27th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle A
October 4, 2020
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 4pm
Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 9:30 and 11:30am
A Vineyard and the Earth
Jesus was probably looking at a vineyard when he was telling the parable that we hear in today’s gospel.
It would have been something like us looking at some of the vineyards nearby, like Basignani, Boordy, Fiore or others. Jesus uses the vineyard to teach us something – something about what he wants us to do.
And it strikes me that in using this very earthy image, a vineyard, one thing he is teaching is what he wants us to do with the earth, with our environment. I mean, a vineyard involves soil, water, sunshine, good air quality and relatively moderate temperatures.
And all of these factors lead to the growth of vines and eventually grapes. So, I am thinking that with this earthy image, one thing Jesus is teaching is what he wants us to do with the earth.
Pope Francis and the Earth
In 2015, Pope Francis wrote an encyclical letter.
An encyclical is usually a rather long letter that the Pope writes on a specific topic. That 2015 letter is entitled: On Care For Our Common Home – On Care For Our Common Home – the earth, the environment.
Francis brings to this an interesting educational background: a Doctorate in Theology and a Master’s Degree in Chemistry. So, he brings both a scientific and a spiritual perspective to this topic.
The Environment and Human Life
Pope Francis sees the environmental problems in our world today that many of us would also see.
Among other things, he identifies two major issues. 1) Carbon emissions and the pollution of our air, water and soil; and 2) the over-consumption of our resources, living as if there is an infinite supply of everything.
Francis sees the care of the earth or our environment as a human life issue. Care for the environment and direct care for human life are connected.
So, our disregard of the environment will lead to a disregard of human life. And vice versa: our disrespect for human life of a fetus or of our elderly or of impoverished peoples will also lead to a disrespect for our environment.
Positively, Francis calls us to a culture of care for one another and for our common home – the earth. There seem to be two main dimensions to this culture of care: 1) being prayerful and 2) being provident.
1. Be Prayerful
First, Pope Francis calls us to be prayerful.
He especially lifts up the value of a prayer before our meals. He says this.
“I ask all believers to return to this beautiful and meaningful custom. That moment of blessing, however brief, 1) reminds us of our dependence on God for life; 2) it strengthens our feeling of gratitude for the gifts of creation; 3) it acknowledges those who by their labors provide us with these goods; and 4) it reaffirms our solidarity with those in greatest need.”
So, a simple recommendation. Francis so insightfully sees this grace before meals as affirming human life and affirming the earth and the goods that we derive from it.
It is a way for us to stay alert to our calling to care for our common home.
2. Be Provident
So, 1) be prayerful, and then 2) be provident.
This means that we act with all other human beings in mind and with the future in mind. Francis calls us to live more according to need than want, and in that way, avoid waste.
He notes that “approximately a third of all food produced (in the world) is discarded” – wasted. A study by our own Food and Drug Administration says that the same percentage is true in our own country.
This is a stinging fact in the face of other data that tells us that approximately 800 million people, 10% of the world’s population, suffer from malnutrition. So, once again, everything is interconnected, a theme that Francis wants us to remember.
Our doing what we can – buying and consuming closer to need than want, turning off unneeded lamps and saving electricity, recycling whatever we can, trying to buy cars with lower carbon emissions – actions like these have effects.
So, 1) by being prayerful, we stay alert to our calling to care for our common home. And 2) by being provident, we actually do something to fulfill what Christ calls us to do.
