There is a very short
parable in today’s Gospel describing a seed which has fallen on the ground and eventually
dies. It may remain a single seed or it may yield a rich harvest. This concept
of losing what one has to give way to something new and life giving is
frightening for some. We get so attached and lifestyle changes are tough.
In this passage Jesus
knows that his hour has come; this is his crisis moment. But Jesus’ time of
anguish moves from a cry of ‘save me’ to one of glorifying God ‘let it be as You not I would have it’. We
are at an ‘hour’ in terms of climate justice. This is the time where big
decisions and commitments must be made and there is no other option but to opt
for life; to listen to God’s will, not ours. The priorities of wealthy nations
must change, must turn outward and take risks if we are all to experience peace
and security.
We remember the horrendous
storms which battered Ireland last year and which will continue to do so as our
climates change. We are called to be stewards of the earth, ‘everything has been entrusted to our
protection, and all of us are responsible for it’ (Pope Francis).
For us to
be true stewards means campaigning for legislation at national level and
different choices at a personal level.
“I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in
economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: Let us
be protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature,
protectors of one another and of the environment.” Pope Francis.
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