Pope John Paul II told us that all
humans have an “ecological vocation” but he also specifically addressed all who
believe in a Creator God, most especially Catholics, saying:
I should like to address directly my
brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church, in order to remind them of their
solemn obligation to care for all of creation. The commitment of believers to a
healthy environment for everyone stems directly from their belief in God the
Creator, from their recognition of original and personal sin, and from the
certainty of having been redeemed by Christ. Respect for life and for the
dignity of the human person extends also to the rest of creation, which is
called to join humans in praising God….
It is my hope that the inspiration
of St. Francis will help us to keep ever a sense of ‘fraternity’ with all those
good and beautiful things which Almighty God has created. And may God remind us
of our serious obligation to respect and watch over them with care, in the
light of the greater and higher fraternity that exists within the human
family.”
GOD'S GRANDEUR
Gerard Manley Hopkins
The world is charged with the grandeur of God
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not wreck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod . . .
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things. . .
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
