by Mary Southard, CSJ

And it is Earth! Our beautiful, fragile nourishing planet. We in the Midwest have been blessed with a beautiful and abundant spring and summer; and now a vibrant, fragrant and colorful autumn. We are lavished with love.

During these months we have come to recognize ever more clearly, that Earth is in our hands. We humans have developed powers which are destroying Earth’s life systems and ours, and the future depends on our present choices. Soon the world’s leaders will gather in Paris for the UN Climate Action Conference. (November 30—December 11 2015). Our lives and the future of our Earth depends on what will be decided there.

In my August blog I referred to a letter sent by the French government through its diplomatic channels to all who would be participating in the Summit to prepare by reflecting on ONE question, “WHY DO I CARE?” If you do this “you will come…primarily as a conscious human being, not just a representative of a government agency…” And we invited ourselves to reflect on this one question also. Thank you to those who did that and shared their responses with me! Here are two of them:

“If I see Earth’s beauty as a revelation of the wonder of our God, how can I not care? If I see the symbiotic interplay of Earth’s systems as the embodiment of God’s call to loving relationship, how can I not care? If I see the 14 billion year unfolding of life and consciousness, how can I not care?” —Len Stroka

MaryBeth Tank Buschmann’s watercolors feel like a spontaneous and generous outpouring of her love for Earth. They are filled with such beauty and wonder and freshness. They reminded me of how important it is that we “fall in love again” with Earth. How we are made for beauty! For relationship! For love!

Earth’s future and well-being is in human hands now. This month, let us join our actions and prayers with the millions of grass roots people all over the world, folks like us who are actively engaged making known to our leaders their hope–that this Climate Change Summit will be a coming together of a community of nations. Let us join our energies with theirs that the delegates in Paris have the courage to make the wise choices necessary for the healing and care of our Common Home. Pope Francis urges such global cooperation in LAUDATO SI: “Enforceable international agreements are urgently needed… Relations between states must be respectful of each other’s sovereignty but must also lay down mutually agreed upon means of averting regional disasters which would eventually affect everyone. Global regulatory norms are needed to impose obligations and prevent unacceptable actions.” (173)

You and I? How can we be part of this crucial moment? In the “field” of Earth’s Oneness everything and everyone is intimately interconnected! And each bit WE do, think, learn, pray, hope for, work for . . . makes a difference:

  1. Visit Catholic Climate Covenant to find ways to direct your prayer, action, energy in behalf of our Common Home.
  2. Click here for everything you need to know about the climate change summit.
  3. Join with others in the Global Climate March, November 18 and 19.
  4. Or gather your own little group for ritual or action.

WE hold a TREASURE and each of us matters!