There are many things that we can do in our homes that are signs of our caring for creation. A good first step is to talk with your family about their concerns for creation and decide upon things you can do to help heal the Earth. There are no efforts too small or too insignificant. You are probably already taking some action to help nurture and care for creation, like participating in your town’s recycling program and turning off lights, computers, and electronic appliances when not in use. But there are other things you may consider too.

Eco-Friendly Products – Using eco-friendly cleaning products in your home reduces your family’s exposure to toxic substances and lowers the amount of toxins entering the local water system.  Look for products that are biodegradable and do not contain solvents and phosphates. Learn more about the harm that conventional household cleaning products can do to the Earth and to your family’s health. See the following websites or do your own search on the internet:

• http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article279.cfm
• http://green.wikia.com/wiki/Toxins in Household Cleaning Products
• http://life.gaiam.com/article/whats-so-bad-about-chemical-cleaning-products

Most supermarkets carry some eco-friendly or natural cleaning products. Be sure to read the labels for what the products contain. The best and most reliable products for not damaging the Earth or your health are produced by companies like: Seventh Generation, Earth Friendly, Sun and Earth, Mrs. Meyers, Gaiam, SimpleGreen, Method, and Ecover.

Reusuable Products – Manufacturing products such as paper towels, napkins, and paper and plastic bags requires natural resources, and their disposal adds to environmental waste and pollution. Use paper towels sparingly and replace them by using cloth towels to clean up around the kitchen. Use cloth napkins for family meals and try to limit the use of paper napkins. Whether paper or plastic, stop using disposable bags when shopping; use reusable bags instead.

Energy Review – Walk through your home to conduct your own energy “audit.” You can find suggestions at www.energysavers.gov. Adding insulation and sealing windows and doorways will keep your home warmers and save energy thereby reducing costs and carbon emissions. Use energy-efficient light bulbs and when purchasing appliances, choose energy-efficient ones. Change to a renewable energy supplier through PSE&G or O&R. It is easy, the cost is about the same and it makes a big difference for the environment.

Water Conservation – Clean, potable water is becoming increasingly scarce in the Unit3ed States and especially worldwide. There are ways that we can save water. Try taking shorter showers. Be sure to run the dishwasher only when it is full. And don’t water your lawn as often.

Heat Control – Turning down the heat just a few degrees not only conserves energy, it reduces carbon emissions and saves money. Similarly, you may consider washing clothes in cold water to save heat as well.

Explore and search the internet for many more ideas for how you and your family can care more for creation and help create a more sustainable environment for ourselves and future generations.  Here are some websites:

• http://ecosimply.com
• http://www.practicalenvironmentalist.com
• http://www.supergreenme.com
• http://globsalstewards.org
• http://www.caring-planet.com

Questions for Discussion:

1. What are some of your own personal practices and suggestions you find most effective for caring for creation?

2. What other recommendations would you add to the list above?

3. Has the reading of this booklet helped you to become more aware of the religious and moral implications of caring for Mother Earth?

Tempting as it may be to begin by creating a list of possible activities what is really of major importance is raising the consciousness of parishioners to the environmental issues and challenges of our times. Before “doing something” we need facts. We need to be educated in understanding how intimately we are connected with Mother Earth. At the same time, we need to recognize that we are also the very ones who are contributing to the devastation of her vital resources. 

We need to be formed in new attitudes and behavior patterns for sustaining a healthy and viable Earth. Parishioners would begin to recognize that protecting the environment is a religious matter that has moral and ethical implications. Only then will we see that we have moral responsibilities for taking specific actions. Such initiatives will involve us personally as individuals and as members of a parish community. Caring for God’s good Earth is part and parcel of our Catholic faith.

Education will include different approaches for becoming more informed about environmental issues and new ways of sharing that information with one another. Many worthwhile resources are available today on the internet, as well as attractive and well-researched films, DVDs, and study programs for parishes and appropriate sharing discussion materials for Small Christian Communities. Enlightened education dispels false myths.
(NCR Article on Presentation for Green Faith)

For this reason, it would be very helpful for parishioners to become acquainted with recent papal and Church statements, Catholic social justice principles, and biblical insights on the environment. The connection between faith and ecology could also provide a promising subject for discussion and action with sister parishes of our deanery in the New Energies Project promoted by the Archdiocese of Newark.

Once having established an appropriate educational and formational base, then workable action plans, best suited to the culture and capabilities of our parish, will follow. The parish has already undertaken a number of excellent initiatives like solar panels on the roof of the church, eco-friendly and energy-efficient bathroom facilities, lessening the use of Styrofoam and plastic water bottles and the installation of beehives on church property.

We have completed the necessary criteria and guidelines for full accreditation in the GreenFaith Certification Program and have been named a GreenFaith Sanctuary. Other initiatives are in process:

• A parish wide recycling plan
• An ecological assessment and review of our building, plant, and grounds
• Calculation of our parish “carbon footprint”
• Substitution of water pitchers for plastic bottles at parish meetings
• Becoming more informed about the privatization of water
• Use of compact fluoride light bulbs through the parish plant and rectory
• Inventory of materials used for cleaning in the parish and pesticides son parish property

Perhaps one of the most challenging personal recommendation for all is that we try to adopt a lifestyle that is more consistent with the suggestions already made, i.e. one which is based on simplicity, moderation, and personal disciple. This is truly reflective of the Gospel teaching and practice of Jesus. While we have been greatly blessed by the rich resources and bounty of our nation, we must also confess that it is often our consumer-driven ways that result in the impoverishment of those whose natural resources are being overused or even destroyed. A statistic that should shock all of us is that of the seven billion people in the world today, one billion live on less than two dollars a day.

How much of that is attributable to an over-indulgent use of the natural resources of our land to the detriment of the poor and disadvantaged? A slogan of three words may be helpful: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE.

Questions for Discussion:

1. In your opinion, what is the best way to raise the consciousness of parishioners to the importance of environmental issues and to ways of dealing with them?

2. Why do you think there is resistance on the part of some people when there is mention of any discussion about religious responsibilities, or even moral implications of environmental issues?

3. In what ways can we change our lifestyles to offset the excessive or unreasonable use of our natural resource like, oil, water, or electrical energy?

4. How has the reading of this booklet helped you become more aware of the religious and moral implications of caring for creation?

If Jesus Christ is the very core of our faith, then “doing the work of Christ” is what we are created for (i.e. making the power of God alive in the universe through the indwelling Spirit.) God evolves the work of creation and moves it to completion through the instrumentality of human beings. God’s creative Spirit, incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ, now takes flesh in and through the minds, hearts, and the freely-willed actions of people like ourselves. God’s Spirit is not recognized until it is embodied; it must take on matter.

The person of the Spirit, “the Lord and giver of life,” refers to God present and active in the world. From an evolutionary perspective, the Spirit of God, who hovered over creation from the beginning, continues to breathe within us and through us, drawing us to new creation.

The Hebrew Scriptures speak often of people like Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, other prophets, and wisdom teachers as endowed with the Spirit. It was through the power of the Spirit that they proclaimed God’s message. For example, Isaiah spoke of a new age of the Spirit: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me, to bring glad tidings to the lowly and to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

In the words and deeds of Jesus, his disciples recognized that he acted in the Spirit of God. When reading from the Scriptures in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus repeated the very same passage from Isaiah cited above. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it to the assistant, sat down, and then said: Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:16-21)

The dynamic symbols of change in the Pentecost experience (wind and tongues of fire) proclaim a new age of the Spirit, now embodied in the faithful followers of Jesus Christ. (Acts 2 ff.)  Writing to the Corinthians around 54AD, St Paul reminds them, Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it. (1Corinthians 12:27)

He challenges them to use their unique and different gifts of the spirit wisely, not for personal gain or self-aggrandizement but for the spiritual growth of the entire body. (1 Corinthians 12:27-28). In the end, there are three things that last: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

He challenges them to use their unique and different gifts of the spirit wisely, not for personal gain or self-aggrandizement but for the spiritual growth of the entire body. (1 Corinthians 12:27-28). In the end, there are three things that last: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

It is we who are now called to be that “Body of Christ.” It is we who are now summoned as “co-creators and co-operators with God” in preserving and nurturing the wellbeing of creation. We are now the 21^st century ”bearers of the Spirit.” To be a “co-creator and co-operator” with God in the work of creation means that by virtue of our present evolutionary stage of self-reflective consciousness, we are engaged in the evolutionary process that has engendered us. We have the capacity to look back into the past and marvel at the origins of the universe and recognize how we have evolved to this present stage of creation. 

We can also see how our thoughtlessness and selfishness has diminished the life-giving resources of the Earth. We are also able to envision dire consequences for the future of our planet, unless someone speaks up. Would we be able to live with ourselves if we remained silent and did nothing about taking positive and realistic measures for a cleaner, healthier, and environmentally viable future?

Questions for Discussion:

1. As someone who was told in the sacrament of Confirmation that you are now a “bearer of God’s Spirit,” how would you explain, now as a mature person, your responsibility for preserving the life of Mother Earth?

2. What practical actions might you undertake in preserving the health and vitality of our Earth? What might you do in your neighborhood? In your home?

3. Does the term “co-creator” mean anything to you? Please explain.

Jesus Christ is the very core of our faith and the ground of our belief and practice. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us is the active expression of that faith in word and action. Central to this belief is the truth that God became human in the person of Jesus to redeem the world. To say “the Word became flesh” (Incarnation) means that he was born of matter, having a human body like any one of us. He was like us in all things but sin.

The self-communication of God to the world in the person of Jesus Christ as a child of Earth is the linchpin that holds together the whole adventure of Christian faith.

Science tells us that human flesh, like that of Jesus and our own, was the result of a long, unfolding, evolutionary process. Like us, Jesus came from stardust. Like us, he shares the same genetic ancestry as bacteria, birds of the air fish from the sera, the great mammals, and the earliest forms of homo sapiens. Like us, he is kin with all of creation. This sharing of the natural world with Jesus confers a blessing not only on us, but on all of earthly reality. Indeed, matter is dignified by the presence of the earthly humanity of Jesus and endows it with a spiritual potency. Matter now becomes the bearer of God’s powerful spirit and the medium of new creation. What happened in a through the witness of Jesus Christ represents a new stage of what we are meant to become as human beings and what is intended for all of creation.  Jesus Christ is the paradigm, or exemplar, of human life and of what we have the potential of becoming.

“We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.”

Paul to the Romans 8:22-23

The basic message proclaimed by the historical Jesus of Nazareth was the present reality of the “reign of God.” This message of good news is filled with countless examples drawn from the earthiness of a first century Palestinian milieu: grapes, thorn-bushes, figs and thistles, mustard seeds, and leaven.

More specifically, “the reign of God” centered on the possibility of a new relationship between God and humankind and all created reality. To the followers of Jesus, his teaching and healing acts spoke of a new time of transformation, when those who believed in his power could be “made whole.”

For this reason, those who were broken or fragmented physically, be they paralytics, lepers, deaf-mutes, blind, lame, or sick in whatever shape or form, looked with hope for this “wholeness.” In his acts of healing, Jesus offered a foretaste and pledge of what “salvation” would really mean. The healings that were signs of the “the reign of God” were hope-filled experiences of a ‘wholeness’ that was not merely physical, emotional, and spiritual but a new reordering with all of created reality.

We cannot say that, at the time, Jesus was concerned with ecological issues of the 21^st century. But his words and deeds gave witness to the merciful compassion of a God who cares deeply about giving new life and wholeness to the created world in all of its forms.

Since the “reign of God’ embraces all, says Fordham University theologian Elizabeth A. Johnson, then this includes the planet itself, its many different ecosystems and the creatures that inhabit them. In a sense, all of creation is redeemed or “made whole,” as it evolves to its final destination.

Furthermore, to recognize our created evolving world as an expression of God’s self-giving love offers meaning and rich spiritual insight into the death and resurrection of Jesus. Did Jesus have to die to make us “whole?” Is pain, suffering, and ignominious crucifixion the only way to show his redeeming love for the world? Is this what a loving God asks of his Son? No! Redemption could have taken place in a totally peaceful form. Jesus was not exempt from the evolutionary process of death.

However, the principal reason for his mission on Earth was not to suffer and die. Such an idea glorifies suffering. God doesn’t need to be placated. Death for Jesus is the price he paid for the faithful commitment to his mission of preaching the reign of God, which he did with full freedom, fidelity, and self-emptying love. Death is always a prelude to new life. No death; no transformation to new life. Death on the cross is the way in which Jesus Christ has chosen to enter into full solidarity with all who suffer, giving us therefore a profound example of how love always triumphs over death. Pain and suffering, even death itself, will be overcome by self-giving love. But, the victory over death is only one part of the mystery of life; the other side is the promise of a new, transformed life. The Paschal Mystery signifies that all of us are on a journey to God in and through the redemptive love of Jesus Christ. He is the tip, the touching point, and in biblical words, “the first fruits” of the evolutionary movement. What happened in Jesus represents the fulfillment of what we are meant to be as human beings. He assures us that the strivings of our human nature, our quest for genuine truth, our search for true love, and our desire for the fullness of life can be realized. His Spirit power has been with us from the beginning. It does not leave us when we die. The evolutionary God has imprinted upon all of created reality this profound message, Life is stronger than death.

Questions for Discussion:

1. What does it mean to say that Jesus Christ is a paradigm, or exemplar, of created life?

2. How would you explain that the cruciform pattern of creation (i.e. pain, suffering, and death) is also a pattern of Christian life?

3. How do you understand or explain the inevitability of death in your life? What frightens you about that idea? How do you best cope with it?

To speak of spiritual growth is to speak of relationships. For a Christian, spirituality is a way of life based on our relationship with God embodied in the person of Jesus Christ, whose life we now share through the Spirit dwelling within us. The Universe Story resonates with this conviction, insofar as it affirms that all of created reality, living and non-living, comes from a single source and has evolved for billions of years to our present stage of earthly existence. Creation is a web of relationships.

We humans, endowed with a mind capable of self-conscious reflection, a heart to reach out to others in love, and with the freedom to carry out the practical actions of both, are the living expressions of cosmic evolution which has come to present fulfillment. In the words of Abraham Heschel, a renowned Jewish philosopher/theologian, we are “Cantors of the Universe.”

Each and every one of us have evolved to this present stage of life as uniquely different, yet also connected with everything that has gone before us. Individually we sing a different song, but together we are a part of a vast choir of voices.

The first response of a believing person confronted with the beauty of creation is “awe and wonder.” Inevitable questions then emerge: “Who or what are you, Holy Mystery, that you have given us this wondrous Earth?” “Who is it that has endowed us with the freedom to enjoy and celebrate it, or to destroy it?”

Spirituality, first and foremost, begins with a profound sense of gratitude for this gift of Earth and life. This is our ho0me. Prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving is essential to a spirit-filled person.

Prayer continues with a sense of reverence for the sacredness of creation and a spirit of contemplation of how we are being called individually and communally to support and sustain the incredible kinship which gives meaning to our lives. Within the embrace of an immense evolutionary universe, we humans stand in reverent astonishment. The words of Karl Rahner, a renowned German Catholic Theologian, are apropos here: The Christian of the future will be a contemplative, or not at all! Furthermore, there is a. ridge between the Universe Story (where all created reality comes from a single source and has evolved to our present stage of earthly existence) and our own Story of Faith (where Creator God, Incarnate Son, and life-giving Spirit give meaning and purpose to the Universe Story).

This link between both stories challenges us to be wise and responsible stewards and contemporary co-creators with God in working for an ongoing, livable, and sustainable future for our created world. It will depend on people like ourselves, committed to both stories, that will determine whether we leave for others a legacy of a living Earth, or a hell on Earth. What would this mean as a basic point of contemplation for our spiritual lives? If, as Abraham Heschel said, We are called to be Cantors of the Universe, what will we leave for the future?

Will we leave the memory of a magnificent choir or a cacophony of sounds? The evolutionary flow of creation in the Universe Story is also marked by a cruciform pattern of “birth, death, and new creation.” And so is the Story of Faith. The way of Jesus Christ is identified by a similar cruciform design: the total self-giving of himself on the cross. How does such a design manifest itself in our own spiritual lives? Such a pattern of life points also to the transformed life of the Risen Lord, the promise and hope for life even beyond death. May we who are endowed with the Spirit of Christ recognize that we, too, are being called to be co-creators and co-redeemers in continuing his mission on Earth. Such is the meaning of being members of the Body of Christ.

Questions for Discussion:

1. Recognizing that we, too, are part of that web of living relationships, how do we understand the words of Abraham Heschel, “We are called to be Cantors of the Universe?

2. When have you experienced in your own life the mystery and beauty of creation that leaves you with a sense of awe, wonder, and gratitude?

3. How do you understand the phrase referring to Creator God as “One who calls us into a communion of love?