God Provides for All Our Needs
(Laudatu Si’)
Directions: Read the statistical data of Water
Quality in the rivers of the urbanized parts
of Cebu. Answer the questions that follow.
①
What do the data tell us about the
water quality of the rivers in the
urbanized parts of Cebu?
②
Guadalupe River is the most critical when it
comes to water quality among the rivers in
Cebu. What are its effects to the residents and
how should the government particularly the
DENR take action in restoring its sanitation?
③
Water is the source of life and from water all
living things are sustained. As part of our
responsibilities in taking good care of our
common home, what can you do to
contribute to that positive change?
Point of Clarification:
The Catholic Church has never been as engaged
in ecological concerns as we are now. We must
bring this positive change until “The Gospel of
Creation” will become a resounding voice that
awakes everyone up to care for our one and only
mother earth.
Point of Clarification:
Prior to Laudato Si’, the Church has
already been vocal about her stand
on ecology and the role of the
Church as steward and guardian of
God’s creations.
Pope Paul VI (1967), On the Development
of the Peoples (Populorum Progressio), no.22
“…Now if the earth has been created for the
purpose of furnishing individuals either with the
necessities of a livelihood or the means for
progress, it follows that each man has the right
to get from it what is necessary for him.”
Renewing the Earth: An Invitation to Reflection
and Action on Environment in the Light of Catholic Social
Teaching, 1991 (no.2)
“Our mistreatment of the natural world
diminishes our own dignity and sacredness, not
only because we are destroying resources that
future generations of humans need, but because
we are engaging in actions that contradict what
it means to be human…”
Economic Justice for All, 1997
(no.34) citing St. Cyprian
“From the patristic period to the present, the
Church has affirmed that misuse of the world’s
resources or appropriation of them by a
minority of the world’s population betrays the
gift of creation since ‘whatever belongs to God
belongs to all.’”
Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue,
Prudence and the Common Good, 2001
“At its core, global climate change is not about
economic theory or political platforms… It is about
the future of God's creation and the one human
family… about protecting both ‘the human
environment’ and the natural environment… about
our human stewardship of God's creation and our
responsibility to those who come after us.”
The Compendium of the Social
Doctrines of the Church (no. 466)
“Care for the environment represents a challenge for
all of humanity; a common and universal duty, that
of respecting a common good, destined for all… It is
a responsibility that must mature on the basis of the
global dimension of the present ecological crisis…”
The Compendium of the Social
Doctrines of the Church (no. 486)
“There is a need to break with the logic of mere
consumption and promote forms of agricultural and
industrial production that respect the order of
creation and satisfy the basic human needs of all…
eliminating the numerous causes of ecological
disasters as well as… to respond quickly when such
disasters strike people and territories.
World Day of Peace, Pope Emeritus
Benedict XVI, 2007
“…humanity, if it truly desires peace, must be
increasingly conscious of the links between natural
ecology, or respect for nature, and human ecology…
It becomes more and more evident that there is an
inseparable link between peace with creation and
peace among men.”
Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate),
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, 2009
“The protection of the environment, of
resources and of the climate obliges all
international leaders to act justly and to show a
readiness to work in good faith, respecting the
law and promoting solidarity with the weakest
regions of the planet.”
Address to Diplomatic Corps, Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI, January 2010
“…If we wish to build true peace, how can we
separate, or even set at odds, the protection of
the environment and the protection of human
life, including the life of the unborn(.)? It is in
man’s respect for himself that his sense of
responsibility for creation is shown.”
World Environment Day, Pope Francis,
June 2013
“We are losing the attitude of wonder,
contemplation, listening to creation. The
implications of living in a horizontal manner [is
that] we have moved away from God, we no
longer read His signs.”
Revelations 11:18
“And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath
came, and the time came for the dead to be
judged, and the time to reward Your bondservants the prophets and the saints and those
who fear Your name, the small and the great,
and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
Laudato Si’ Chapter
Summaries
Let us examine Pope Francis’ Laudato Si in every
part of his world-renowned Encyclical Letter
INTRODUCTION:
•The introduction begins with the words that
become the title: Laudato si’, mi’ Signore” –
“Praise be to you, my Lord.”
•our common home, that is “like a sister with
whom we share our life and a beautiful
mother who opens her arms to embrace us”
(LS,1)
•“This sister now cries out to us
because of the harm we have
inflicted on her…” (LS, 2)
CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS HAPPENING TO
OUR COMMON HOME
•The first chapter of the encyclical is a frank look
at the facts of our world so that the reader
might “become painfully aware” of the ways we
have not been providing protection and care of
the very place we call “home.”
•“turn what is happening to the
world into our own personal
suffering and thus to discover
what each of us can do about it.”
(LS, 19)
•The “Throw Away Culture”
The act of ruthlessly consumes, exploits,
and discards human life and our natural
resources.
CHAPTER 2: THE GOSPEL OF CREATION
• It is often the case that many
Christians feel that environmental
stewardship is secondary or tangential
to living out the faith, but the Pope
wants to wipe this sentiment away.
•“human life is grounded in three
fundamental and close intertwined
relationships: with God, with our
neighbor, and with earth itself.”
(LS, 66)
•“It is our faith in Christ that ‘allows
us to interpret the meaning and
mysterious beauty of what is
unfolding’” (LS, 79)
CHAPTER 3: THE HUMAN ROOTS OF
ECOLOGICAL CRISIS
• Acknowledging that we are
beneficiaries of the technological
change of the last two hundred years,
Pope Francis, nevertheless, sees a dark
side to this so-called “progress.”
•“We are sinful people and have not proven
to use power well. But it is also risky
because this technological growth has not
been “accompanied by a development in
human
responsibility,
values
and
conscience.” (LS, 105)
CHAPTER 4: INTEGRAL ECOLOGY
• Chapter four unpacks what this
comprehensive, integrated, and relational
vision might look like if we applied its principles
to our complex, global crises:
1. The relationship of global economics with
local cultures, customs, and values
(LS, 143-146)
CHAPTER 4: INTEGRAL ECOLOGY
2. The relationship between our living
spaces (like the architecture of our
homes and the design of our
neighborhoods and cities), our daily life,
and our own behavior/happiness.
(LS, 147-154)
CHAPTER 4: INTEGRAL ECOLOGY
3. The relationship of the way we think
about our bodies and the way we think
about the rest of creation (LS, 155)
4. The relationship of our current
generation with future generations
(LS, 159-162)
CHAPTER 5: LINES OF APPROACH AND
ACTION
• Straight away in chapter five, Pope Francis calls
for the immediate replacement of “technology
based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels –
especially coal, but also oil and, to a lesser
degree, gas” (165).
• He challenges nations and their leaders to
move beyond short-term gain and results
to what he calls “true statecraft,” that is
when leaders “uphold high principles and
think of the long-term common good”
(LS, 178, 181)
•He also challenges the economic sector
to move beyond thinking about
maximization of profit at the expense
of our planet and the poor.
•According to the Pope, creativity in coming
up with models of development, a
redefinition of our notion of progress, and a
farsighted and interdisciplinary approach.
(LS, 189-198).
CHAPTER 6: EDUCATIONAL EDUCATION
AND SPIRITUALITY
• This final chapter, chapter six, now turns directly to
this very local reality: our own particular lifestyles,
attitudes, and convictions. As he puts it in the
opening paragraph, “Many things have to change
course, but it is we human beings above all who need
to change” (LS, 202).
• “If we don’t personally change our
attitudes and lives, the solutions to
our global ecological crisis will
never really arrive.” (LS, 217)
•Rather than acting as unconscious
consumers, often riddled with a feeling of
emptiness and anxiety, Francis challenges us
instead “to adopt a lifestyle that conveys
greater sobriety, namely less obsessive,
more moderation and inner peace, and
ultimately greater fulfillment.” (LS, 222-225).
Moral of this Lesson
“To know Jesus might mean we seek
out simpler yet far more fulfilling
pleasures, like a walk in the woods or
encounters with friends or enjoying
the arts.”
- Pope Francis
Worship/Living Out the Message
“…as we continue to participate in the
economic reality of our times, we see
every act of consuming as a moral act
that involves gifts of creation (air,
land, and water) and the dignity of
workers and local cultures.”
- Laudato Si, 206
Worship/Living Out the Message
“All of us can cooperate as
instruments of God for the care of
creation, each according to his or
her own culture, experience,
involvements and talents.”
- Laudato Si, 14
How are you going to
live out the message
of Laudato Si?
“We should spend as much
time in thanking God for His
benefits as we do in asking
Him for them.”
- St. Vincent de Paul