Dear Brothers!
April 22 is Earth Day, on which 175 countries draw attention to the protection of the ecological values of our Earth. On this occasion, the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference draws the attention of the faithful to the responsibility of the Christian for our Earth and our immediate environment.
The protection of the created world is one of the important ideas of the teaching of the Catholic Church, which is more relevant in our time than ever. Pope Francis – who, as the bishop of Rome, took the name of St. Francis of Assisi, who is revered as the patron saint of nature, out of his commitment to the protection of the poor and nature – places particular emphasis on this topic.
In 2015, the Holy Father published his encyclical Laudato Si’ on “care for our common home”, the first paragraph of which reads:
“‘Blessed be you, Lord,'” sang Saint Francis of Assisi. With this beautiful hymn, he reminded us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share life and like a beautiful mother who closes us in her arms: “Blessed be you, Lord, for our mother-sister, who sustains and provides for us, it produces fruits, colorful flowers and grass!”
The first lines of the Holy Father’s encyclical clearly and dignifiedly express the original relationship between the Christian man and nature. However, this relationship has changed in recent centuries, since the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, and our “sister mother earth” has suffered from this. It is time to change and change the world – in the words of the Holy Father: an ecological conversion is needed.
“If “external deserts have multiplied in the world because internal deserts have spread”, the environmental crisis is a call for deep inner conversion. But we also have to admit that there are committed and prayerful Christians who, under the pretext of realism and pragmatism, often laugh at concerns about the environment. Others are passive, do not decide to change their habits and thus become incoherent. They therefore need an ecological conversion, which means that they allow all the consequences of their encounter with Jesus to appear in their relationships with the world around them. Living out the vocation to be defenders of God’s work is an essential part of a virtuous life, it is not an optional task, nor is it a secondary aspect of the Christian experience”.
On the occasion of Earth Day, recalling the Holy Father’s thoughts on the protection of God’s work, it is worth looking around Hungary: in the landscapes, natural values and resources entrusted to us, we can see the miracle of Creation in our immediate environment, in our country. We are surrounded by our waters, farmlands, orchards and forests, proclaiming God’s glory in an inseparable unity and nourishing us all. Forests have a prominent role in this unity, which is not only a living community of invaluable material value, but also the protector of all others, i.e. waters, farmland and people. Where the forest grows, the desert does not spread. The forest protects the purity of the waters, prevents the arable land from becoming unproductive, provides renewable raw materials and energy sources, and provides us with physical and mental renewal in the proximity of nature. The forest protects God’s work, while it is also His creation. So if we follow the guidance of the Holy Father and believe that part of our task and our Christian vocation is to protect natural values as works of God, then we can realize this in the most obvious way in our immediate environment.
But how do we start implementing it? The most important guidance given by Pope Francis: together.
“In order to solve such a complex situation as the world is facing today, it is not enough for each of us to become better individually. Individuals isolated from each other may lose their ability and freedom to overcome the logic of instrumental reason and remain vulnerable to the whims of consumerist thinking without morality and without social and environmental value. Social problems must be answered with a social network, not simply by summarizing individual assets: »The requirements of this task have increased to such an extent that they cannot be fulfilled by individual initiatives and the cooperation of individuals brought up in an individualistic spirit. They require the joining of forces and the unity of implementation”. The ecological conversion necessary to initiate the dynamism of lasting change is also a community conversion”.
The Holy Father invites us to unite, connect, and act together. Just as the trees of the forest together form the forest, we must work together to protect God’s work.
The Hungarian language is beautiful. Just as in the Church we talk about the community of love between people, so the Hungarian scientific language calls a living community a group of living beings living in one place and in a mutually dependent relationship. In this regard, we can also think of the forest as an example, the most complex community of life, which is part and symbol of God’s work: if we take care of them, we can all live out the Holy Father’s call for ecological conversion.
Each of our lives leads us through different spiritual landscapes, our work and profession give us different tasks. However, the commitment to the protection of natural values and forests can connect us. On the occasion of Earth Day, we urge the faithful to live together and realize this great common mission in parish communities, theology groups, prayer circles and spiritual movements: the protection of God’s work, the created world.
For this, we ask for God’s help in the words of Pope Francis:
“Almighty God,
you in the whole universe
but you are also present in your smallest creature,
and surround you with tender love
all that exists.
Pour into us the power of your love,
to preserve life and beauty,
fill us with peace
to live as brothers and sisters,
and let’s not harm anyone!
God of the poor,
help us save them
who live alone and forgotten on this earth,
but who are so precious in your eyes!
Heal our lives
to be protectors of the world,
don’t loot
to be spreaders of beauty,
not of pollution and destruction!
touch their hearts
who only seek profit,
to the detriment of the poor and the earth!
Teach us to discover the value of all things,
to look at them in awe,
to realize that we are in close unity
with all creatures
on our way to your infinite light!
Thank you for being with us every day!
Please help us
for justice, love and peace
in our struggle!”
Budapest, April 17, 2024.
Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Tags: Hungarian Catholic Church Circular Hungarian Catholic Bishops Conference occasion Earth Day
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