Market forces alone can’t save environment

March 28, 2019

190. Here too, it should always be kept in mind that “environmental protection cannot be assured solely on the basis of financial calculations of costs and benefits. The environment is one of those goods that cannot be adequately safeguarded or promoted by market forces.”(Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church)

Once more, we need to reject a magical conception of the market, which would suggest that problems can be solved simply by an increase in the profits of companies or individuals. Is it realistic to hope that those who are obsessed with maximizing profits will stop to reflect on the environmental damage which they will leave behind for future generations? Where profits alone count, there can be no thinking about the rhythms of nature, its phases of decay and regeneration, or the complexity of ecosystems which may be gravely upset by human intervention. Moreover, biodiversity is considered at most a deposit of economic resources available for exploitation, with no serious thought for the real value of things, their significance for persons and cultures, or the concerns and needs of the poor.

Source : Laudato Si'

Fr. Bernard Kirlin

St. Mary Magdalen Church

Are you as forgiving as God the Father?

There was a young man from a rural area who got into a lot of trouble and ended up in a reform school. After a few years, he was to be released and able to return home. But he was so ashamed of his misspent youth that he did not know if his parents would want him back. So he wrote them a letter in which he said. “Mom and Dad, I am truly sorry for what I have done and know that I have hurt you deeply. I am due to be released but I understand that you may not want me to come home. If you will allow me to return, I will be coming by train on Thursday at noon. There is a tree just outside the station, and if you want me back, just put a yellow ribbon on one of the branches. I will see it and get off the train. If not, I will just keep going. Your loving son.” Thursday came, and when the nervous young man came close to his hometown station, he saw that every branch on that tree was filled with yellow ribbons. He got off rejoicing and was welcomed home again.

Jesus gives us the most beautiful parable of the “Prodigal Son” not just to praise the conversion of the prodigal son nor to disapprove of the elder brother’s indignant rejection of his younger sibling, but to sing the praises of a most merciful father. The father is the real hero of this parable. And it is he whom Jesus wants us to emulate and imitate in our daily lives. For, as Jesus intimately knew, this is exactly why God the Father had sent Him; He so loved the world and wanted all His children back that He did not hesitate to send Jesus to forgive us by taking our place on the Cross.

If Lent is a time for asking God’s forgiveness for ourselves, it is also a time to remind ourselves of Jesus’ teaching: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.” The mercy God extends us has to be a gift we give to others. As another parable of the wicked servant teaches, if we do not show mercy to another who asks, God will rescind the mercy He has given us. Unfortunately the age we live in is not one that is always merciful, but can be vindictive, vengeful, and lacking in pity. None of this pleases God as the following story from the Eastern monks shows. “Isaac of Thebes, on one occasion, when he was visiting a monastic community, saw a brother sin and condemned him in his heart; when he returned to his hermit’s cell, he found his doorway barred by an angel, who said, ‘God has sent me to ask you where He is to put the fallen brother whom you condemned?”

If we are to be holy as God is holy, we are obliged to be as forgiving of others as He is with us. Otherwise we frustrate His merciful grace toward us. In the 2nd Reading, Paul urges the Corinthians to be reconciled to God. But this can only happen if we also reconcile with others in thought, word, and deed. Is there anyone in your present or past from whom you are withholding your forgiveness? Then now is the time to make up with them.

For the day may come when you ask God to allow you to come back home to Him. If you have welcomed back into the embrace of your love those who have offended you, then God the Father will embrace you as He embraced the prodigal son. And He will invite you to come in and enjoy life with Him in the place He has had waiting for you from all eternity.

Fr. Bernard Kirlin
Pastor