From Thomas Peters at American Papist and Fr. Z at WDTPRS comes a story that would be laughable if only it weren't so dangerous:
Typically, when one thinks of Lent, one thinks of three traditional characteristics of the season: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Apparently, the Environmental Outreach Committee of the Archdiocese of Washington would like to add "turning your thermostat to 60" to that list of pious lenten actions, so much so in fact, that they have developed a "Lenten Carbon Fast Calendar" (you can download the PDF off Fr. Z's site).
As the Church teaches, I certainly support respect and care (stewardship) for God's green earth. That said:
1. Perhaps the money and resources used towards this Green Lent project could have been better directed at some basic catechesis which we so often find is lacking in many adult and young adult Catholics. Basics here, folks, say, the importance of prayer, the Real Presence in the Eucharist, the necessity of confession, the purpose of Lent..... simple things that could do much in educating people and enhancing everyone's Lenten practice and overall faith.
2. We just witnessed one of the most horrific natural disasters in Haiti, with 200,000 people dead and $13 billion in damage . Some words of Singer, speaker, and all around awesome-guy Sean Forest come to mind. Sean happens to run a mission in Haiti. Speaking to a large gathering (rally, if you will) of youth in Connecticut over the summer of 2009, Sean essentially said, with so many in our world suffering from want of basic necessities (he referenced the many in Haiti who eat mud to just have something in their stomachs), it is truly disturbing that so much of popular (and as we see here, in some cases Ecclesiastical) opinion and "good will", and thus money and resources, has gone towards solving the problem of "global warming", a problem that, mind you, is at best hotly contested scientific theory.
One need not travel to Haiti to witness poverty and degradation. One merely needs to walk a few blocks from Georgetown's front gates, down M street and notice the numerous beggars along the side of the road. I quick trip around some other areas of the Archdiocese Washington reveals the extent of a problem that exists right in our backyard.
I'll conclude with another thought from Sean: In a world where so many are suffering and dying from poverty, hunger, disease, and homelessness, don't go green, go RED.
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