Let's save the planet

In November, Pope Francis hopes to attend the United Nations Climate Change conference to be held in Glasgow, health permitting. When he speaks there, the readings for today and tomorrow from Leviticus could be a great starting point. The readings speaks of the necessity to care for the earth. ''Every seventh year, there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land.''(25:4) On Earth Day, April 22nd, Francis quoted a Spanish proverb that says that God always forgives, people sometimes forgive, but nature never forgives. We are certainly seeing that now all around the world: Unheard of floods in Europe, inmense bush fires from the United States to Siberia, Pacific islands threatened by rising sea levels and more frequent and stronger cyclones. Is the Covid pandemic is a result of the contamination of earth, rivers, sea and even space where there are 9,000 tons of junk in orbit? Scientists are saying once again that Glasgow is the last chance to save the world. Francis wrote '' I urgently apeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.'' (Laudato Si, 14). Let us pray that the voice of Francis will be added to the voices of many others in Glasgow, so that all world leaders may at last hear and take the necessary actions to save our only home. I pray especially for Stella Rosa, Aurora and Xenobia, three babies whom I have blessed since their birth this month. What sort of world will they will inherit?