Second Sunday of Lent

We are all called to look at the profoundness and greatness of our Creator, the Alpha and Omega.

The radiance of God is shown with Moses and Elijah. The never ending glory unfolds. All of us are told to be brave, not to be afraid – chosen to lead, from suffering to glory.

God’s amazing creation shows how great the Umoved Mover and the Uncaused Caused is. However, Pope Francis said, “If we destroy creation, creation will destroy us.”

In the Church document, Pacem in Terris, Blessed Pope Paul VI also said: “Due to an ill-considered exploitation of nature, humanity runs the risk of destroying it and becoming in turn a victim of this degradation.”

Pope Francis now calls for ecological conversion, our own Transfiguration. In his encyclical Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home, number 218, he says:

“In calling to mind the figure of Saint Francis of Assisi, we come to realize that a healthy relationship with creation is one dimension of overall personal conversion, which entails the recognition of our errors, sins, faults and failures, and leads to heartfelt repentance and desire to change.”

And in number 219, Pope Francis declares that “ecological conversion needed to bring about lasting change is also a community conversion.” Which calls for a number “of attitudes which together foster a spirit of generous care, full of tenderness.”, outlined in number 220: “Gratitude and gratuitousness”… “a recognition that the world is God’s loving gift, and that we are called quietly to imitate his generosity in self-sacrifice and good works”…; and “loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion.”

Pope Francis further suggests that “By developing our individual, God-given capacities, an ecological conversion can inspire us to greater creativity and enthusiasm in resolving the world’s problems and in offering ourselves to God “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable” (Rom 12:1).”

So, don’t be afraid to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. Ecological conversion is spiritual conversion.

Let us all pray:

“God of love, show us our place in this world

as channels of your love

for all the creatures of this earth,

for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.”

Help us to protect all life, to prepare for a better future,

for the coming of your Kingdom

of justice, peace, love and beauty.

Praise be to you!

Amen.” (Laudato Si’, 246)