Listen to the voice of creation”
Gospel 11. September 2022   
Luke 15: 1-10

Today’s Gospel tells of two brothers who so nor have a very good relationship with each other. The one son “squandered his wealth, which his father entrusted to him, in a life of debauchery” until he has nothing left and is confronted with a famine. Only then does he come to his senses.
This text reminds us of the waste of the earth’s limited resources. We have used and abused the earth’s resources with greed, putting “self” at the center and making ourselves the absolute masters all of creation. The annual “World Creation Day” reminds us that we live on renewable resources in the first half of the year but waste the inheritance of future generations in the second half.

Reflections:

-The consequences of wasteful living
We are now beginning to see the consequences of this wasteful way of life as our world faces numerous environmental crises. We have squandered our heritage and the heritage of future generations. Our lack of wisdom and our overconsumption have led to a massive extinction of animal and plant species. The oceans levels are rising, the rainforests are being destroyed, and the climate is producing extreme weather conditions. We are producing huge piles of garbage and filling the oceans with deadly plastic.
While this is the result of our lifestyle, the consequences of our actions are mostly borne by our brothers and sisters in other parts of our common home. They live in poverty, are becoming homeless, lack food and clean water, cannot afford a good education for their children. They are our brothers and sisters, members of our human family.

Can we still come to our senses in time?

Like the younger son in the parable, we can “come to our senses” today, repent and make a new start. The effects of the current imbalance can only be reduced by our decisive action here and now. Each of us can do something, each of us has a role to play in bringing healing to our common home. We should ask our common Father for forgiveness, commit ourselves to living according to our vocation to be custodians of God’s work and to come to our senses regarding our wasteful way of living. Pope Francis encourages us that we should never underestimate the power of small actions to have a ripple effect in a community. (LS 180). In this Season of Creation, we are invited to heed this call to listen to the voice of creation and recognize where we are called to act, in our personal lifestyles, in our own homes, and in our local communities, to take better care of our common home.

– God showed me a small thing, as big as a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand.
I looked at it and asked myself, “What might this be?” And I was answered:
“It is the whole creation.”
I wondered how it could endure, for I thought it would suddenly disintegrate, so small was it. And I was answered, “It endures and will always endure, for God loves it.”
In that little hazelnut I saw three truths:
First, that God made it; second, that God loves it; and third, that God preserves it. cf. Julian of Norwich