On Earth Day, Catholics are called to pay special honor to nature and the earth. To this end, believers are encouraged to dedicate themselves to the many “saints” and in particular to the message of the “Holy Father”. Mary must play a central role.
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Catholic Practice for “Earth Day”
As in previous years, April 22nd was “Earth Day”. This day of devotion was first celebrated in 1970 as a sign of support for global environmental protection. The Roman Catholic Church claims a “long tradition” of calling for “appropriate stewardship of the earth,” according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA – Source).
Every Catholic is called to respond to the message of the “Holy Father” on this day of honor for the earth. This addresses the Pope and his encyclical “Laudato Si'” (2015) as well as the follow-up letter “Laudate Deum” (2023). According to CNA, a Catholic has five ways to celebrate Earth Day appropriately.
1. Spend time with God in nature
Earth Day invites you to take a hike in nature. The believer can also spend time in prayer while taking a walk to thank God for his creation. Time to contemplate nature in God’s presence.
2. Create a Marian garden
Such a Mariengarten is a garden with trees and flowers, i.e. a garden full of plants. These honored Our Lady and Jesus. As examples, CNA cites the poinsettia for the Christmas story, lilies as a symbol of Mary’s queenship, the baby’s breath for Mary’s veil and the chrysanthemum as a symbol of the apparition of the Lord. Such a garden could also be decorated with a statue of the Virgin Mary.
3. Read Laudato Si’
The encyclical “Laudato Si'” translates as “Praise be to you”. A song by “Saint” Francis of Assisi, the “Song of the Creatures”. This song praises God for the “goodness of natural forces such as sun, wind and water.” However, the encyclical deals not only with concern for the environment, but also with the relationships between God, the earth and people.
4. Taking the vow of “Saint” Francis
This vow includes prayer and reflection on the duty to care for God’s creation. A relic of the “Catholic climate pact”, the “St. Francis Pledge”. Catholics are obliged to honor creation and to analyze how much they contribute to climate change.
5. Learn more about “Saints.”
Among the “saints” of the Roman Catholic Church there are many who are known for their love for God’s creation. These include CNA Francis of Assisi, John Paul II, Pier Giorgio Frassati and Kateri Tekakwitha. Assisis and Tekakwitha are considered patron saints of ecology. Frassati liked to go hiking in the mountains as a way to encounter “God in nature.”
Ancient Roman tradition
Catholicism as it lives and (still) lives. A series of measures that all correspond to the Catholic tradition, i.e. the practiced paganism. Do these suggestions include even one position that points to the study of the gospel, the Word of God? The creation account in Genesis would be a suggestion. But not even a hint in passing. Instead, the call to take an example from once-practicing pantheists and dedicate the spiritual outpourings of the “Holy Father” in Rome. By the way, Matthew 23:9:
“And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.“
The Gospel explains very clearly how easy it is to recognize God as the Creator and not to locate the Creator within creation, as in Romans 1:19-20:
“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:“
Creator replaced with creation
Man is fully capable of recognizing God through His creation. To do this, people are simply asked to think, and to do so independently. However, it is also the Roman Catholic Church that turns the relationship between creator and creation on its head. This can be seen in “Measure Tip No. 3” and the polytheist and pantheist Franz v. Assisi illustrated as a role model. The “creatures sing of the Creator” and goodness emanates from the sun, wind and water. This is illustrated, among other things, by expressions such as “Brother Sun, Sister Water, Mother Earth”. The encyclical “Laudato Si'” is a manifesto of pantheism (Info).
As is part of the “long tradition” of the Church of Rome, the ancient Romans’ worship of nature is also part of it. Paul urged this in Romans 1:21:
“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.“
Climate and nature conservation has already officially been transformed into a faith-based religion (Info).
Ancient Roman decadence
A “trademark” of the ancient Romans was homosexuality and same-sex marriage, especially in the circles of the so-called elites. Of course, the festivities and banquets also included pleasure boys of the appropriate age for the exuberant fun. Paul knew this and warned against it, as in Romans 1:24-27:
“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”
Mother Earth – Mary – Isis – Gaia
Mary, the “Queen of Heaven,” is a Roman Catholic specialty. There is nothing to be found in the Bible about her sinlessness (“the Immaculate”) nor about her ascension, let alone anything about her position as Queen of Heaven. Rather, the Mary described by the Roman Church has a whole series of parallels to the pagan, ancient Egyptian “goddess” Isis (Info).
In Hellenism this can be equated with “Gaia” and here too, the circle closes to the pantheism secretly practiced by the church, which the former Protestant churches have already joined (Info). Gaia is the named “Mother Earth”, the “birthing one”, as embodied in the Catholic Mary.
Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Revelation 14:7
Bible verses from King James Version
