Happy Earth Day! Back in 1969, peace activist John McConnell proposed the idea to celebrate a day each year to honor the earth. The first Earth Day was celebrated on March 21, 1970 and later moved to April 22. Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Earth Day is celebrated throughout the world and is a great reminder to take care of this precious gift that God bestowed upon us.
Another anniversary will be celebrated on May 24th: the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis’ amazing encyclical on the environment: Laudato Si. These two anniversaries have a lot in common: they are about humanity coming together to take care of each other and to also take care of our common home: Mother Earth.
Many of us had great plans for Earth Day’s 50th anniversary, but those plans had to be pushed aside while we shelter in place due to Covid-19. But, alas, climate change has not paused during the pandemic. It is still real; in fact many would argue that it is perhaps a dress rehearsal for the catastrophes that will be upon us if we ignore climate change much longer.
The good news is that we can come together and make the appropriate course corrections. We are doing the impossible by almost universally sheltering in place, practicing social distancing, and good hygiene. Suddenly governments are able to find the money that was not there to deal with the Covid emergency.
So it’s clear that we can address climate change. The question remains, however, whether we will take it seriously before it is too late.
For ideas on what you can do to address climate change, please see prior columns or visit https://www.earthday.org/.
Working together, we can help take care of our common home.
Paul Litwin
Saint Francis of Assisi at St John the Evangelist 