Having meditated on the two prayers which the Pope has proposed, we now contemplate paragraphs #48 through #52 from “Laudato Si’”. We follow the same steps each day from now on:
- Read what the Pope wrote a first time.
- Read it again, finding and reflecting on a word, phrase or sentence that stands out for you.
- While reading a third time, prayerfully and with a listening heart, tell the Lord in your own words how you feel about what you have just read, and why. Does anything need to change for you, personally?
- Quieten your mind and allow time for silence and the Holy Spirit.
- Finally, pray “A Christian Prayer in Union with Creation”.
Note: The examples given by the Pope here are not far-away, third-world problems. Issues with fishing reserves and drinking water are happening right here, in Canada. Have you personally witnessed any concrete signs and symptoms of ‘deterioration’ or ‘degradation’?
348. The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to causes related to human and social degradation. In fact, the deterioration of the environment and of society affects the most vulnerable people on the planet: “Both everyday experience and scientific research show that the gravest effects of all attacks on the environment are suffered by the poorest”. For example, the depletion of fishing reserves especially hurts small fishing communities without the means to replace those resources; water pollution particularly affects the poor who cannot buy bottled water; and rises in the sea level mainly affect impoverished coastal populations who have nowhere else to go. The impact of present imbalances is also seen in the premature death of many of the poor, in conflicts sparked by the shortage of resources, and in any number of other problems which are insufficiently represented on global agendas.