Paul
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The Pressure to Consume
In Laudato Si, Pope Francis speaks of rampant consumerism: Since the market tends to promote extreme consumerism in an effort to sell its products, people can easily get caught up in a whirlwind of needless buying and spending. Do you… Continue reading
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An Ecological Conversion is Needed
In Chapter Six of Laudato Si, Pope Francis speaks powerfully about the need for an “ecological conversion”. “The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast”. For this reason, the ecological crisis is… Continue reading
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Make Change Stick with a System
Last week, I mentioned how Pope Francis was calling to us action on climate change. I also wrote how to go about making public commitments. Now it’s time to convert those commitments into sustained action. But how? Perhaps, it’s time… Continue reading
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Commit to Change!
In Chapter Six of Laudato Si, Pope Francis writes: We are always capable of going out of ourselves towards the other. Unless we do this, other creatures will not be recognized for their true worth; we are unconcerned about caring… Continue reading
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The Ten Green Commandments of Laudato Si
At our July 8th meeting at St John the Evangelist, we watched a wonderfully informative webinar The Ten Green Commandments of Laudato Si. At this link you can view the 90-minute webinar (hint: click on the Watch on Vimeo link… Continue reading
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The Beauty of Nature
In the Introduction of Laudato Si, Pope Francis points to the beauty of nature: 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… Continue reading
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Recycle
In Chapter One of Laudato Si, Pope Francis states: We have not yet managed to adopt a circular model of production capable of preserving resources for present and future generations, while limiting as much as possible the use of non-renewable… Continue reading
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Reconsider
In the Introduction of Laudato Si, Pope Francis makes it clear that he was not the first pope to call attention to environmental destruction: Saint John Paul II became increasingly concerned about this issue. In his first Encyclical he warned… Continue reading
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They Too are Our Neighbors
In Laudato Si, Pope Francis refers to a throw-away culture where we consume things once and then throw them away. He also extends the concept of throw-away to people: The “throwaway culture” has become a pandemic today, and it leaves… Continue reading
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Renew
In Chapter One of Laudato Si, Pope Francis calls our attention to unsustainable energy use and consumption: …a number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon… Continue reading
