Fr Dominic at the SDEN Season of Creation Mass, Photo: ICN/JS
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Parish Priest and Chair of the Westminster Justice and Peace Commission gave the following homily at the Farm, Street Church, Mayfair, on Saturday, during the first ever Mass for the Southern Dioceses Environment Network (SDEN) marking the launch in the Season of Creation which runs from now until the Feast of St Francis of Assisi.
What is the point of being a Christian? What do we have to offer the world? Why bother? Many consider Christianity to be something strange to many around us – and so it makes it very difficult to explain why we still go to church, believe in something we cannot explain, follow the ancient cultures and customs and rules – and, even. worse, we are treated with suspicion and hatred, accused sometimes of right hypocrisy and of using the cover of what at least for a minority is still respectability of brainwashing, abuse, sowing bad seeds rather than good.
In the midst of all this the Gospel given to us again this weekend rejects the challenge and challenges us to be better disciples in seemingly unrealistic and unfulfilling ways. Turning your back on family and following through bearing the cross, embracing the suffering of ridicule and adversity, and when it feels like it’s time to pack up to keep going no matter what happens. And the Church is asked to do this in every generation. The context may be different of course. The threat of martyrdom in the midst of persecution in the post-Reformation era is part of our history. The battle to take our place as Catholics and as Christians in our modern society. And now the context of our move to what Pope Francis announced is not a time of change but a change of time in 2013 is different.
I think the Holy Father is right and his next call to action, along with many others around the world, is prophetic and bold. As Christians and as Catholics especially inspired by the social doctrine of the Church, which shapes everything we do, we are called to build the Kingdom in ways that respond to the radical needs of our time. At the core of this, in everything we do as Christians and as citizens, is the call to respond urgently and radically to address the ways in which we abuse our call to be stewards of our God-given creation. The reality of climate change and the throwaway culture that elevates humanity to a God-like status must be challenged and practical steps taken to change the balance of our lives according to an attitude. which brings back a sense of humility and stewardship of the face of God and his gift given to us creatures.
Francis challenges us, to rethink what our faith calls us in the midst of this new crisis: “The climate is a common good, it belongs to all and for all. At the global level, it is a complex system that is involved in many important conditions for human life. A very strong scientific consensus indicates that we are currently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climate system. In recent decades this warming is accompanied by a constant rise in sea level and, it appears, by an increase in extreme weather events, although a scientifically determined cause cannot be assigned to each particular event .Humanity is called to recognize the need for lifestyle changes, production and consumption, to combat this warming or at least the human factors that produce or exacerbate it [this]’. That is why the Churches celebrate this season of Creation, between the Day of Prayer for Creation on the first day of autumn September 1 and the Feast of the famous Saint of Creation Francis of Assisi on October 4. bring us back to the specific call of discipleship today, to call us to refocus on who we are as stewards of God’s gifts, to raise our voices as Christians and to empower us to propose and contribute to solutions.
Dioceses in England and Wales, religious orders, parishes, schools, chapels, activists, property staff, finance, administrators, the People of God are all involved in significant practical projects to do everything we can do, together with civil society, to combat the effects. in the environmental crisis. Practicalities may vary – decarbonization by this or that date, divestment from fossil fuels, green energy, brown energy, Church property, parishioners and clergy energy consumption, transportation – but the important thing is the Church, with all the Church and faith groups and with civil society, we are completely united in this. This is a lynchpin of the call to discipleship today. The call to action gives us a practical, concrete mandate today. And it costs.
I still hear some who may be asking, so what does this have to do with faith? What do I have to do with us? One of the key messages of Laudato Si’ for me is its connection to Francis’ previous document, Fratelli Tutti, All Brothers and Sisters. It is part of a seamless teaching garment. In caring for the planet we care for each other, each of us on earth united as we are made in the image and likeness of God. And the less we take care of our planet the more we contribute to the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the privileged and the abandoned on the edge of the city, on the side of the road. The looming cost of living crisis is being tackled by the Church through increased food banks and homeless services but it’s sticking to the plaster. As the Church we must respond to the call of the Gospel to make a radical rethinking of how we occupy this planet, how we share resources fairly, how we walk humbly and act righteously, and we must say it loud and clear.
So may all our efforts always be rooted in the call to be more true disciples of him. May we take up that cross again today and together respond to that call to be good and faithful stewards who do not count the cost of constant heart conversion in his name.
For more information on the Southern Dioceses Environment Network (SDEN) see: https://westminsterjusticeandpeace.org/season-of-creation-1st-september-4th-october/
