Mercy, Grace, and Mother Nature
BY CARLOS RODRIGUEZ | September 25, 2017
Sunday’s Readings
How do we show grace and mercy?
The forces of nature have rattled us into having conversations about our weather and climate change. Is what we do enough to give back to Mother Nature to ensure a more stable global environment?
Efforts to create a more sustainable world and lead us into greener practices are often overlooked, but there is still much power in working to speak out against the degradation of our environment. I have thought about leaders like Berta Cáceres, who faced threats in order to protect the earth from exploitation and gave her life working for the betterment of our environment.
The dedication of front-line environmental defenders protecting the right to life shows how those working towards the greater good are often unrecognized, but hope to achieve a common goal: sustainable life on earth. In the eyes of God, they are no more or less than those hoping to save our ecosystems with smaller, simpler tasks.
The Gospel examines the question of attaining eternal life and elaborates on what the kingdom of heaven is like. In the parable of the vineyard, Jesus tells his disciples that “the last will be the first, and the first will be the last.”
When asking for God’s grace, we must also learn to stand with those considered to be “last” in the protection of our environment to resist the powerful “first” who devastate our earth and create environmental injustices.
How do you show grace and mercy to our mother nature, friends, enemies?
Carlos Rodriguez is a graduate of Seattle University where he earned a B.A. in Public Affairs. As the former Student Body President, he has used his position to talk about issues related to immigration, affordable housing, and homelessness. He has been vocal about his status as an Undocumented immigrant in hopes of bringing awareness to the complexity of immigration in the United States. Carlos is known for wearing a scarlet “U” signifying how an Undocumented status, which has been largely stigmatized in the U.S., is branded onto the lives of many Undocumented immigrants. Currently, he is a Jesuit Volunteer serving as an Anti-Trafficking and Immigration Specialist.
Composting vegetable and fruit scraps is a simple act that keeps me always thinking about ways to feed and give back to Earth.
The only way FORWARD is standing with the “last” and resisting the powerful “first” who devastate our earth and create environmental injustices.