Entries

Day 10

Psalm 92(91):13-16

The just will flourish like the palm tree

and grow like a Lebanon cedar.

Planted in the house of the Lord

they will flourish in the courts of our God,

still bearing fruit when they are old,

still full of sap, still green,

to proclaim that the Lord is just.

In him, my rock, there is no wrong.

For a Lover of Nature (Jessica Powers)

Your valley trails its beauty through your poems,

the kindly woods, the majestic river.

Earth is your god —or goddess, you declare,

mindful of what good time must one day give her

of all you have. Water and rocks and trees

hold primal words born out of Genesis.

But Love is older than these.

You lay your hands upon the permanence

of green-embroidered land and miss the truth

that you are trusting your immortal spirit

to earth's sad inexperience and youth.

Centuries made this soil; this rock was lifted

out of the aeons; time could never trace

a path to water's birth or air's inception,

and so, you say, these be your godly grace.

Earth was swept into being with the light —

dear earth, you argue, who will soon be winning

your flesh and bones by a most ancient right.

But Love had no beginning.

Musical Selection

All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful,
the Lord God made them all.

Each little flow'r that opens,
each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountain,
the river running by,
the sunset and the morning
that brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,
the pleasant summer sun,
the ripe fruits in the garden:
He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows for our play,
The rushes by the water,
To gather every day;

He gave us eyes to see them,
and lips that we might tell
how great is God Almighty,
who has made all things well.

Meditation

In Laudato Si’, I offered a brief resumé of the technocratic paradigm underlying the current process of environmental decay. It is “a certain way of understanding human life and activity [that] has gone awry, to the serious detriment of the world around us”.Deep down, it consists in thinking “as if reality, goodness and truth automatically flow from technological and economic power as such”.As a logical consequence, it then becomes easy “to accept the idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in technology”.

In recent years, we have been able to confirm this diagnosis, even as we have witnessed a new advance of the above paradigm. Artificial intelligence and the latest technological innovations start with the notion of a human being with no limits, whose abilities and possibilities can be infinitely expanded thanks to technology. In this way, the technocratic paradigm monstrously feeds upon itself. (LD 20-21)

Prayer

All--‐powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace. (Pope Francis)

Archives