Dear Friends in Christ
During my recent holiday in Italy I experienced the intense heat that much of southern Europe has been experiencing these last weeks. On some days it was very uncomfortable to even venture outside. More to the point, many regions are experiencing drought and water rationing. These kind-of conditions may make us appreciative of the more temperate climate in which we live. We have heard all of the arguments about climate change and the importance of care for environment, and whatever the science behind these claims we nonetheless know that we must respect the world around us. There is a wise moral dictum: God always forgives; man sometimes forgives; nature never forgives. It is with this consciousness that Pope Francis wrote his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si in May 2015. Pope Francis has said that the warming of the planet is a symptom of a greater problem: the developed world's indifference to the destruction of the planet as they pursue short-term economic gains. This has resulted in a "throwaway culture" in which unwanted items and unwanted people, such as the unborn, the elderly, and the poor, are discarded as waste. The real problem, according to Pope Francis, lies in the fact that humans no longer see God as the Creator. Thus we see "other living beings as mere objects subjected to arbitrary human domination" and do not realise that "the ultimate purpose of other creatures is not found in us. Pope Francis says that instead of viewing humanity as having "dominion" over the earth, we must see that everything is interconnected and that all of creation is a "kind of universal family”. Nature cannot be seen as something apart from humanity, or merely the place where we live. He says that our social and environmental crises are thus one complex crisis that must be solved holistically.
I am very happy that, in our own way here in the Parish, we try to do all we can to respect the dignity of life and creation. We may only be able to make a small contribution to this scenario but as the saying goes: no drops, no ocean! So I would encourage us all to be ever more conscious of the way we use the resources of the earth. Within the buildings of the church, Parish Centre and Presbytery, we have consciously chosen low-energy lighting and heating to conserve energy. Many people now receive the Newsletter electronically; it ismy hope that eventually we can be a paperless Parish. So please do sign-up for the electronic version of the Newsletter if you are not already a subscriber. Also the Gallery on the Parish website is a facility where we can share images of recent events; and the Parish website in it’s redesigned format is a user-friendly area in which to advertise forthcoming events; please continue to send news and images via the Parish Office (admin@lourdesleigh.org). The Catholic Truth Society are also leading the way here as they have now published hundreds of their booklets as e-books. We can all play our part in the safeguarding of our environment and in making our earthly existence compatible with the vision that God has for us, and which is outlined so forcefully by our Holy Father the Pope.
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Priest@LourdesLeigh.org ✚ 01702 478078
Homily available at LourdesLeigh.org