By protecting God’s Creation, we protect and care for one another.

The natural environment is a gift from God, which nurtures and sustains our lives. To be in loving relationship with God and our neighbor, we must also be in a loving and balanced relationship with the Earth itself.

Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that we all share in the responsibility to actively care for the environment. Pope Francis points out that countries with greater wealth now consume more than Creation can sustain, and as a result our neighbors at the global margins suffer the most immediate and severe consequences.

How to Talk About It with Kids

All that we have, every single living thing, is God’s Creation: from clouds and mountains to atoms so tiny they are invisible to our eyes! 

Every time you smell fresh bread, feel a raindrop on your cheek, bite into a crisp apple, or sing a song, you can thank God for making such a wonderful world! We take care of all that God gives us because we love God.

EXTENSION

As we appreciate the many parts of creation, we must also remember that we share these things with other people and creatures. God created it for them too! We must care for God’s Creation even as we enjoy and use it, so that there will always be plenty for everyone to enjoy.

To find out more, order Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment from Orbis Books, please visit, On Care for Our Common Home, Laudato Si’