Caring For What’s Entrusted To Us

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today, on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, our first reading tells us something extraordinary: “We have the mind of Christ.” Think about that for a moment. Christianity is not simply about knowing prayers, coming to Church, or avoiding obvious sins. To receive the Spirit of God means that little by little we begin to see the world the way Christ sees it. We begin to look at people differently. We begin to look at our choices differently. And yes, we begin to look at the earth differently. The land beneath our feet, the rivers, forests, mountains, animals, and everything God has created are not just raw materials waiting for someone to make money from them. Creation is something God looked upon and called good. The question, then, is not only, “What can we take from the earth?” but also, “What has God entrusted to us?”

This becomes painfully real when we think about things like illegal mining and the destruction it can bring. Mountains are torn apart, rivers are polluted, forests disappear, communities lose their land, and sometimes people suffer while a few become wealthy. It is easy to condemn the person operating the machinery or the businessman making the deal. But perhaps there is another question that is more uncomfortable: What about the person who knows what is happening and says, “That has nothing to do with me”? Sometimes evil grows not only because people actively choose what is wrong, but because good people decide that somebody else will deal with it. We can become very skilled at saying, “It is not my land. It is not my river. It is not my problem.”

But if we truly have the mind of Christ, can we really say that? The Spirit of God teaches us that everything is connected. If a river is poisoned somewhere upstream, eventually someone downstream drinks that water. If a forest disappears, somebody loses a home, a livelihood, or a future. And if greed becomes normal in one part of society, sooner or later it affects all of society. Caring for creation comes from the basic truth that the world belongs to God before it belongs to us. We are not owners who can do whatever we want; we are stewards who will one day have to answer for what was placed in our hands.

So today, perhaps the Lord is inviting us to change one sentence in our hearts. Instead of saying, “It is none of my business,” perhaps the Christian says, “If it belongs to God, then I should care.” Because the river belongs to God. The mountain belongs to God. The forest belongs to God. The people who depend upon them belong to God. And so do we. To have the mind of Christ means learning to care about what Christ cares about – and sometimes holiness begins simply when we refuse to look away.

Prayer: Lord, give us the mind of Christ and hearts that refuse to become indifferent. Forgive us when we see the wounds of creation and choose to look away. Give courage to those who protect our land, rivers, forests, and communities, and change the hearts of those who exploit them for greed. Teach us to remember that creation is Your gift, not our possession, and help us leave this earth more beautiful for those who come after us. Amen.

– Homily by Rev Fr Patrick Agbeko