Learning How to Love Everything

1^st Reading: Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14

2^nd Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

Homily: Vince Cushing OFM, Leslie Kaplan, Patty McGrath

(Paraphrased from notes takes)

(Vince)These days in our Catholic Church we are blessed. We have a plethora of gifts and we thank God for them. Today’s liturgy is a pray that we should pray not just today, but in the coming days.

I have been particularly happy in recent months to be reading the wonderful, almost poetic, work “Let Us Dream (The Path to a Better Future)” by Pope Francis.He encourages us to listen in our hearts and let our hearts be overcome by the beauty of creation.

There are many wonderful poets who have opened up the beauty of creation and the world. Saint Francis of Assisi had the ability to look at the world we live in and sing about its beauty. His “Canticle of the Creatures” is quoted at the beginning of Pope Francis’ Laudauto si’(Praise Be To You) which I found particularly enlightening and energy-giving. Laudauto si’ lays a wonderful foundation for a way of thinking and links to our own spiritual lives.

Gerard Manley Hopkins speaks to us about nature.“Pied Beauty” (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44399/pied-beauty) begins “Glory be to God for dappled things –….” And recounts all things that give glory to God by their very existence. I encourage you to listen carefully as Leslie and Patty share with us the gifts of their spirits.

(Leslie) I used to look at St. Francis and think, “He’s so sweet,” until I realized his message is to understand we, as well as all of nature, are equally connected to God. God is in all of us including the animals and nature. When we hurt nature, we hurt ourselves. In the mental health profession, we know nature is a gift that can be very healing. It’s hurtful when we see ourselves as separate from nature. It’s important for us to take care of each other and nature, a realization of how interconnected we all are. That’s how we can know God better.

(Patty) I see the allure and beauty of nature and realize I’m a living member of nature and what I do impacts nature. The human species is destroying living things and living systems. We cut down forests for palm oil which seems to be in everything to make foods creamier. We burn the Amazon rain forest…. I, too, am complicit in this destruction. Species population sizes of wildlife have actually declined 68% since 1970. I need to look at my habits, my family, the poor and vulnerable (including animals and nature). We face the threat of collapse if we don’t change our behavior. The word “repent” means to turn around and go back. (Patty provides this reference https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/68-average-decline-in-species-population-sizes-since-1970-says-new-wwf-report).

Meditation: I Heard the Sky Was Blue Once – Lori Crockett

I heard that once, long ago, so many stars twinkled in the night sky that no one could count them.

I heard that, not so long ago, the Milky Way was visible, a huge white cloud shimmering silently in a dark night sky.

I heard that, recently, in 2020, the daytime sky was blue, that first year of the Pandemic when everyone stayed home.

I heard that, also in 2020, 32 species of Orchid vanished in Bangladesh due to habitat loss, while 9 more disappeared in Madagascar, never to be seen on Earth again.

I heard that in that same year in America five types of trees, eight shrubs, and 52 kinds of herbs were considered lost forever.

I heard that once there were Honeycreepers, and thrushes, and birds with names like the Po’ouili and the Kaua’i’o’o, living on the Hawaiian Islands, whose voices are now forever silent.

I heard that once small freshwater mussels, with names like the Flat Pigtoe; the Southern Acorntail; and the Green Blossom Pearlies, lived in the rivers of the Southeastern United States but are now nothing more than fleeting memories.

I heard that once there was a tiny, flowering mint, known as Lakela’s Mint, with purple-tinged white flowers, that will never be seen or smelled or tasted again due to habitat loss and invasive plant growth.

I heard that once there was a beautiful songbird, Bachman’s Warbler, yellow-rumped and black-capped, last seen in Florida in 1988, that is now wiped out by deforestation and habitat loss.

I heard that once there was a tiny fish, the San Marcos Gambusia, in Texas, last seen in the wild in 1983, that is now decimated by pollution, farming, and drought.

I heard that once there was a river in Ohio where a fish called the Scioto Madtom with spines containing a stinging venom and barbels for tasting hanging from their lips, once lived, that is now wiped out by pollution and flooding.

I heard that once there was a blue butterfly, the Xerces Blue, that no longer exists due to habitat loss.

I heard that once there was a small fish, the Maryland Darter, not seen since 1988, that is destined for extinction, its habitats altered by dams and changing water patterns.

I heard that once there was a Norwegian Wolf, a noble and majestic creature, that is now silenced by man’s activities.

I heard that once there were orchids and sea creatures, magnificent and unique, bats and butterflies, too numerous to imagine, who populated the soil, the trees, and the oceans, that are now gone from our Earth forever.

I heard that once there were bandicoots, skinks, flying foxes, and broad-cheeked hopping mice living in Australia that have disappeared from that amazing continent.

I hear that now the snakes and lizards of the Guadalupe Islands are soon to be gone, extinguished forever from the world they called home.

I hear that now numberless species of frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and geckos are nothing more than the stuff of myth and the stories we tell our children.

I hear that now many species are added daily to an ever-growing list of flora and fauna that will never be seen again, that will never walk the earth again.

I hear that, soon, the Monarch butterfly will cease to exist, never again to be seen migrating our beautiful planet.

I heard there once was a White Rhinoceros.
I heard there once was a river Dolphin that lived in the Yangtze.
I heard there was once a Golden Toad.
I heard there was once a Zanzibar Leopard.

Lori Crockett, Creation Spirituality Liturgist, 8.24.22