Energy-Smart_archive

 

​THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF LAUDATO SI’

Young people in our parishes and Catholic schools will be encouraged to harness their own energy to do God’s work, in the classroom or anywhere in their faith community, to limit their reliance on natural resources and save energy where they can. Finding scientific solutions to environmental problems can help all young people become Energy Smart. When he was younger, Pope Francis himself was a scientist.

Energy Smart also means taking the time to power down. Sometimes the only way we can hear God’s voice is to tune out all the other noise. Turning off cell phones, computers and other electronics enables us to spend some quiet time in prayer. Pope Francis speaks often about hearing God’s call to a different vocation. During his first year as a priest, the world saw its very first Earth Day, April 22, 1970.

Our land, air and water are all affected by pollution. Smoky exhaust from cars, chemicals in oceans and streams, and growing piles of garbage can be detrimental to all of God’s creations. In Laudato si’, Pope Francis discusses a “throwaway” culture that wastes food that could feed the hungry and clothes that could warm the poor. He adds that sometimes people and relationships are also treated as being disposable. He encourages us all to clean up not just our world, but our relationship with God and all his creation.