Climate Sunday 2022

Reading and Reflection

 
READING AND INTRODUCTION

Gospel: Luke 17. 11-19  - Jesus heals 10 lepers.

Climate change seems such a big problem. Responses people  have when talking about it commonly include:

• Guilt – “We can/should do more”, “I’m not doing enough”
• Anxiety – “Will my doing this have a bad impact on the environment?” [for example, using a fan overnight in hot weather], “There is so much to do, I don’t know where to start”
• Anger – “I don’t want to be told all the time what I should do”
• Envy – “Look at what other people are doing”, “What I do won’t make any difference”

REFLECTION

Jesus didn’t do anything special for the 10 lepers. No anointing with oil, or laying on of hands. He simply told them to present themselves for ritual cleansing, as if they were cured – which was standard religious practice at the time. The lepers went on their way. What were they feeling? Perplexed? Annoyed? Resigned? Disappointed? Then they suddenly found out, along the way, that they had been healed. What happened then?

Not much. Nine out of the ten carried on walking. They were now free to see the priest and go back to their old life. They could forget about being lepers and outcasts. No more restrictions. They could go back to being ‘normal’. Their nightmare was over.

But one of the lepers stopped. He made a connection between seeing Jesus and being cured. He turned round, went back and sought Jesus out. He acknowledged, deeply, how thankful he was for being healed. He made room in his heart to receive this gift fully. In Jesus’ words to him, his faith made him well.

Gratitude like this is not a one-off emotion. Deep gratitude – heartfelt, continuing thankfulness for a gift or experience – can be life-changing. It lays the foundation for a positive, lifelong change in the way that we see the world and relate to it.

All the lepers who were healed would have been pleased. Who wouldn’t want to be cured? To return to society, fit in with others, and go back to doing what they had always done? Nine of them got straight on with their lives – and who can blame them? Yet one of them went further. He went back to see Jesus, a changed man. He showed his gratitude, praising God and thanking Jesus. He accepted the reality of what he had been – a leper and an outcast – and celebrated the wonder of what had happened to him. Being thankful set a part of him free. Not only was he healed; he could see the world differently.

For us, as for that leper who went back to meet Jesus, there is a key truth: we never receive anything fully unless we are truly thankful for it. Being deeply and continuingly thankful for our world, and the life we receive from it, unlocks our hearts to respond to God’s call to heed our environment – to act ourselves, to act with others, and to bring justice and healing to our world.

SUMMARY

Being thankful opens our hearts to change

PRAYER

Lord of Creation, thank you for the beauty and wonder of our natural world,
Thank you that we share your love for it, and are concerned for its uncertain future.
Open our hearts to be thankful for all that creation provides;
Give us courage to face the truth of what is happening to our climate and our environment;
And grant us together a vision of hope, and encouragement to take positive action, both in our own lives and together as a community.
Amen

 FINAL QUOTE

‘Let us weep with the anguished plea of creation.
Let us hear that plea and respond to it with deeds,
So that we and future generations can continue to
rejoice in creation’s sweet song of life and hope.’      

Pope Francis, September 2022