Month: August 2024

Since the dawn of humanity, the air that we breathe has been just right for us. However, it took many, many, many years for the air to be formed with just the right amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide. While the earth’s crust was forming, volcanoes released lots of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water.  Eventually, a simple form of bacteria developed that could live on CO2 and energy from the Sun, producing oxygen as a waste product. As they evolved over many millennia, plants and trees breathe in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen, while animals (including humans) breathe in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. How convenient! The balance is perfect. If there was too much oxygen, fires would spontaneously ignite all around us! If there was no carbon dioxide, the earth would be much too cold to live in. In fact it would be 70 degrees below 0! This was God’s intention. “For thus says the LORD, the designer and maker of the earth who established it, not as an empty waste, but designing it to be lived in” (Isaiah 45:18). Over the last two centuries, we began cutting down trees and burning fossil fuels which together upset the balance of carbon dioxide, trapping far too much heat. The transition to clean energy brings more new jobs and improves the health of its citizens. But there are also theological reasons for the transition. As Pope Francis reminds us, the poor suffer first from global warming. It effects their very livelihood by impacting agriculture, fisheries, and forests. Texas produces more wind energy than any other state, and its current energy mix (wind /solar/natural gas/coal/nuclear) produces 38% less CO2 than 25 years ago.  The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that by 2025, renewable energy will surpass coal to become the world’s top source of electricity. In this way, we are beginning to restore the world that God made for us. – – – Fr. Jim

When I was in high school, I memorized the date on which the Magna Carta was signed (June 1215), but I had no idea why it was important. But now I know! Before that time, English kings (and other strongman rulers) could do whatever they wanted to their subjects, including taking their private property, taxing them heavily to pay for their comforts, preventing them from religious worship, or putting them in prison for no reason. The Magna Carta was the first agreement by the king and wealthy barons that everyone – including the king and his successors – should follow a written law. When the U.S. president and members of Congress are sworn into their office, they take an oath to preserve and obey the Constitution of the United States along with its 27 amendments over the years. This written document defines how we are to live together and govern ourselves as Americans. It describes how the three branches of government work together in a system of checks and balances. It also defines our freedoms and our rights, noting that all persons deserve “the equal protection of the laws” (14^th Amendment). By adhering to the Constitution, we provide order and stability to our society.  The Gospel – the actions and teachings of Jesus – comes to us in a written form, but it is not the same kind of document. It does, however, provide “a lamp beneath our feet” to guide us on good moral and spiritual paths. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapters 5-7, is an example of how Christians should live. Here our Master calls us to “forgive even those who hate us”, to “treat others as we would like to be treated” and to “build our house on the solid rock of charitable actions”. In our baptism, we are pledging to follow these rules of order. – – – Fr. Jim