Care for our common home
"Everything is interconnected, and genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature are inseparable from fraternity, justice and faithfulness to others."
THE SECOND encyclical of Pope France probes deep into our interconnectedness with nature and with all humanity. At this particular time in our history, we are experiencing the ill effects of our inconsideration to nature in the pursuit of modernization and accumulation of riches . Laudato Si, is a response to the wretchedness of our times, reminding us what we urgently have to change in the way we look at the economy, our cultures, our country and the world.
On society and nature, Pope Francis says: “Given the scale of change, it is no longer possible to find a specific, discrete answer for each part of the problem. It is essential to seek comprehensive solutions that consider the interactions within natural systems themselves and with social systems. We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.” (Laudato Si’, 139)
Since the lockdown and quarantine, we’ve had enough time to reflect on how fragile our life is when faced with a deadly virus. We look inward and wonder how anyone of us could be contaminated with the disease in the normal routine that we do. COVID 19 has taught us to review our culture – in the way we greet people, the way we converge in places, the lack of space when we do business, and so much more.
This weekend, one might be interested to read Pope Francis’ Laudato Si and reflect on the current pandemic and how it relates to the lack of environmental consciousness of our community. The destruction of natural habitats has caused a great amount of environmental damage that we are experiencing now.
“There needs to be a distinctive way of looking at things, a way of thinking, policies, an educational program, a lifestyle and a spirituality which together generate resistance to the assault of the technocratic paradigm.” (Laudato Si 111)
We are faced with a great change. The pandemic showed how easy humankind can fall if it continues to disregard the balance of nature.