Season of Creation

This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. (2.)

Authentic human development has a moral character.  It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us and ‘take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system’”. (5.)

The misuse of creation beings when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves.”  (6.)

For the human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins.” (8.)

As Christians, we are called ‘to accept the world as a sacrament of communion, as a way of sharing with God and our neighbors on a global scene.’ (9.)

I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived our joyfully and authentically. (10.)

If we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. (11.)

Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness.” (12.)

Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise. (12.)

Humanity has the ability to work together in building our common home. (13.)  All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation. (14.)

The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. (21.) These problems are closely inked to a throwaway culture which affects the excluded just as it quickly reduces things to rubbish. (22.)

The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. (23.)

The great majority (of plant and animal species) become extinct for reasons related to human activity.  Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. (33.)

…a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. (49.)  Environmental deterioration and human and ethical degradation are closely linked. (56.)

Human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbor and with the earth itself. (66.)

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the word “creation” has a broader meaning than “nature,” for it has to do with God’s loving plan in which every creature has its own value and significance….Creation can only be understood as a gift from the outstretched hand of the Father of all, and as a reality illuminated by the love which calls us together into universal communion. (76.) Creation is the order of love.  God’s love is the fundamental moving force in all created things.” (77.)

The biblical accounts of creation invite us to see each human being as a subject who can never be reduced to the status of an object. (81.)

Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God. (84.)

God has written a precious book, whose letters are the multitude of created things present in the universe. (85.)

As the Catechism teaches: “God wills the interdependence of creatures….Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other.” (86.)

When our hearts are authentically open to universal communion, this sense of fraternity (concern for the environment and love for our fellow human beings) excludes nothing and no one.  Everything is related. (91. And 92.)

Jesus lived in full harmony with creation, and others were amazed: “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” Mt. 8:27 (98.) The mystery of Christ is at work in a hidden manner in the natural world as a whole. (99.)

Human ecology is inseparable from the notion of the common good, a central and unifying principle of social ethics.  The common good is ‘the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment. (156.)

If someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without scruple. (215.)

The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. (217.)

Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.  (217.)

The ecological conversion needed to bring about lasting change is also a community conversion.  (219.)

It is a return to simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the opportunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack. (222.)

Happiness means knowing how to limit some needs which only diminish us, and being open to the many different possibilities which life can offer. (223.)

Inner peace is closely related to care for ecology and for the common good because, lived out authentically, it is reflected in a balanced lifestyle together with a capacity for wonder which takes us to a deeper understanding of life. (225.)

An integral ecology includes taking time to recover a serene harmony with creation, reflecting on our lifestyle and our ideals, and contemplating the Creator who lives among us and surrounds.” (225.)

The Eucharist joins heaven and earth; it embraces and penetrates all creation.  The Eucharist is a sign of cosmic love.  (236.)