LISA’S CATECHISM CORNER
YOUCAT*: We fulfill God’s commission with regard to creation when we care for the earth, with its biological laws, its variety of species, its natural beauty and its dwindling resources, as a living space, and preserve it, so that future generations also can live well on earth. [2415]
I was sitting in a coffee shop on Kauai, watching the palm trees sway in the trades as an occasional rainfall came through. Having recently participated in a webinar on “Laudato Si,” Pope Francis’ encyclical on the care for our common home (earth), I began thinking about how blessed I am to live in Hawaii — a place with clean drinking water, where pollution is minimal, a place where we really do care for each other.
In his encyclical, the pope reminds us that we need to take care of more than just nature — we have to look at all of creation and how our misuse of resources affects people. The pope even gave us some practical suggestions: use less resources, don’t waste food, recycle and reuse, care for other living beings, use public transit and carpool, spend and consume less.
*Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church
Lisa Gomes is the director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry