Poverty and the environment

“Let us love not with words, but with deeds.” – Pope Francis

THE EDITOR: Today, the Catholic Church will observe the Third World Day of the Poor – an annual observance established by Pope Francis in November 2016, at the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Archbishop Jason Gordon reminds us in his Catholic News column this week that the aim is “to keep the plight of the poor before the eyes of the Universal Church. We must become mercy…Poverty is not only on the level of the individual. It is also about the structures of society that keep the poor, poor and the rich, rich.” He rightly outlines action that we must take to promote authentic integral human development. He says we must “know the poor in our parishes; listen to them; commit to their development, offering them paths to growth. “Poverty and environmental degradation are closely interrelated. Read Mark Howell-Paul’s Spoken Word poem about Caring for Creation. He placed second at CCSJ’s & the Youth Commission’s recent Competition:

We are the World

This may sound a bit unorthodox, but you don't realise that cats does use their litter boxes but humans don't?

I'm sorry, but I can't help but feel bitter when I see all this litter in the drain instead of the bin; it’s been bothering me ever since my mother started mothering me.

You see, we have to remember that we were created from the creation by the creator so if we not taking care of it then we not taking care of ourselves and we not taking care of our Creator.

We are the earth: We Christians love to sing that song, 'I am the vine and you are the branches!'

We are the branches of the trees that house the birds of the air. But we don't seem to care because we cut our arms which are supposed to be extended to give alms to the poor and instead of giving shelter to those running helter-skelter in Barrackpore, we build homes for ourselves.

We are the wind: We Christians love to sing that song, 'This is the air I breathe!'

Is polluted air really what you allow to pass through your nostrils? I'm getting chills just thinking about it. It's so sad that we regard very breath of God which gave us life doesn't seem to be sustainable enough, so we substitute it for to machines that pollute and refute his very essence, forgetting that it’s essential."

We are fire: We as Christians love to sing that song, 'Fire, fire, fire, fire fall on us!'

This fire is meant for us to use it for good, but we like to play with it. If yuh play with fire...yuh gonna get burn.

I feel a deep burning inside when I see the forests being burned down in order for foreign contractors to develop unnecessary malls and stalls and halls and walls all because we use our fire for the wrong purpose.

We are water: We as Christians love to sing that song, 'Springs of living water!'

Well, you can't come to this well if it is...well...polluted. This living water not supposed to have dead fish. I wish we were not so selfish! Our bodies are 75 per cent water but we focus on our 25 per cent. We spill our fill of oil in the water, not realising that it doh mix but we does catch kix and cook with more oil than water so we get unhealthy and rotten just like the fish we kill.

We are elements of nature: We have to nurture it. We can't ignore the fact that we are connected.

The fifth commandment tells us to honour our father and mother. So we have a duty honour and take care of our father God and our mother earth.”

LEELA RAMDEEN

chair, CCSJ

director, CREDI