Care for the Environment: A Worldview

Malou Navio, Unbound regional project director in the Philippines, offers a reflection for Earth Day.

St. Teresa of Avila beautifully said,

If we learn to love the earth, we will find labyrinths, gardens, fountains and precious jewels! A whole new world will open itself to us. We will discover what it means to be truly alive. 

Care for the environment is alive in the communities where Unbound works. It is integrated in the sponsorship program and linked to the common good principle of the Church’s social teachings that nature, the Earth, was meant for all of us, not just for a few.  

Care for the environment is a worldview. Unbound staff and families participating in our programs view Earth and nature as God’s creations and blessings. Our indigenous people members say they sense the heart of our Creator in all creations and in the cosmos. 

Over the years, many children, youth, parents, and elders have advocated for greater consciousness on the part of communities with respect to care for the environment. They segregate waste and clean surroundings, waterways, rivers, seashores, and lakeshores. They grow and nurture trees, vegetables, plants and flowers.  

It is always so very pleasant to see the birds and various ages of trees along the road and in open spaces, and the mangroves growing on the seashore. In the past, sponsors on Unbound awareness trips and individual sponsor visits experienced tree-planting activities of communities.  

When a child or elder joins the sponsorship program, raising their consciousness on care for the environment is important. This is affirmed by the encyclical Laudato Si' of Pope Francis, who said,

Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others.  

Happy Earth Day!  

Please pray with Unbound:

Omnipotent God, we thank you for your marvelous works. We pray to you to grant us the gift of a caring spirituality for plants and all life forms to flourish and keep the environment healthy. Bless us to reach out to more children, youth, and elders in need, and bless us as we work with them and their families for genuine development that will be for the good of all. Amen. 

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Copyright 2024 Malou Navio for Unbound
Images: copyright 2024 Unbound, all rights reserved.