What’s been the number one topic of discussion this year? The presidential election? The Olympics? The war in Ukraine or Gaza? No, it’s the weather.
The weather has impacted our lives drastically in just these last few years. Wildfires and flooding has claimed lives and property, leaving many homeowners scrambling to find insurance companies that will underwrite their policies. Droughts are causing crops to fail and soaring prices on feed and seed affect the meat and vegetables we are able to put on our dinner table.
Weather, it seems, just got personal.
But will that be enough to motivate people to do something about it? After all, Qoheleth writing in the Book of Ecclesiastes proclaimed, “There is nothing new under the sun.”
And it would seem that American author and essayist Charles Dudley Warner would have agreed.
“Everyone talks about the weather,” he said, “but no one does anything about it.”
A pithy comment, but not quite true…
Next year will be the tenth anniversary of Laudato si, Pope Francis’ encyclical letter on the Care of Creation in which he calls for systemic change in our approach to energy production and consumption or else the planet (i.e., all of creation) would bear the consequences of our selfishness and short-sightedness.
The letter provoked much discussion -- but limited action – so that last year, when he penned, Laudato deum, Pope Francis declared that climate change had been upgraded to a climate ‘crisis’. He challenged all of us to be environmental stewards, doing what we personally can to reduce our carbon footprint and put pressure on our governments to take action globally before it was too late.
In response, religious groups and others come together on September 1 each year, to celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. This date marks the kickoff for the month long celebration of the Season of Creation (Sept. 1 – Oct. 4), a time to share what progress has been made in regards to promoting a healthy ecology and the slowing of climate change on our planet.
In caring for our planet, we are encouraged to emulate our patrons of ecology: St. Francis of Assisi (in divesting ourselves of ‘stuff’ and living more simply) and St. Kateri Tekakwitha, who did not allow her limitations (poor eyesight and illiteracy) to keep her from experiencing the beauty and wisdom of God in his creation as she walked 200 miles through the forests of upstate New York to Canada.
I’ve included a few simple ideas/steps to get us started thinking in the right direction:
• Do a ‘plastics inventory’. Record everything you use that’s made of plastic. Is there a way that you can reduce their usage? Perhaps reuse bottles or forks, knives and spoons?
• Take notice of ‘packaging’ of things you buy. Everything that is not the ‘product’ is destined for the landfill. Can you be more intentional in your purchasing -- buying only those things that come in biodegradable containers? Use glass, paper or other recyclable products whenever possible.
• Promote bee gardens and birdhouses to bring life to urban deserts (aka, cement and asphalt covered neighborhoods).
• Additional resources can be found at the U.S. Bishops Season of Creation website.
However we choose to act, Pope Francis asks us to commit ourselves to being good stewards of the environment, using the ‘gift’ of weather to engage others about whether our fragile ecosystem will survive without our taking personal, decisive action -- so that we and our children’s children will not only survive but thrive.
John De Gano is a deacon at St. Catherine of Alexandria parish in Riverside.