Homily by Ann Harrington ARCWP

 Homily for the Second Sunday in the Season of Creation 2024 by Barbara Glatthorn Free Spirit Inclusive Catholic Community

​I’d like to begin today’s homily, by speaking first about nature as presented in today’s gospel.  We are told that Jesus left the district of Tyre which was set in the west on the coastline of Phoenicia what is now Syria and Lebanon. He then traveled further north to the likewise situated city of Sidon to avoid climbing the mountains that lie between the coast and the River Jordan Valley to the east.  He would then most likely have passed along the upper reaches of the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilea into which the Jordan flows.  The Jordan begins as a small stream at some 9,000 feet in the mountains before flowing into the Sea of Galilea which lies 685 feet below sea level, until some 80 miles further it reaches 1400 feet below sea level at the Dead Sea.  At some point Jesus crossed either the river or the sea to arrive on the opposite, eastern side, of the Sea in an area known in Jesus’ time as the Decapolis and now as the Golan Heights. I say all of this just to get a broad picture of this one journey, taken through varied topography and diverse eco-systems. And to get a glimpse of the specific sense of place that Jesus had. 

​Rivers are the key indicators of anecosystems’ health; they are report cards on the health of the whole watershed. Much of Jesus’ ministry took place within this watershed, along the banks of the Jordan River or the shores of the Sea of Galilea, that in his day were both sources of freshwater, replete with aquatic life, nourishment for local fauna and flora, and home to millions of migrating birds.  The Jordan River Valley serves as the connector between the two vast ecosystems of Asia and Africa. Today the Jordan River is near collapse with 96% of its flow diverted and one half of its biodiversity lost.  What remains is polluted, adjacent agricultural areas are dust.  We can imagine the sense of dismay, shock even that the human Jesus might experience upon returning to his homeland today.

  We also live in a varied ecosystem along the banks of a river that begins in the north, in Person County (in the Roxborough area) and flows south east to join with the water of Pamlico Sound.  We might ask ourselves if we have a watershed discipleship.  A watershed discipleship is one that takes place in and is shaped by a specific place.  It is one nearing a watershed moment – a tipping point. Finally, it is one that calls us as followers of the gospels to have a “catechism of place.”  It has been said:  We won’t save places we don’t love.  We can’t love places we don’t know.  And we don’t know places we haven’t learned.”  At present, the entire Tar-Pamlico River Basin has been designated as “Nutrient Sensitive Water” because it contains excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous as a result of polluted storm-water and agricultural run-off.  Our personal experience of fish kills, algal blooms, and off-limits swimming areas arouse discouragement and fear for our future in this place.  We too are asked to have a discipleship of place.  In this regard I have been impressed with the work conducted by a Sound Waters, a local non-profit in its beginning stages in 1987 when I first moved to Blounts Creek, here in North Carolina.  In the last ten years Sound Waters has fought for the Tar-River Basin, and particularly Blounts Creek, in an effort to prevent the Martin Marrietta Corporation from spilling some twelve millions gallons of wastewater from their mining operations per day into Blounts Creek. Over the course of the past ten years, they have filed lawsuits, lost, appealed, won, counter appealed, won, and again lost at the North Carolina Supreme Court level.  The contested permit has expired and not activated as yet.  The efforts of the past ten years may be repeated again should the permit be activated (which is possible at present) or a new permit requested.

These are the issues that localities face around the world as a result of the devastation of our rivers, oceans, soil, and air.  These issues put all of life on the planet at risk.  Their accumulated devastation is overwhelming and can lead to our despairing the possibility of recovering the health and restoring the beauty of our planet, of our home.

In our first reading, Isaiah urges his people to “Be strong, fear not” because God is faithful and is engaged in history.  He sees the work of God in the eyes that are opened, the ears that hear again, in the lame and the mute healed, and Earth being restored to fruitfulness and life.  The faithful Presence of God is our foundation against discouragement and losing hope in the face of the current crises.  

 

In today’s liturgy, on this second Sunday in the Season of Creation, we are urged to address our discouragement in the face of the growing climate crisis.  The extreme temperatures throughout the summer, across the globe, as well as the force of the storms generated have been daily reminders of the growing crisis and its threat to our wellbeing and perhaps eventual survival.

Isaiah 35 urges us to: “Take courage!”  and to not be afraid.  On Wednesday evening, when we met for Contemplative Prayer, Ann proposed this reading from Isaiah for the lectio divina which concludes our time together.  There was discussion of the word “vindication” which we discovered is less about vengeance and more about bringing out the truth in the sense of being proven right.  That particular emphasis lends new meaning when we have the climate crisis in mind and read that: “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be unsealed, those who are incapacitated will take joyfully take action, and those who have been silent will speak out loudly. This has been our hope all along – that climate change will be more widely accepted as truth in order to bring humanity to the point of recognizing our role in the destruction of God’s creation and accepting our responsibility of being co-creators in the necessary healing of the earth.  

There is already evidence that such change is taking place all across the world as well as in our state and in our own backyard.  I was amazed at the number of non-profit, advocacy groups focused on conservancy, recovery measures, public education regarding climate change.  The North Carolina Conservancy Network alone is a statewide network of some sixty plus, environmental, community, and ecological justice organizations, focused entirely on NC.  Such networks are most likely present in other states as well.  One striking story comes from Sound Waters, a nonprofit organization that guards the health of the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico river basins here in Eastern North Carolina.  A new podcast on the Sound Rivers website recounts the story of their ten-year legal battle with the Martin-Marietta Corporation and with the State of North Carolina to prevent 12 million gallons of groundwater from a mining operation emitted into the creek.  It is a story of ordinary people exhibiting courage and determination to pursue their goal, and while standing ready to do it all over again in the face of defeat, rejoice in their achievement. Examples like this are a source of hope for us as well as a call to action.  If we read just one of the many journals published by conservancy and wildlife organizations, we will also find cause for hope and, perhaps, opportunities for action on our part.  We need to build our hope as well as our concern for creation.