Caring for Our Mutual Home
How much do we love our home, our global home? Do we fully understand the importance of taking care of our environment and why?
This April we celebrated Earth Day (April 22nd) and in May we will be participating as a community to observe Laudato Si’ Week, Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on care for our common home (May 17–24, 2026).
“Care for Creation connects faith, justice, and ecology. It calls us to protect people and the planet, recognizing that environmental harm disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable St. Thomas the Apostle Church+1. In 2026, this theme will be a focal point for global Catholic action, urging individuals and communities to live out their faith through daily choices and concrete commitments.”
“Laudato Si’ Week 2026 invites us to move from hope to action. Hope is not passive; it is lived and shared through daily choices, community life, prayer, and concrete acts of care. This year reminds us that ecological conversion grows step by step—through relationships restored, creation protected, and communities strengthened. The next chapter of Laudato Si’ begins with us, wherever we are.”
I remember growing up in an apartment with a mother who loved plants. We had a 5-room apartment, and every window was covered with plants of all sorts. In the living room we even had a Wandering Jew with its branches reaching out and over the window, down alongside the wall. She had a deep belief in the healing power of some plants. So much so, that one time she returned from Puerto Rico with a cutting of a cannabis plant to grow. She wanted to make tea from the leaves for my oldest brother who suffered from severe lung issues. Eventually, she was found out, and the NYPD paid a visit and removed the plant. This was back in the 70’s and when my mom explained why she had it, they led her off explaining it was illegal in New York.
Now that is just one plant that has healing power. It is also a plant that can be used for unhealthy reasons.
Our earth, a gift from God, is a home to all of humanity. God’s instructions to us was and is to be stewards of the earth and everything in it. We read in Stewardship (USCCB)
“What identifies a steward? Safeguarding material and human resources and using them responsibly are one answer; so is generous giving of time, talent, and treasure. But being a Christian steward means more. As Christian stewards, we receive God's gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord.” “Stewardship is a part of that journey.”
I believe too many of us have become desensitized to what is happening to our earthly home. With all the chaos going on in the world, we are losing the meaning of what it means to care for our global home.
It’s time to think about “stewardship” in a more personal way. I mean, if you own a home, do you not care for the outside area? If you have a garden, do you not remove the weeds, trim the grass and fertilize the grass with health products/ingredients? This would be especially true if you grow vegetables.
What about the inside of your home? Do you not try to use the best products to clean? Products that are not harmful to you and your family. Do you teach your children to care for their respective rooms and share caring for the areas that the family share?
More of us need to extend this concern to our neighborhood, town, city, state. We need to support those organizations that are ready and willing to use their resources to maintain, improve and teach about caring for our environment. It is after all our mutual home.
Read more here: From Hope to Action
Millie Padilla
Admin
Comments