with the earth and all living things.

The Pope says in "Caritas in Veritae"
"The natural environment is more than a raw material to be manipulated at our pleasure; it is a wondrous work of the Creator containing a"grammar" which sets forth ends and criteria for its wise use, not its reckless exploitation."

During September we would like to take you on a journey that will once again restore our vision of the earth, to awaken us again to its glories, its beauties and mysteries and to remind ourselves of how we can

CARE for THE PLANET,

for now, for us and for all future generations.

While we ignore the possibility of climate change, the developing world is already feeling the effects of the changing seasons. No longer able to rely on the rains, their time for planting is shortened and the time for harvesting does not come in cycle. Our brothers and sisters of the two thirds of the world still trying to develop and feed and water their people suffer as a result of our way of life. All development efforts over the last years will be lost as the climate dominates all the human effort.
Can we adapt?
How do we adapt?
What does Christ ask us to do, and be, for the sake of the planet and all its people?

Further biblical references

Stewards of His creation. (Genesis 2: 19-20)
The covenant that God made with Noah after the flood, of which the rainbow is a constant reminder. (Genesis 9:12)
The lure of wealth and power. (Matthew 6: 19-21; Luke 9: 1-6, Ephesians 1: 9-12; Colossians 1: 16-17)
Mary the Mother of Life challenges us to abandon the pathway of death and return to the way of life. (Luke 1: 52)
'Choose life and then you and your descendants will live' (Deuteronomy 30: 19-20)