The eagerly-awaited papal encyclical entitled ‘Laudato Si’: on the care of our common home’ was presented at a press conference on Thursday morning in the Vatican’s synod hall, which was packed with journalists, diplomats and religious leaders. The 192 page document, published in eight languages, was introduced by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical…
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The eagerly-awaited papal encyclical entitled ‘Laudato Si’: on the care of our common home’ was presented at a press conference on Thursday morning in the Vatican’s synod hall, which was packed with journalists, diplomats and religious leaders. The 192 page document, published in eight languages, was introduced by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical…
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(Vatican Radio) During his Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Thursday morning, Pope Francis said Christians must understand that they cannot advance in the Christian life without the help of God. The Pope also noted that if we are to pray well, we must be prepared to forgive our brothers. The three themes of weakness, prayer, and forgiveness were at the heart of his homily.
The Holy Father began his reflection by emphasizing that we all bear a certain weakness, a weakness “we all bear after the wound of original sin.”
Without the help of the Lord we cannot go forward
We are weak, he repeated, “we slip into sin, we cannot go forward without the help of the Lord”:
“He who believes he is strong, who thinks he is capable of getting by on his own is naïve, and in the end remains a man defeated by so much weakness that he carries in himself: the weakness that brings us to ask for help from the Lord because ‘in our weakness we can do nothing without your help,’ [as] we have prayed. We cannot take a step in our Christian life without the help of the Lord, because we are weak. And he who is on the way should take care not to fall because he is weak.”
We are even weak in faith, he continued. “We all have faith,” he said, “We all want to go forward in the Christian life, but if we are not conscious of our weakness we will end up completely defeated.” There is a beautiful prayer that speaks to this: “O Lord, I know that in my weakness I can do nothing without your help.”
Our prayer has no need of too many words
The Pope then turned his thought to “prayer.” Jesus, he said, taught us to pray, “but not as the pagans” who thought they would be heard because they used many words. Pope Francis recalled the mother of Samuel who asked the Lord for the grace to have a son, and prayed by simply moved her lips. The priest that was there, he said, saw her and was convinced she was drunk and scolded her:
“She only moved her lips because she could not speak… She asked for a son. She prayed in that way, in the sight of the Lord. It is the prayer [we should make]: because we know that He is good and knows all about us and knows the things we need, we should begin to say that word: ‘Father’; which is a human word, certainly, that gives us life, but in prayer we can only say it with the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“Let us begin the prayer with the power of the Spirit who prays in us,” the Pope said, “praying in that way, simply. With open hearts in the presence of God who is the Father, and who knows, knows the things we need before we say them.”
Forgiveness is a great strength, a grace from the Lord
Finally, Pope Francis turned his attention to forgiveness, emphasizing how Jesus taught his disciples that if they did not forgive the faults of others, the Father would not forgive them.
“We can only pray well, and call God ‘Father’ if our heart is at peace with others, with our brothers. ‘But father, this person did this to me, [and] this person did this to me, [and] that person did this…’ ‘Forgive. Forgive as He forgave you.’ And so the weakness that we have, with the help of God in prayer becomes strength because forgiveness is a great strength. One needs to be strong to forgive, but this strength is a grace that we must receive from the Lord because we are weak.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) During his Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Thursday morning, Pope Francis said Christians must understand that they cannot advance in the Christian life without the help of God. The Pope also noted that if we are to pray well, we must be prepared to forgive our brothers. The three themes of…
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LAUDATO SI’: ON THE CARE OF OUR COMMON HOME
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ first encyclical is focused on the idea of ‘ integral ecology ’, connecting care of the natural world with justice for the poorest and most vulnerable people. Only by radically reshaping our relationships with God, with our neighbours and with the natural world , he says, can we hope to tackle the threats facing our planet today. Science , he insists, is the best tool by which we can listen to the cry of the earth, while dialogue and education are the two keys that can “help us to escape the spiral of self-destruction which currently engulfs us”.
At the heart of the Pope’s reflections is the question: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?”. The answers he suggests call for profound changes to political, economic, cultural and social systems, as well as to our individual lifestyles.
Chapter 1 sets out six of the most serious challenges facing “our common home
” Pollution, waste and our throwaway mentality : “the earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth”
Climate change : “one of the principle challenges facing humanity in our day” but “many of those who possess more resources and economic or political power seem mostly to be concerned with masking the problems or concealing their symptoms”
Water : “access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right” yet entire populations, and especially children get sick and die because of contaminated water
Biodiversity : “Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species” and the consequences cannot be predicted as “all of us, as living creatures, are dependent on one another”. Often transnational economic interests obstruct this protection
Breakdown of society : Current models of development adversely affect the quality of life of most of humanity and “many cities are huge, inefficient structures, excessively wasteful of energy and water
Global inequality : Environmental problems affect the most vulnerable people, the greater part of the world’s population and the solution is not reducing the birth rate but counteracting “an extreme and selective consumerism”.
And Chapter 3 explores six of the deep root causes of these growing crises
Technology : While it can bring progress towards sustainable development, without “a sound ethics”, it gives “those with the knowledge, and especially the economic resources… an impressive dominance over the whole of humanity”
The technocratic mentality : “the economy accepts every advance in technology with a view to profit……yet by itself the market cannot guarantee integral human development and social inclusion”
Anthropocentrism : we fail to understand our place in the world and our relationship with nature. Interpersonal relations and protection of human life must be set above technical reasoning so environmental concern “is also incompatible with the justification of abortion”
Practical relativism : environmental degradation and social decay is the result of seeing “everything as irrelevant unless it serves one’s own immediate interests”
Employment : Integral ecology needs to take account of the value of labour so everyone must be able to have work and it’s “bad business for society” to stop investing in people to achieve short-term financial gains
Biological technologies : GMOs are a “complex environmental issue” which have helped to resolve problems but bring difficulties such as concentrating land “in the hands of a few owners”, threatening small producers, biodiversity and ecosystems
So where do the solutions lie? Here are six of the best
In “ The Gospel of Creation ”: Chapter 2 examines the Old and New Testaments to show how human life is grounded in our relationships with God, with our neighbours and with the created world. We must acknowledge our sins when we break these relationships and realize our “tremendous responsibility” towards all of God’s creation
In Integral Ecology : Chapter 4 explores this new paradigm of justice which means “the analysis of environmental problems cannot be separated from the analysis of human, family, work-related and urban contexts”, while solutions must be based on “a preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters”
In Dialogue : Chapter 5, entitled ‘Lines of Approach and Action’ stresses the need for “honest and open debate, so that particular interests or ideologies will not prejudice the common good”. The Church does not presume to settle scientific questions or to replace politics, but it can promote dialogue on global and local governance, transparent decision-making, sustainable use of natural resources, as well as engaging in respectful dialogue with other people of faith and with the scientific world
In Education : Chapter 6 urges schools, families, the media and the churches to help reshape habits and behavior. Overcoming individualism, while changing our lifestyles and consumer choices, can bring much “pressure to bear on those who wield political, economic and social power” causing significant changes in society.
In Ecological Conversion : Chapter 6 also highlights St Francis of Assisi as the model of “a more passionate concern for the protection of our world”, characterized by gratitude and generosity, creativity and enthusiasm
In Spirituality : Finally Chapter 6 and the two concluding prayers show how faith in God can shape and inspire our care for the environment. The Sacraments, the Trinity, the model of the Holy Family and our hope for eternal life can teach, motivate and strengthen us to protect the natural world that God has given us.
(from Vatican Radio)…