21 Apr EARTH´s day
Today, April 22 we celebrate Earth Day, this year marked by the corona virus pandemic which leaves no one untouched and is devastating the entire earth. However, it should be pointed out that not everything about this pandemic is evil; there are many lessons to learn. The CO2 emissions responsible for climate change have been significantly reduced in the countries affected by the corona virus. The crisis also has the potential to make long range changes to our behavior and purchasing habits, for example travel and consumption. The confinement has put the brakes on the frenetic pace at which we were living, which the Pope himself warned us about in his Encyclical. The confinement is making us spend more time with family or in community, with more patience, with more mercy, and in creating a pleasant atmosphere. To dedicate more time to personal prayer and to the family.
Covid 19 does not affect all people and social groups equally and with he same intensity. It is much more aggressive toward those groups and social classes that have a special vulnerability, as the Portuguese social scientist Boaventura de Sousa Santos states. Among these are the following: women, workers in dangerous jobs, day laborers, the homeless, slum dwellers, the elderly, those in refugee camps, undocumented immigrants, displaced persons, the imprisoned, the disabled, and minority communities. According to studies, the virus affects more men than women, and the symptoms are more aggressive in men.
It is time to ask ourselves:
1. What positive aspects would I highlight about the Covid-19 epidemic?
2. On the spiritual level how does this confinement help me? What changes in the Church am I seeing and experiencing?
3. What initiatives of solidarity have we seen developing in our city, work, neighborhood community, associations, etc.?
Ana Gutiérrez, aci
