The more we love Planet Earth the more we will reverence and protect our natural environment. The more we love Planet Earth, the more we will be aware that we are part of a universe that is evolving thanks to the incarnate love-energy of our Creator-God.
Our Creator-God can be painted in many colours – the colours of humanity, of earth, sky and sea, of every tiny and cosmic moment of all creation. God-made-Creation, God-made-flesh, God-made-bread, God-made-everything (see Rom 1: 20).
The more we love Planet Earth the more we will reverence and protect our natural environment. The more we love Planet Earth, the more we will be aware that we are part of a universe that is evolving thanks to the incarnate love-energy of our Creator-God.
Our Creator-God can be painted in many colours – the colours of humanity, of earth, sky and sea, of every tiny and cosmic moment of all creation. God-made-Creation, God-made-flesh, God-made-bread, God-made-everything (see Rom 1: 20).
The heaven we long for is not in the future. It lies at our feet, at our fingertips, in what our eyes see, and our tongue taste. Our world is not just a useful resource which supplies us with food, a place we can exploit, and then leave behind as we head for heaven. Planet Earth is a living, breathing, precious entity to be cherished daily.
This new awareness means we are inter-connected with all creation – the air we breathe, the trees of the forest, the flowers of the field, the mountains and rivers. We see that their diminishment is our diminishment, their destruction our destruction. Creation’s beauty and harmony, creation’s chaos and power inspire our poetry, our art, and our spiritual lives with a sense of wonder (See Daniel O’Leary, An Astonishing Secret, 2017).
Samoa with its population of around 200,000, celebrated its 60th anniversary of Independence this year. To celebrate this, the Catholic Church, seeking to implement Laudato Si’, invited us to plant trees and shrubs in all church grounds.
The SMSM Sisters asked retired women to visit different villages, and invite people to recognise the damage we’re doing to Planet Earth. They’re using strong language – the earth is really crying, it’s hurting and it’s being poisoned, it is like a rubbish tip. Other groups have been formed to teach our people about care of the environment. The media too is doing a wonderful job informing and educating us on care of Planet Earth so that the future generations will have a healthy and life giving environment.
We recognise we need to care for our environment so that it sustains future generations. We are grateful for Laudato Si’ which helps us see what being an RNDM Earth Community asks of us.
Thank you, God, for your beauty and love revealed in all creation.
Thank you Losa
Losa, what a meaningful and powerful reflection; “our God can be painted in many colours…” The photo recalls for me the couple of times that I was privileged to visit your very green and beautiful country. Life is blooming in the photo of the three of you working together.
Thank you Losa for your beautiful reflection, and for sharing your growing awareness of how we are all “inter-connected with all creation”. Thank you also for your work in planting & gardening, and for “giving flesh” to the insights of Laudato Si. From the south to the north, RNDMs are increasingly becoming advocates of Earth. And learning how to let Earth advocate for us.
I feel so encouraged after reading your piece, Losa. You have given such a beautiful example of people in Samoa putting words of Laudato Si’ into positive action. I see this as “love revealed” too.