Gulf Pine Catholic

10 Gulf Pine Catholic • July 7, 2023 I think I might be getting senile at this stage of my life. During the past few months, I have been doing some re- search, not on anything to do remotely about priesthood or religion but on something totally different. My mind has been filled with sta- tistics, comparisons, companies, quota- tions, and questions. I have been swim- ming upstream in brand and generic names; performance ratings; maximum output and minimum input; review rat- ings and guarantees; warranties and re- placements; with AC and DC; with Photovoltaic and thermo- dynamic; with inverters and diverters; with mono and poly; with smart meters and the grid.. If I had any sense, I would have kept away from such mind-boggling stuff and just enjoy my life free senility. But, alas, I have been too stubborn and instead, wanted to fill my overcrowded and exerted brain with some more stuff. There is only so much room in my suitcase brain. As you might guess, I have ventured into the unknown territory of installing solar panels on my house in order to become more efficient and more cost effective in my use of electricity by allowing the good Lord to share His free gift of sunshine. Maybe, by harnessing God’s free gift, I can play some part in appreciating and sustaining the beautiful earth He has given us to enjoy. Maybe, I am a bit crazy pursuing a new adventure when, instead, I could be sitting in my rocking chair watching the world go by. But, I suppose, even in my old age, there is still something novel and exciting about embracing and venturing into a new adventure. With the soaring cost of electricity, and driven by the con- flict in Ukraine, Europeans are challenged to become more energy conscious and creation-centered in their outlook and lifestyle. All are challenged to replace our carbon footprints with a God given footprint we need to see more clearly. I noticed that one of the welcome blessings in disguise from Covid was that more and more people are embracing the challenge to become more self-sustaining. Maybe, because during Covid people’s movements were restricted. They just couldn’t go to the grocery store or go window shopping at their latest whim; that, instead, they had to become more cre- ative with their time and energy. Many used that creativity to explore some creative avenues such as organic gardening, reflecting more deeply on life’s purpose and our ability to live within it, discovering new hobbies and reflecting more on how they can contribute to making the world a better place. I can still hear that distinctive voice of scientist and vision- ary, Carl Sagan, who said “We are set on a path that will take us to the stars -- unless in some monstrous capitulation to stu- pidity and greed, we destroy ourselves first.” Our life support mechanisms have been badly damaged. Our nourishing womb has been raped. So many of us choose to turn a blind eye to the destruction of our planet and allow the rich and vested interests to remain in their guilt-free, artificial comfort zones. We have become predators rather than providers; indifferent rather than involved; isolated rather than included; excusers rather than executors; tolerators rather than transformers. One of my favourite poets is Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Her poem, Aurora Leigh , has these lines: Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush is afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes, The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries. We seem to have lost the sense of awe and respect, the sense of surprise and engagement, the sense of wonder and the miraculous. We would rather sit around and pick black- berries. God, in creating the world and sharing it with us, chal- lenged us to take care of it by cultivating and tilling it to bear more fruit, rather that steal and pillage it. Gerard Manley Hopkins reminds us that the earth is “charged with the grandeur of God.” It is crushed, wrecked by our insatiable desire to control and manipulate rather than em- brace and become cocreators. In spite of that, in life, “lives the dearest freshness deep down things;” that we must treasure, harness and build a tapestry, guided by the powerful hands of the Great Weaver. I just received an email saying my latest bill is on line. I’m curious to see how much sunshine the good Lord has show- ered upon me and my wallet. Father Michael Tracey is retired and lives in Ireland. He can be contacted by email at mtracey1@bellsouth.net . His website is www.michaeltracey.net I might be getting senile Across the Pond Father Tracey Vatican: Dioceses, religious must work together to support Catholic schools BY CAROL GLATZ VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Catholic schools worldwide face several challenges -- including declin- ing enrollments, funding or maintaining a distinctive religious character -- the Vatican has urged religious orders, dioceses and laypeople to come together to “take risks” and be creative in finding solutions. “It is urgent for the various institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life to sing together as a choir, and for bishops, parish priests and diocesan pas- toral offices to sing in tune with the rich educational charisms present in schools run by institutes of conse- crated life and societies of apostolic life,” a joint docu- ment said. “It is essential that clergy, religious men and women, and lay people all sing as one choir, and that lay people be given the chance to echo the educating voice of a diocese and even the unique timbre of a reli- gious charism,” said the letter from the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Published June 28 and addressed to “all involved in the mission of education in Catholic schools,” the letter explained a few outcomes from a meeting the dicaster- ies held May 22 with “a number of leading figures in the worldwide network of Catholic schools, in order to discuss in person the prospects and difficulties involved in the mission of education in our time.” Some of the serious difficulties the meeting addressed, it said, included: the effects of the recent pandemic; the global economic crisis; decreasing birth rates; severe poverty and “unjust disparities in access to food, water, health care, education, information, culture and the Internet.” Some countries do “not acknowledge parity in the financing of non-state schools,” it added, and some dioceses and religious orders “have experienced a sig- nificant drop in vocations.” In some cases, it said, schools have closed or been put up for sale, resulting in a loss of a unique charism and “personality” in educational offerings. Lastly, it said, participants at the meeting said that “new and unprecedented circumstances, opportunities and questions are at times making it more difficult to express our Catholic Christian identity in a way that is open to dialogue yet firmly committed, solidly ground- ed and on good terms with all.” “Sadly, Catholic schools sometimes operate in the same geographic area not as soloists who let their unique vocal timbre enrich the larger chorus, but rather as divided, isolated and in some cases even dissonant voices that clash with others,” the joint letter said. “We wish to emphasize certain things that ‘need to be done.’ All of us, in fact, need to be increasingly determined to ‘sing together as a choir,’” it said. “For we are convinced of the possibilities and beauty of the mission to educate, as an ‘inalienable right’ that fosters the dignity of the human person.” The Vatican dicasteries encouraged “initiatives and even experiments that are imaginative and creative, open to sharing with one another and to concern for the future, exact in their analysis yet like a breath of fresh air in their outlook.” “May the fear of risks not dampen the spirit of bold- ness,” the letter said. “A crisis is no time for hiding one’s head in the sand, but for gazing up at the stars, like Abraham.” The dicasteries thanked everyone who devotes “their lives and energies to the important mission of education” and thanked families who choose to “raise their sons and daughters in an educational partnership with Catholic schools.” “We likewise thank those bishops, dioceses and institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life who invest significant human effort and financial resources in maintaining older schools and building new ones,” they added. The dicasteries promised to “make use of both old and new ways to listen to your voices on our common journey, to address realities in a timely way and to help the body of the church to develop forward-looking solutions, even in the most difficult circumstances.”