Our Responsibility for All God’s Creation

(Prayer offered on the Public Address system and the school-wide intranet for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Thursday morning, 9 May 2019)

Let us remember that we are in the Holy Presence of God.

Symbols are signs that can be very powerful reminders of the values we hold dear and even communicate the core truths of who we are and what we believe. Take for instance our own American flag, signifying our core values of liberty and justice for all, as well as the great sacrifice that so many men and women have made to defend those values.

As Christians, and Catholics in particular, there is no greater symbol than the crucifix.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ laying down His life for us is the ultimate sign of God’s unconditional love for each and every one of us.

And as the springtime rolls around in New England, even the robin is a sign that the doldrums of winter have passed and new life and warmth is on its way…

This morning I would like to reflect on another symbol in line with our celebration of the Lasallian Tercentenary…Hopefully you are viewing this symbol in your homerooms now.

The green watering can represents the green life of our planet. And the water represents the source of life on our planet. Anyone who knows me knows I have the opposite of a green thumb…But whether or not we are gifted in the art of gardening or not, we all have the ability, and responsibility, to care for our common home, planet Earth.

In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate or “Charity in Truth”, Pope Benedict XVI puts it this way:

“The environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole…In nature, the believer recognizes the wonderful result of God’s creative activity, which we may use responsibly to satisfy our legitimate needs…while respecting the intrinsic balance of creation. If this vision is lost, we end up…abusing creation and all God’s creatures, including ourselves…which is not in line with the Christian vision of nature as the fruit of God’s creation. Nature expresses a design of love and truth.”

Love and truth. God is love and God is truth. His love and truth is embedded in all of Creation, including within each and every one of us. Today, let us seek God’s grace to help us change our attitude and outlook toward creation and toward one another. May we strive to be responsible citizens of Earth that we may prepare ourselves to be joyful children of our Heavenly Father.

Let us pray,

Dear God, help us to cultivate grateful hearts for the wonders of creation. Inspire us to take responsibility to care for our planet through conscious consumerism and a simplistic way of life. May we see with eyes of faith the miracle of Your handiwork in ourselves, in one another, and in all of creation.

Saint John Baptist de La Salle…Pray for us.

Live Jesus in our Hearts…Forever.

Anthony Russo–Campus Minister

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