Eastertide week 7 year B, Act 20, 17-27; Jn17, 1-11
We approach the end of the Acts of the Apostles which culminates in the death of Paul in Rome. Although Paul is fully aware of his fate, he does not give up and continues to preach and spread the gospel in Rome for 2 years while under house arrest. He gives the impression that spreading the gospel both sustained and gave purpose to his life and that he could not live without doing it. Obviously he did not dwell on his impending death; did not stop living his life; did not give up. He was not just existing but living life to the full.
This week we celebrate the 6th anniversary of Pope Francis’s Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ about the Care for Creation. Today we live in a time of Climate emergency because of the thoughtless abuse with which we have treated creation. We could look at the future and just give up, believing that we can do very little to stop creation moving into self-destruct mode, and us with it. Or, we can be like Paul and make every effort we can to live more simply, be less wasteful, use cleaner energy, recycle and reuse wherever possible. We can do very little to change things on our own but together anything and everything is possible. There was a saying: “Save the pennies and the pounds will save themselves!” If you saved 0.01 (100th) of a unit of electricity a week along side a million other people you would be saving 10,000 units. Individually, we cannot save the planet but together we can. However small the help given, it will always make a difference.
Show Mercy to our Common Home
Despite our sins and the daunting challenges before us, we never lose heart. “The Creator
does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us…
for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love constantly impels us to find
new ways forward.” (Laudato Si’, 13; 245).
“O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
who are so precious in your eyes…
God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth.” (ibid., 246),
God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness
and convey your mercy throughout our common home.
Praise be to you! Amen.
by Fr Thomas O'BRIEN a.a
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