Living a Responsible Lent – Be Protectors of God’s Handiwork

Living a Responsible Lent – Caring for Our Common Home – Week 1

“Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or secondary aspect of our Christian experience.”  Pope Francis – Laudato Si 217

In 2015, Pope Francis published his Encyclical Letter, On Care for our Common Home – Laudato Si.  He wrote the encyclical in six very readable chapters .  In Chapter One of Laudato Si, Pope Francis invites us to join in conversation with those around us to learn more about the destruction of our environment and how this is affecting all human life, our planet and our society .  He outlines the scientific data on climate change as well as the threats it poses to our environment.  Throughout the encyclical, he brings awareness of those individuals who tend to suffer the most as a result of climate change:  the poor and disadvantaged.

During Lent, give yourself a challenge to read Laudato Si.  Click here to download a copy of the Encyclical.  If you read one section of Laudato Si each week, you will easily finish reading it by the end of Lent.  Start by reading Chapter 1 this week.  After you have read your weekly section, follow the SSJ Facebook page for daily posts entitled: Living a Responsible Lent – Caring for our Common Home.  Each post will provide a suggestion of a simple things you can do to save our world.  Most important, talk about what you have read with those around you and work together to care for our common home.