Thank God for environmental activists and volunteers

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As we read in the reading from the prophet Isaiah 41:13-20, God works through the poor and insignificant, the puny and the least. This may not be very encouraging. I mean what can the poor do against the wealthy or the insignificant against the well-known or the least against the mighty? Surely, they would get crushed. Yet this is what God does and she says to the frightened little mite, “Do not be afraid, I will help you.” God will achieve the impossible and turn the desert into a beautiful garden of cedar trees, acacias, myrtles and olives. You know this is really happening in our world today.

 

Groups of volunteers in a number of countries around the world are involved in the protection and restoration of forests, wetlands, farmlands and other types of habitat. Just read any document from the UN environment program and there are many stories. Now this is encouraging, especially in the face of the damage that has been done to our planet by the high and mighty and despite the rants of powerful political figures who say that the claims about the effects of climate change are just a “con job”. These volunteers are the modern-day prophets who go out into the widerness like John the Baptist. They are not simply convinced that we are facing a perilous future if we don’t try to cut carbon emissions but they believe that we can do different things to halt or slow down the destruction of our rainforests and our coral reefs so that we can have a legacy to pass on to future generations. As Jesus says in the gospel from Matthew 11:11-15, even the least of these gallant volunteers is greater than John the Baptist. Let us pray that there will be more volunteers and activists who will take up the challenge of protecting beauty and diversity of our natural environment.