On World Earth Day, which we celebrate annually on April 22, “Mother Earth” is crying out for help to all of her “children,” all inhabitants of the planet, to urgently care for her and repair the damage that is being done to the earth, which Pope Francis calls “our common home — Our mother is crying out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her.” The earth can indeed be called a “mother,’ as she provides for what we need to live.
Earth Day is a time to appreciate the wonderful gift of planet earth and to commit ourselves, each and everyone around the world, to reassure her survival in the future.
The theme of Earth Day 2022 is “Invest in Our Planet.” Together all nations of the world indeed must invest much more time, effort and resources in our earth to ensure a green, healthy, equitable and prosperous future. More than ever, we need to act boldly, innovate broadly and implement equitably. It is going to take all of us – businesses, governments of the world, churches, schools, all citizens, both the young and the old to accomplish this.
All on planet earth are called to form a partnership for the planet. What unites us in this global partnership is our common humanity and the same basic human needs of all people and of all nations, and our great desire for a peaceful, healthy and safe place to live.
Climate change and global warming caused by human beings cannot be denied. Sadly, each year we see the great numbers of disappearance of plants and animal species that will never be known or seen by our future generations because they have been lost forever.
This is the moment for new zeal and courage to preserve and protect the health of Mother Earth. In accord with the theme of Earth Day we seriously need to ask what will we, what will I, invest to protect and preserve our common home?
It begins in small ways with each person, in our homes and in our families.
Earth Day, I believe, calls us to focus our attention on two major issues to show more care for and repair the damages done to Mother Earth. First, all on planet Earth need to “listen to the cry of Mother Earth” as regards the pressing issue of climate change with global warming and linked to this is a new and lively respect for biodiversity.
Climate change is the critical concern for the very survival of the planet itself. The latest report from the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change points out that the dangers of climate change are mounting so rapidly that they could soon overwhelm the ability of both nature and humanity to adapt, creating a frightening future in which floods, fires, storms and famine displace millions, species disappear, and the planet is then irreversibly damaged.
Pope Francis, when speaking on “the devastation of the environment, that an integral ecology emphasizes human beings are deeply connected with all the creation. When we mistreat nature, we also mistreat human beings at the same time. Every creature has its own intrinsic value that must be respected.”
We also need a deeper and clearer understanding of biodiversity, which is intricately connected to climate change. Earth Day calls for a new and deeper respect for all life on planet Earth, especially human life. Today this respect for the connections of all life is expressed in the term biodiversity. Biodiversity or biological diversity refers to the great wealth of beings who live on planet earth as well as the delicate equilibrium of interdependent and interaction that exists between them and the physical environment that hosts and conditions them.
This biodiversity is translated into different ecosystems of which examples can be found in forests, wetlands, jungles, desserts, coral reefs, mountains, seas and polar zones. Biodiversity is closely linked to human activity and our lifestyle as mentioned already.
Earth Day is a time for all of us, governments of the world, churches, businesses, families and individuals, to seriously ask the question: How can I, we, invest more care and stewardship for all life on the planet. World Earth Day is especially a time of grateful prayer for the wonderful gift of our common home with all its resources and pray for better care for all creation.
We all need to imitate an action plan of some churches and schools for individuals, for children, families and agencies to foster an integral ecology by following a seven-step plan. The seven action steps: Commit to a greater use of renewable energy and reduction of fossil fuels; defend human life from conception to death; endorse ecological economics, such as sustainable production and fair trade; adopt a simple lifestyle and keep clean the portion of earth entrusted to each family and preserve water and avoid pollution; to rethink and redesign ecological education and recover a spiritual vision of God’s creation; and emphasize community involvement. As we listen to the cry of the earth on Earth Day, each one is called by God, by the nature that surrounds us to invest and show mercy to our common home.
Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer, OMI, is bishop emeritus of the Diocese of San Angelo.
