1. The present level of consumption cannot be sustained

“We all know that it is not possible to sustain the present level of consumption in developed countries and wealthier sectors of society, where the habit of wasting and discarding has reached unprecedented levels.
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 27

2. In this 4th industrial revolution the world needs workers’ voices

“In the current context, known as the fourth industrial revolution, characterised by this “rapidification and sophisticated digital technology, robotics and artificial intelligence, the world is in need of voices such as ours. It is workers who, in their struggle for a just working day, learned to face a utilitarian, short-term and manipulative mentality. For this mindset, it does not matter if there is social and environmental degradation; it does not matter what one uses and what one discards; it does not matter if there is forced child labour or if a city’s river is polluted. The only thing that matters is immediate profit.”
Pope Francis, Letter, November 2017

3. Things can change for the better

“The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change. The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home.
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 13

4. Change is desirable but it becomes a source of anxiety when it causes harm

“The goals of this rapid and constant change are not necessarily geared to the common good or to integral and sustainable human development. Change is something desirable, yet it becomes a source of anxiety when it causes harm to the world and to the quality of life of much of humanity.
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 18

5. Population growth is fully compatible with shared development

“Yet while it is true that an unequal distribution of the population and of available resources creates obstacles to development and a sustainable use of the environment, it must nonetheless be recognised that demographic growth is fully compatible with an integral and shared development. To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues.”
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 50

6. I feel gratitude to scientists who make development sustainable

“How can we not feel gratitude and appreciation for this (technological*) progress, especially in the fields of medicine, engineering and communications? How could we not acknowledge the work of many scientists and engineers who have provided alternatives to make development sustainable?”
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 102
(*Word in bracket added)

7. Multinational companies often leave behind great environmental liabilities

“There is also the damage caused by the export of solid waste and toxic liquids to developing countries, and by the pollution produced by companies which operate in less developed countries in ways they could never do at home, in the countries in which they raise their capital: ‘We note that often the businesses which operate this way are multinationals. They do here what they would never do in developed countries or the so-called first world. Generally, after ceasing their activity and withdrawing, they leave behind great human and environmental liabilities such as unemployment, abandoned towns, the depletion of natural reserves, deforestation, the impoverishment of agriculture and local stock breeding, open pits, riven hills, polluted rivers and a handful of social works which are no longer sustainable’.
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 51

8. Sustainability and solidarity go hand in hand

“We can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity.”
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 159

9. Generosity and courage are crucial to attain results in protecting the environment

“Future sustainable development goals must therefore be formulated and carried out with generosity and courage, so that they can have a real impact on the structural causes of poverty and hunger, attain more substantial results in protecting the environment, ensure decent work for all, and provide appropriate protection for the family, which is an essential element in sustainable human and social development.”
Pope Francis, Conference of the ILO, 2014

10. Some countries have areas rich in water while others endure drastic scarcity

“Water supplies used to be relatively constant, but now in many places demand exceeds the sustainable supply, with dramatic consequences in the short and long term. Large cities dependent on significant supplies of water have experienced periods of shortage, and at critical moments these have not always been administered with sufficient oversight and impartiality. Water poverty especially affects Africa where large sectors of the population have no access to safe drinking water or experience droughts which impede agricultural production. Some countries have areas rich in water while others endure drastic scarcity.
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 28

11. Developing countries fuel the development of richer countries at their own cost

“The foreign debt of poor countries has become a way of controlling them, yet this is not the case where ecological debt is concerned. In different ways, developing countries, where the most important reserves of the biosphere are found, continue to fuel the development of richer countries at the cost of their own present and future. The land of the southern poor is rich and mostly unpolluted, yet access to ownership of goods and resources for meeting vital needs is inhibited by a system of commercial relations and ownership which is structurally perverse. The developed countries ought to help pay this debt by significantly limiting their consumption of non-renewable energy and by assisting poorer countries to support policies and programmes of sustainable development.”
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 52

12. Sustainable use considers each ecosystem’s regenerative ability

“When we speak of “sustainable use , consideration must always be given to each ecosystem’s regenerative ability in its different areas and aspects.”
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 140

13. Manipulation and power‚ hinder sustainability

“We also know that technology, from which we receive many benefits and many opportunities, can be an obstacle to sustainable development when associated with a paradigm of power, rule and manipulation.”

14. Not a return to Stone Age but a sustainable progress

“Nobody is suggesting a return to the Stone Age, but we do need to slow down and look at reality in a different way, to appropriate the positive and sustainable progress which has been made, but also to recover the values and the great goals swept away by our unrestrained delusions of grandeur.”
Pope Francis, On Care Of Our Common Home, 114

Read more:
– Top Pope Francis’ Quotes About Global And Local Solidarity
– Short Quotes About God
– Catholic Engineers

Watch:

The post Top Pope Francis’ Sustainability Quotes appeared first on Universe of Faith.

“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples,
‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.'” John 6:12

Reflection on this Bible verse about environmental sustainability by Pope Francis:

“Jesus asked the disciples to ensure that nothing was wasted: nothing thrown out! And there is this fact of 12 baskets: why 12? What does it mean? Twelve is the number of the tribes of Israel, it represents symbolically the whole people. And this tells us that when the food was shared fairly, with solidarity, no one was deprived of what he needed, every community could meet the needs of its poorest members. Human and environmental ecology go hand in hand.”
Pope Francis, General Audience, 2013

The post Bible Verse About Sustainability appeared first on Universe of Faith.

Farming as physical and spiritual nourishment

Fr Mark has cherished nature since he was a young boy. “I remember keeping all sorts of pets at home and a small roof garden. I then chose biology at school and that was it. My interest grew with me and I wanted to become a biology teacher.”

Fr Mark sees farming as a way to physically sustain his community by providing food and also as a means of spiritual nourishment: “Farming provides an opportunity to our youngsters to discover the beauty of touching crops covered with morning dew, savouring the sweet smell of freshly ploughed soil, gazing with awe at honey bees working tirelessly on myriads of multi-coloured flowers. This is our way of sharing the gospel message with all, especially the most needy. Our world is desperately craving for inner peace, and we want to give it freely.

A semi-wild environment

He is not just a normal farmer. He insists that it is done in a sustainable way. So I asked if he has an organic certification: “No, we don’t. I mean don’t get me wrong. Organic is a very good start but here we do not use anything, not even the fertilisers which are allowed to be used in organic farming. We want to totally respect the ecosystem. We use permaculture.”

Permaculture seeks to conserve bio-diversity. This means that a variety of products needs to be sown in one field, patches of soil should be left to grow wild, animals left to graze more wildly thus obtaining a more natural manuring system. So how does this permaculturalist deal with insects and pests? “For example, I did have a problem with white butterflies laying eggs under the brassica leaves. But as the trees around grew attracting more birds the problem diminished, having the birds eating what they found under the leaves. So Fr Mark’s crops grow beautifully and deliciously in this semi-wild environment.”

“Sustainability is looking beyond the present moment”

I ask him if permaculture is a conservative way of doing things or if it is the way forward: “The idea that permaculture refuses modern day technology is completely false. In fact, one of the most salient aspects of this project is the huge amount of research we do. We explore ways of working hand in hand with nature, and that includes also the aid of modern tools that help us to conserve precious energy with the minimum of impact on the environment in general. Permaculture is a rediscovery of ancient wisdom, applied to our concrete circumstances.”

He believes that if we realise that we are part of a bigger story, we might become more respectful and thoughtful of others: “Sustainability is looking beyond the present moment. You can grow local and with organic standards, without having an inkling of what respect towards ourselves and future generations is. It is not just the farming; we need to rediscover a lifestyle, understand that we are only an insignificant fraction of an immense universe, that we have been created, not self made.”

What about those who live away from nature or without even a garden in their house?

“You can be connected to the whole of creation if every opportunity is taken to cultivate love everywhere. Anything can represent such an occasion: choosing where to live, choosing how to live, choosing with what to live, choosing with whom to live. This boils down to simple every day choices like choosing where to buy, what to eat, etc. It’s the vision that counts; the rest follows.”

No violence on one’s character

Fr Mark believes that there is a link between faith and farming, between loving one’s neighbour and loving nature: “Pope Francis is talking about integral ecology. You cannot love man without loving his home. Our effort with homeless youth is to provide the right environment for them to rediscover the immense beauty within themselves. We give them back what has already been given to us. It’s like putting a seed in the soil.. the rest is up to the seed. No violence. The young come to understand that they can dance to the same rhythm they observe in nature, and find inner freedom.”

The project has grown immensely in the past ten years even though Fr Mark admits that these past ten years have been a great learning curve in many ways. “There is so much newness and unicity in this project as there is nothing of the sort here in Malta, you are constantly learning. We are in dialogue with experts who help us. Also, this project has grown thanks to volunteers, donations and sponsorships.”

Fr Mark speaks of an ever increasing interest from the general public in what they are doing: “People tell us that somehow they are attracted to us, that they feel their heart at home, even if it’s their first visit. We listen to them and reflect. We have arrived to the conclusion that Frate Jacoba House is offering an alternative lifestyle to what most of the people out there are living. It seems to be a true remedy for individualism, isolation, solitude, alienation and all types of spiritual ailments that are besieging our people today. But this obviously burdens us with a responsibility: that of walking the road with all that befriend us, continuing the road together, learning from each other, finding ways of living the same ethos, rooted in one’s concrete situation.”

It’s not how much you pray but that your life becomes a prayer

There is so much to do in this house, so I ask Fr Mark how he nourishes himself and if he does get tired: “Of course I do! Physically yes, but not in spirit. Franciscan spirituality teaches us that it is not about how much you pray, but that your whole life becomes a prayer. Naturally this is a journey, and we have means to achieve this end. We have community prayer once a day. Personally, I wake up before dawn, spending the first hour of my day in solitude. It keeps me focused. I remind myself of my journey and seek the necessary power to go on,” he replies with a smile.

Fr Mark closes with a comment about faith and farming from the founder of his order, St Francis, who is a source of great inspiration to him: “Francis walked the same road before us. In his own way he had discovered that the gospel message is a true way of life that makes sense. Without expecting the whole world to change, he endeavoured to make of himself a new creation. And he succeeded. So many, up to our own age, look up to him as a complete man, reconciled with himself, with humanity, with creation, with the Creator.”

Frate Jacoba House welcomes those who wish to pay a visit on their own, in groups or with their families. It also hosts meetings, conferences, retreats and prayer sessions for groups of 25-50 people. Further information can be obtained from their Facebook page Dar Frate Jacoba

Read More:
Introduction to Permaculture, Bill Mollison, Tasmania, 1991.
Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual, Bill Mollison, Tasmania, 1988.
The One-Straw Revolution, Fukuolka Masanobu, New York, 1978.

The post Frate Jacoba House: An Experience of Faith & Farming appeared first on Universe of Faith.