I JUST finished reading "Laudato Si," Pope Francis' latest encyclical (a much more fruitful occupation than reading through or participating in Facebook arguments about Friday's decision. I'm not a fan of what happened--for many reasons--but Facebook arguments rarely, if ever, do anything good for anybody. But I digress). Some of his discussion points went a little over my head, but I tried to read and understand what I could. He said a lot of fabulous things which The Media and General Public have failed to mention (like his anti-abortion comments, or Sunday rest).
Well, in case you haven't had a chance to read the document yet, I offer you some of my favorite quotations from this encyclical (but I have lots more, I really had to cut the list down). I even combined some of the quotes with my photographs, just because the Pope's words made me super excited (feel free to use these images, if you so desire)!
Without further ado, let's read the words of Pope Francis!
"Human beings too are creatures of this world, enjoying a right to life and happiness, and endowed with unique dignity. So we cannot fail to consider the effects on people’s lives of environmental deterioration, current models of development and the throwaway culture." (#43)
"Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start, despite their mental and social conditioning. We are able to take an honest look at ourselves, to acknowledge our deep dissatisfaction, and to embark on new paths to authentic freedom. No system can completely suppress our openness to what is good, true and beautiful, or our God-given ability to respond to his grace at work deep in our hearts. I appeal to everyone throughout the world not to forget this dignity which is ours. No one has the right to take it from us." (#205)
"Furthermore, when media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people from learning how to live wisely, to think deeply and to love generously. In this context, the great sages of the past run the risk of going unheard amid the noise and distractions of an information overload. Efforts need to be made to help these media become sources of new cultural progress for humanity and not a threat to our deepest riches. True wisdom, as the fruit of self-examination, dialogue and generous encounter between persons, is not acquired by a mere accumulation of data which eventually leads to overload and confusion, a sort of mental pollution. Real relationships with others, with all the challenges they entail, now tend to be replaced by a type of internet communication which enables us to choose or eliminate relationships at whim, thus giving rise to a new type of contrived emotion which has more to do with devices and displays than with other people and with nature. Today’s media do enable us to communicate and to share our knowledge and affections. Yet at times they also shield us from direct contact with the pain, the fears and the joys of others and the complexity of their personal experiences. For this reason, we should be concerned that, alongside the exciting possibilities offered by these media, a deep and melancholic dissatisfaction with interpersonal relations, or a harmful sense of isolation, can also arise." (#47)
"Today, however, we have to realize that a true
ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must
integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to
hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor." (#49)
"Instead of resolving the problems of the poor and thinking of how the world can be different, some can only propose a reduction in the birth rate. At times, developing countries face forms of international pressure which make economic assistance contingent on certain policies of “reproductive health”. Yet “while it is true that an unequal distribution of the population and of available resources creates obstacles to development and a sustainable use of the environment, it must nonetheless be recognized that demographic growth is fully compatible with an integral and shared development”.[28] To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues." (#50)
"This is not to put all living beings on the same level nor to deprive human beings of their unique worth and the tremendous responsibility it entails. Nor does it imply a divinization of the earth which would prevent us from working on it and protecting it in its fragility. Such notions would end up creating new imbalances which would deflect us from the reality which challenges us. [68] At times we see an obsession with denying any pre-eminence to the human person; more zeal is shown in protecting other species than in defending the dignity which all human beings share in equal measure. Certainly, we should be concerned lest other living beings be treated irresponsibly. But we should be particularly indignant at the enormous inequalities in our midst, whereby we continue to tolerate some considering themselves more worthy than others." (#90)
"When we
fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human
embryo, a person with disabilities – to offer just a few examples – it becomes
difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything is connected." (#117)
"On the other hand, it is troubling that, when some ecological movements defend the integrity of the environment, rightly demanding that certain limits be imposed on scientific research, they sometimes fail to apply those same principles to human life. There is a tendency to justify transgressing all boundaries when experimentation is carried out on living human embryos. We forget that the inalienable worth of a human being transcends his or her degree of development. In the same way, when technology disregards the great ethical principles, it ends up considering any practice whatsoever as licit. As we have seen in this chapter, a technology severed from ethics will not easily be able to limit its own power." (#136)
"It is enough to recognize that our body itself
establishes us in a direct relationship with the environment and with other
living beings. The acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for
welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our
common home, whereas thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies
turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation.
Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning,
is an essential element of any genuine human ecology. Also, valuing one’s own
body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to
recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different. In this way we
can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God
the Creator, and find mutual enrichment. It is not a healthy attitude which
would seek “to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to
confront it”.[121]" (#155)
"Believers
themselves must constantly feel challenged to live in a way consonant with
their faith and not to contradict it by their actions. They need to be
encouraged to be ever open to God’s grace and to draw constantly from their
deepest convictions about love, justice and peace. If a mistaken understanding
of our own principles has at times led us to justify mistreating nature, to
exercise tyranny over creation, to engage in war, injustice and acts of
violence, we believers should acknowledge that by so doing we were not faithful
to the treasures of wisdom which we have been called to protect and preserve.
Cultural limitations in different eras often affected the perception of these
ethical and spiritual treasures, yet by constantly returning to their sources,
religions will be better equipped to respond to today’s needs." (#200)
"Nature is filled with words of love, but how can
we listen to them amid constant noise, interminable and nerve-wracking
distractions, or the cult of appearances? Many people today sense a profound
imbalance which drives them to frenetic activity and makes them feel busy, in a
constant hurry which in turn leads them to ride rough-shod over everything
around them." (#225)
"We tend
to demean contemplative rest as something unproductive and unnecessary, but
this is to do away with the very thing which is most important about work: its
meaning. We are called to include in our work a dimension of receptivity and
gratuity, which is quite different from mere inactivity. Rather, it is another
way of working, which forms part of our very essence. It protects human action
from becoming empty activism; it also prevents that unfettered greed and sense
of isolation which make us seek personal gain to the detriment of all else. The
law of weekly rest forbade work on the seventh day, “so that your ox and your
donkey may have rest, and the son of your maidservant, and the stranger, may be
refreshed” (Ex 23:12). Rest opens our eyes to the larger picture
and gives us renewed sensitivity to the rights of others. And so the day of
rest, centred on the Eucharist, sheds it light on the whole week, and motivates
us to greater concern for nature and the poor." (#237)
"Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience." (#217)
Thanks for reading! Now go and read the whole document sometime J
Have a blessed and epic day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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