Pursuing the Common Good
for Our Common Home
WHAT IS EARTH DAY?
Earth Day is a secular celebration that many faith communities have incorporated into their annual calendars for awareness and action. Friday, April 22, 2022, marks the 52nd anniversary of Earth Day. This year, the secular Earth Day theme is “Investing in Our Planet” and our Catholic Climate Covenant program complements that Earth Day theme.
A Prayer for Our Earth
- Pope Francis, Laudato Si
All-powerful God,
you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor
and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.
Readings
READING 1
[The] common good is to be understood [as] “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.” The common good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from those who exercise the office of authority.
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1906
READING 2
Working for the common good requires us to promote the flourishing of all human life and all of God’s creation. In a special way, the common good requires solidarity with the poor who are often without the resources to face many problems, including the potential impacts of climate change. Our obligations to the one human family stretch across space and time. They tie us to the poor in our midst and across the globe, as well as to future generations. The commandment to love our neighbor invites us to consider the poor and marginalized of other nations as true brothers and sisters who share with us the one table of life intended by God for the enjoyment of all.
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), 2001, #25.
READING 3
Integral ecology is a key concept in chapter four of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment. It flows from his understanding that “everything is closely related” and that “today’s problems call for a vision capable of taking into account every aspect of the global crisis.” … Human ecology, Pope Francis argues, cannot be separated from the notion of the common good, which he calls “a central and unifying principle of social ethics.” Quoting Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, he defines the common good as “the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.”… For Pope Francis it is obvious that “where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common good immediately becomes, logically and inevitably, a summons to solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters.”
Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J. NCR Aug 27, 2015
Earth Day 2022 Video
Reflection Questions
- Why is the concept of the common good so central to Catholic social teaching and to our understanding on how we live our faith as a community?
- How are the concepts of integral ecology and the common good raised in the video segment about the Economy of Francesco? Can you think of examples of the common good and integral ecology in your life and in the life of your community?
Suggested Actions
1) Action Alert on Climate Action
U.S. Senators are considering substantive climate provisions in budget legislation. Catholic Climate Covenant and our partners have launched “Encounter for Our Common Home,” a coalition-wide advocacy campaign. By signing this Action Alert, you can send a letter to your senators, inviting them to support climate solutions from a place of faith and reason. This Action Alert is a critical part of the Encounter for Our Common Home campaign, which includes trainings and community-building efforts for encounters with U.S. Senators in May. You are invited to sign this Alert now and join this transformational effort.
2) Personal Sustainability Commitment
What are 4 things you care about and make a personal commitment to act upon. it. Listen to the cry of the Earth and the Cry of the poor (hunger, poverty, deforestation, climate change, biodiversity, etc.) then write a personal sustainability commitment - use the graphic below to assist you.
Personal Sustainability Commitment
Closing Prayer
God of all,
Creator and ruler of the universe,
You entrusted your world to us as a gift.
Help us to care for it and all people,
that we may live in right relationship–
with You,
with ourselves,
with one another,
and with creation.
God of all,
Creator and ruler of the universe,
You entrusted your world to us as a gift. Help us to care for it and all people,
that we may live in right relationship–
with You,
with ourselves,
with one another,
and with creation.
Holy Spirit,
giver of wisdom and love,
You breathe life in us and guide us. Help us to live according to your vision,
stirring to action the hearts of all— individuals and families,
communities of faith,
and civil and political leaders.
Triune God,
help us to hear the cry of those in poverty, and the cry of the earth,
so that we may together care for our common home.
Amen.
- U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops
No comments:
Post a Comment