The tears of Mother Earth are very bitter when experienced and they affect everybody uniformly. The question is, why is Mother Earth crying when she is supposed to be our common home? After God had created man and woman, He put them in charge of the universe, meaning they were supposed to be managers of our common home. However, with the sin of Adam and Eve due to disobedience, the mismanagement of Mother Earth started.
The recent floods experienced in Uganda most especially in the Kasese area with Rivers like Nyamwamba and Mubuku, Kenya, Brazil, and mudslides in Papua New Guinea and other parts of the world are a confirmation of the bitter tears of Mother Earth. The tears of Mother Earth are bitter because they cannot go unnoticed, a lot of properties are destroyed, lives are lost, transport systems are disrupted and even gardens of food are destroyed.
Our Mother Earth does not cry without warning us first, we have seen signs like changing weather patterns, unpredictable climate, and many others. However, all these have been ignored until Mother Earth has cried and we have consequently experienced her bitter tears.
The Humanity that was entrusted with the care of our common home by God at the time of creation, has ironically been at the forefront of abusing our common home either knowingly or unknowingly. Our leaders have not done enough to save and protect our common home from abuse and mismanagement. Greed for money/wealth, development, and industrialization have sacrificed our common home whereby forests have been cleared for factories, swamps reclaimed for agriculture and settlements, the air has been polluted by ever-growing industrialization and our common home is no longer conducive for living.
Great appreciation for Pope Francis who has awoken a spirit of taking care of our common home through the encyclical letter Laudate Si. Pope Francis is inviting all of us without segregation of religion, country, race, color and age to engage in activities that will protect our Mother Earth and our common home.
The littering of the environment has to stop, trees have to be planted, wetlands have to be restored and the environment respected. When we take care of the environment, our common home Mother Earth gives us joy and gladness instead of bitter tears. Rivers will flow normally without flooding; our seasons will be normal without prolonged droughts and abnormal rainfall season. We all have to appreciate and come to a realization that taking care of our common home is our united effort. I treasure the work of Laudato youth under the Laudato Club in our school. How I wish many schools would take up Climate Education and Action as a priority value. Let us be people of action and unite to mitigate climate change as the Laudato Youth Say United for Climate Action.
God bless you all.
Fr. Prosper Atukwatse, CSC.
