“LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”.
This sister now cries 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. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters. Pope Francis, Laudato Si, 1-2
The Victor's Place 
Mother Earth sheds tears for the careless way we have treated our environment. Mother Teresa’s tears were shed out of compassion for the neglected humans on the streets of India. Today we honor her saintly ministry. May we show such care!
LikeLike
This photo reminds me of an afternoon I spent in “Eden” a few years ago.
LikeLike
An Afternoon in Eden
I stepped onto the pathway to her garden,
into color, sunlight, and shade,
and Eden came alive again.
Lovely trees, flowering bushes,
ornamentals and shrubbery
grow in the ground
and in huge, beautiful pottery.
Exquisite, tiny plants in small containers,
flowers of all varieties, sizes, and colors
were everywhere I looked.
Herbs for cooking grew in a planter
on the wall next to the kitchen door,
ready for snipping.
There was tiny waterfall bubbling
from an earthenware jug,
a table under the trees
and another under market umbrellas.
Beautiful birds sang in the trees.
Lovely little statues and stepping stones
were placed among the plantings.
Whimsical things of all kinds
hung from tree branches.
If I had been Eve,
I would have sent that serpent on its way!
How could anyone bear to leave Eden?
Gloria Ziemienski
June 21, 2013
LikeLike