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Laudato Si Action Platform
23 February 2021
09:00
Dumelang, Molweni, Sanibonani, Gooie More, Good Morning, I am Berni Crewe-Brown and today we are going to share the latest action emerging through The Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development regarding the Special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year
The Laudato Si Week 2020 included many events from webinars to prayer services, and presentations from Laudato Si specialists all over the world.
The Laudato Si Anniversary Year began on 24th May 2020 during Laudato Si Week and ends on 24th May 2021. The Laudato Si Common Care for our Common Home group worked with the Dicastery. The Dicastery hopes that the anniversary year and the ensuing decade will indeed be a time of grace, a true Kairos experience, and “Jubilee” time for the Earth, and for humanity, and for all God’s creatures.
Our prayer today will be in song - the Laudato Si Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi's - Canticle of Creation. by Kevin Lundy.
And then let the important messages in the word of St John in Chapter 15 verses 1 -17 flow through you followed by Pope Francis words in Verse 245 from Laudato Si'.
John 15: 1-17
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me?
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Laudato Si 245
God, who calls us to generous commitment and to give him our all, offers us the light and the strength needed to continue on our way. In the heart of this world, the Lord of life, who loves us so much, is always present. He does not abandon us, he does not leave us alone, for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love constantly impels us to find new ways forward. Praise be to him! (Laudato Si' 245. )
UNPACKING THE LAUDATO SI' ACTION PLATFORM
Take heed of that very well-known and important passage from St John.
‘Abide in me as I will abide in you’
is one of the noticeably clear, repeated requests from Jesus. We hear that a life lived in union or should I say Communion with Jesus echoes His own desires as this union is in harmony with the Father’s will. And in this passage, he, may I say, guarantees that our commitment to this union will result in our petitions and prayers to God Our Father being heard and answered. Pope Francis throughout Laudato Si but particularly in verse 245 acknowledges this calling to abide in Jesus Christ and encourages us to give ourselves completely, without reservations, in order to receive the light and strength to continue this path of an ecological conversion toward the light at the end of the conversion funnel which is an Integral Ecology.
The Ash Wed Mass I went to last week was offered up for a daughter, a father, and a mother who were all laid to rest last Saturday. The remaining daughter was part of the congregation and my heart went out to her for having to lay her Mother, Father, and Sister to rest. I know of a lot more sad stories, I have lost a friend to COVID 19. I am sure that everyone listening here today knows someone or has their own pain because of someone close who has succumbed to the pandemic. And I need to acknowledge the suffering from the loss of so many loved ones to other diseases of our time, particularly from Cancer. And we are all witness to the sufferings of the poor and hungry.
We acknowledge these sufferings but we also need to observe, see and listen to the earth that is Suffering and dying in many areas.
Pope Francis,, during the Extraordinary Prayer Service in Time of Epidemic, 27 March 2020. held in Saint Peter’s Square on 27 March 2020 to implore the end of the pandemic, urged us “to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing.
It is not the time of God’s judgment but of our own judgment: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives back on track with regard to Our Lord God, and each other.
The anniversary year began with the Laudato Si’ Week 2020, has been proceeded with several initiatives, realized in partnership and with a clear emphasis on “ecological conversion” in “action”
In these difficult times, which will definitively change the society in which we live, we are called to care for one another, to avoid shielding ourselves in selfishness, to promote and defend human life from conception until its natural end, to offer adequate medical care for all, to foster international solidarity, to combat the throwaway culture, to study, to build together new and fairer economic and financial systems, and to commit ourselves to dialogue, peace, rejection of violence and war.
The crisis we are experiencing shows the undeniable importance, nearly 6 years after its publication, of the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ (LS), which Pope Francis wrote on care for our common home, teaching us how everything is connected. We can no longer be indifferent to the sufferings of the poorest and to the exploitation of our common home. This is a point clearly made in the Encyclical: “These situations have caused sister earth, along with all the abandoned of our world, to cry out, pleading that we take another course. Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. Yet we are called to be instruments of God our Father, so that our planet might be what he desired when he created it, and correspond with his plan for peace, beauty and fullness” (LS 53).
In this context, the so-called ecological crisis becomes a propitious moment for conversion and for concrete decisions that can no longer be postponed. It summons us to an interdisciplinary and operational dialogue at every level, from the local to the international. It calls for an educational process aimed at an integral formation of conscience.
Health and social crises amplify the ecological and moral crisis highlighted in the content of Laudato Si. We live the experience of the fragility of our bodies in our relationships in our care practices - the way we take care of others and the earth. the way that we perceive and experience economic and social development. The reality of this produces fear and anxiety for the future. Members of the local community from the Social and Political leaders - memories, recollections, pains, sorrows and hopes of the young and elderly. For the young to dream about tomorrow’s world, we need the elderly to dream about the present world.
We are called to highlight practical ways to implement Laudato Si. We must be touched by what we see what we hear and what we share.
Looking and letting ourselves be touched by an earth that is suffering.
Suffering and disruption caused by human activities
Meeting a growing human community that has been wounded by growing inequalities and increasingly profound conflict.
Do we Contemplate the beauty that has been entrusted to us through God’s love?
Observe
Look
Contemplate
Remember
This process cannot be rushed and is not straightforward.
So Jesus said these words to his apostles who were keeping children away from him. Jesus said: "Suffer little children to come unto me". This song was a favourite First communion hymn but it became unpopular for quite a number of years as many people felt that it was not right to use the suffering of little children at the celebration of the sacrament of Holy Communion. But I feel it so relevant to today –
The Laudato Si Appeal "LISTEN to Cry Of the Poor and the Cry Of the Earth' should not make us more fearful but rather propose a path of conversion
But we all need to continue the journey with a change in gear in the way we are following the path is outlined in the LS letter and this new document. Witnesses are needed.
Who are these witnesses, Stakeholders in economic and political life?
As part of this year’s anniversary activities, a “Laudato Si’ Action Platform” will also be launched, with various institutions committing to a 7-year project aimed at reaching total sustainability in the spirit of Laudato SI'.
The initiative is designed to involve families, dioceses and local parishes, schools, colleges and universities, hospitals and other healthcare centres, businesses, farms, and religious orders and provinces in drafting plans for sustainable living going forward.
Among the goals of the platform, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, are adopting simpler lifestyles and developing “ecological economics” based on sustainable production, fair trade, using less plastic and adopting a more plant-based diet to reduce meat consumption, as well as a broader use of public transport in order to reduce pollution.
According to their communique, the Vatican’s development office intends to launch the platform in early 2021 by inviting several institutions to begin the 7-year project. The following year, they will encourage a new group to join, with the hope of doubling the number of entities committing to the 7-year plan.
“In this way we are planning to grow a Laudato Si’ inspired network that continues to expand and grow exponentially each year,” they said, noting that this initiative will continue for each consecutive year of the new decade, with the goal of arriving at the “critical mass” needed in order to lead a “radical societal transformation” inspired by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’.
A series of “Laudato Si’ awards” will also be created and dolled out from 2021 onwards in order to “encourage and promote concerted individual and communitarian action for the care of our common home, and to acknowledge some of the best practices in this regard.”
These awards will be given to families, global leaders, educational institutes, schools and universities, parishes, dioceses, religious communities, movements, and businesses, as well as a range of other individuals and entities in a bid to encourage environmental best-practices.
In a special prayer drafted for the 5th anniversary of Laudato Si’, it is asked that God
“open our minds and touch our hearts,”
so that humanity may adequately care for the needs of creation.
“Help us to be conscious that our common home belongs not only to us, but to all of your creatures and to all future generations, and that it is our responsibility to preserve it,” the pray asks that each person secure only the amount of food and resources that they need, and no more.
It asks God to be close to the poor and that He inspire greater solidarity in addressing the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. It also asks that humanity will be given the courage “to embrace the changes that are needed in search of the common good.”
“Enable us to listen and respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor,” it says, asking that, “the present sufferings be the birth pangs of a more fraternal and sustainable world.”
This foot-tapping or get up and dance version of the Laudato Si Prayer was given to Radio veritas by the Men in Christ group. I have to say it resonates deep within me. I can’t keep still when I listen to it. Makes me think this was Saint Francis’ way to get us up and active. If singing is considered praying twice – dancing and singing must be a multiplication of that? Sing a line…..
REFLECTION AND MEDITATION:
Last week I asked if anyone wants to join the Cape Town Future Lifestyles research study and I also offered my support to help with the practical environment commitments that you might wish to take so here are my details to contact me.
Berni Crewe-Brown cell no: 0828555582 and we can connect on a WhatsApp or Signal and I am on Facebook but please mention Laudato Si for me to acknowledge you, Or my email address is bcb.laudatosi@gmail.com. Or else contact Radio Veritas .
We need to grow in our Laudato Si Action and it can only start when we all link up together. I would love to hear what you are doing and what your parishes and diocese are doing in relation to the ecological crisis. So please share your initiatives and action with me? It is always exhilarating to hear that so many people are already ecological citizens hearing Pope Francis’ call. Lets do this together and what an opportune time to do – now in Lent and working towards the 2021 Laudato Si week. If you are able to organise a Celebration of the sacrament of Holy Mass in creation, I will send you guidelines on how to accomplish it.
In Africa, during this Anniversary year celebration, there have been many noticably informative webinar’s, including the The Eco-spirituality webinar by Brother Terry Dowling –the Kenyan and the South African celebration of Holy Mass in Creation,
there were prayer services, seasonal retreats, and Ecumenical events that included beach and public area clean ups organised by our youth in the Together4Creation group
and we look forward to some more zoom webinars, prayer services and Holy Mass Celebrations as we head towards this year’s Laudato Si week. Open the links to these events by clicking on the underlined phrases,
Have you become more sensitive and aware of your own carbon footprint in relation to Sustainable Cities since last week
People in Cape Town can still join the Future Lifestyle study. This study calls for collaboration and support so I am available to help you and you can help me too. If you are not in Cape Town and wish to start a programme to improve your ecological foot print, you are all most welcome to feed your results to me as well. Here are some suggestions that Pope Francis recommends in Laudato Si
start a food garden and a home compost heap
engage with shop owners and retail stores who are using plastic with no regard,
pick up litter in campaigns or just when you see it lying around. Make Eco-bricks
Eat local and seasonal fresh food and drinks.
Cut down on red meat consumption,
buy second hand rather than new.
Use your own to go coffee mug when buying coffee,
Join the many Lenten reflection groups and the one I will recommend now is the GCCM #Laudatosilent. Find it on the Catholic Cimate Movement. Global website.
Everything does not needs to happen at once. Changing habits takes time and transitions are most durable when each piece of change has settled in people’s everyday life. Share your attempt with your family and friends and feed it back to me if you like.
And include hearing the cry of the poor – a major part of the rhythm of city life.
The best and most important way to make a change is to pause and reflect and pray. Open yourselves up to Jesus who is beside you and in you if you have invited him. As we just listen to the sound of nature for a few minutes, let Jesus talk to you, feel the holy spirit and use your Lenten reflection to help in your decision to change your habits into virtues.
I am going to end with the pray of Father Brother Ben Ayodi of the African GCCM branch said during the weekly stations of the cross which take place every Friday afternoon at 3 pm on the GCCM Africa FB Page.
Lord Jesus, open our eyes and our hearts to your passion and death still going on around us. Help us to see that you are condemned to death over again in the extinction of species; that the weight of the cross you sill carry is our over consumerism and throwaway culture; that you are still dying with the victims of extreme weather, war, conflict and our indifference. As your passion continues throughout history and the world, give us the confidence and courage to be like those who comforted you on your way to the cross – Veronica, Simon of Cyrene, Joseph of Arimethea and your Blessed Mother. We ask this in your name Jesus Christ. Amen.
My humble and grateful thanks to Radio Veritas for this valuable platform to grow Laudato Si in the Catholic world and further to all people on Earth. a special thank you Kgothatso, Qenesa, Kananelo, and Khanya for today’s show and I look forward to being together with you next week Tuesday 2 March at 09:00 for our next Laudato Si Journey on Caring for Our Common Home on Radio Veritas The Good News for a Change.