Sunday To Sunday Attentive Heart

Hi, this is Ann Mary Mullane of Sunday to Sunday Productions with another episode of The Witness podcast.

Happy Easter. Christ is risen and spring is sprung. I enjoy the Easter vigil service. My parish does it particularly well. The choir is spectacular, the liturgical dancers are graceful, and the music of the organ is supported by the bell choir and horns. The altar is decorated with the flowers of Spring and even more than Christmas, everyone is there.

After the six weeks of somber time, which is Lent, and in the northeast where I live, it's usually accompanied by the drags of winter. Although I have to say not so much this year, I don't believe we ever look at it any other way. As a teacher, Easter signaled a different kind of rise again, the semester coming to an end, and maybe the classroom rules could relax a little, just a little. Daylight saving time ushers in longer, brighter, warmer days. And each morning I open my eyes to see whether the tree outside of my window has popped with green. Everything feels more hopeful and new again, but let's not fool ourselves. The greenery, the warm days, the sunlight, and our oceans are all in jeopardy. I did a self-inventory on my environment recently.

I live in North Jersey. My first grandchild was born in 2011, and her christening was postponed by Hurricane Irene. Although my family agreed it was the way it should be, it was Mayor Bloomberg who made the call. The subways had flooded. The same year there was “Snowtober”. A weird October blizzard that knocked out power, downed trees, and closed schools from West Virginia to Maine. It canceled Halloween.

The following year, superstorm Sandy caused billions of dollars of damage. It also canceled Halloween. So yes, I believe in climate change. Not that I believe that our ancestors were, you know, ecologically kind, but today there are 8 billion people, billion with a “B”, roaming the earth.

It has to suggest that humankind is at least one cause of climate change. It was reported during the lockdown of 2020 that air pollution subsided. I'm not a scientist, but I could see the New York City skyline better from my side of the river during that time period. My perspective is that it is time to step up and be part of the solution.

In 2015, Pope Francis issued Laudato si'. The translation is “Praise Be”. The full encyclical is 184 pages long, and it's dense. The website for Laudato si' and the movement is listed in our program. The subtitle of the encyclical is “Care for Our Common Home”. That means Earth. The focus is on the relationship between God, humans, and the earth.

You know, in the aftermath of the East Palestine, Ohio trained derailment and the toxic spill, people in Rochester, New York questioned the air quality in their region. That's 300 miles away. So let's not doubt our interconnectivity. I speak of what my eyes have seen from where I live. and traveling has given me insight to the destruction caused by tornadoes in the south and wildfires in California.

But Pope Francis followed up Laudato si and invited four unheard voices to come to Rome for a dialogue representing Senegal, the Amazon, not the store, the region, India, and Hawaii. These four individuals shared extraordinary and moving personal stories about their perspective on planetary crisis and the toll it’s taking on nature and people.

You can experience it for yourself in the documentary “The Letter”. This documentary runs about an hour and a half on YouTube, and again, the link for it is provided in our program notes.

All faiths and belief systems see nature as sacred, and it is the duty of humankind to protect the environment. If we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. We need to consider what nature can sustain and rethink our economic models and moderate our desires. The Tower of Babbel was built as a shortcut to heaven. It was a single-minded project and became a disaster because of language differences or not listening to each. Today, covering cities in asphalt and over-building creates water flow problems that max out the sewer system. More flooding.

More than a decade ago, I was late to work because of a summer storm. My daughter who was working in the Mid East was expecting to have a job interview via phone. Now, this was before FaceTime and Zoom. The flood canceled her phone call because the storm flooded the New York City subways, and the call was coming from New York City.

Faced with difficult social issues, the question is asked, “what kind of world will we leave behind for our children?” Now, please, I am not talking about a return to the Stone Age, but maybe just maybe we have been going with the flow for way too long. Stop. Ask. What is necessary? Why is it necessary? Who benefits? And can we do better?

Thank you. This is Ann Mary Mullane for Sunday to Sunday Witness from Kearney, New Jersey. Please subscribe to Sunday to Sunday and tell your friends about us. Check out our full website and other free resources at sundaytosunday.net. Thank you, and we'll see you next time.