Building Respect, October 2022

By Br. Adolf Mugume, CSC

We are living in unprecedented times where wars, climate change, and hunger are rampant. God created us all in His image and likeness, and we need to respect the dignity of life He gave us. We are all familiar with the creation story in Gen 2:15, where the Lord God placed man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.?This makes me wonder whether we are drifting from the above reality– where humans take care of God’s creations. The world's treasures are meant to support our well-being, but we do not need to make them the center of our lives. Christ is and will be the center of our lives. Our Founder Fr. Basil Moreau wrote, "It is bold to claim that the Cross of Christ is our hope. It is even bolder to believe and live the Cross as our only hope.”?

It could be that giving hope and reflecting passionately on how values of peace, love of neighbor, reconciliation, negotiation, and climate action enrich our faith to build a world imbued with respect for humanity and God's creation. I recently watched the Pope's new? documentary, The Letter which was released on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. This film inspired me. I have been trying to speak out on this cause for some years while working with young people, whose future concerns me. In the film, Pope Francis features five frontline champions, and each person represents a voice that is not being heard. Chief Odair "Dadá" Borari is the voice of the Indigenous people, Ridhima Pandey is the voice of the younger generation, Arounda Kande is the voice of the poor, and Greg Asner and Robin Martin are the voices of nature. These protagonists were selected from different parts of the world to amplify a unified voice about the climate crisis. This communicates the message of a united world we need to build.?

We should feel compassion and pray for those suffering from war, be in solidarity with the poor who are dying of hunger, those in need of faith and those suffering from climate-related catastrophes. We must work toward creating a better world for the young generation. A world that values God's creation and considers peaceful means to solve conflicts. We must continue to reflect on our weaknesses and seek God's love and forgiveness. We must be the hope of our neighbors, and uphold the communication with God. To keep the faith so that when the Son of man returns, he will find faith on earth. Ave Crux Spes Unica!