01/09/2026
HOMILY FOR SEPTEMBER 1, 2026 | WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CARE OF CREATION
Gospel: Matthew 6:24–34
Today, as we observe the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Jesus gives us a Gospel that sounds almost as if it were written for this celebration.
He tells us: “Look at the birds in the sky.”
And then: “Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.”
Jesus is teaching us by pointing to creation. He does not say, “Look only at your books.” He says, look at the birds. Look at the flowers. Look at the fields. Creation itself can become a classroom of God.
But before Jesus speaks about the birds and the flowers, He says something very important: “You cannot serve God and mammon.” This is the key to understanding the Gospel.
The problem is not money itself. We need money. Families need money. Parishes need money. Even our environmental programs need money! The problem begins when money stops being our servant and becomes our master.
When profit becomes our highest value, creation easily becomes something to exploit. A mountain becomes only minerals to extract. A forest becomes only timber to sell. A river becomes a convenient place for waste. The sea becomes a dumping ground. Land becomes something to develop at any cost. And even people can become numbers in an economic calculation.
Jesus reminds us: “You cannot serve God and mammon.”
If God is truly our Lord, then we must learn to look at creation differently—not merely as something we can use, but as a gift entrusted to our care.
LOOK AT THE BIRDS
Jesus says, “Look at the birds in the sky.” Perhaps today the birds themselves are asking us to look at them.
Where will the birds go when there are fewer trees? Where will they build their nests when forests disappear? What happens to them when the air, rivers, and seas become polluted?
And let us remember: birds are not useless decorations in the sky. They scatter seeds. They control insects. They pollinate plants. They help forests regenerate.
God created an extraordinary web of life in which one creature helps another. That is why when we destroy one part of creation, eventually we also hurt ourselves.
LOOK AT THE FLOWERS
Then Jesus says, “Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.”
A flower does not need a shopping mall. A tree does not need the latest cellphone. A bird does not need thousands of followers on social media. And yet we human beings, who have so much, can still feel that we never have enough.
Maybe one root of our ecological crisis is simply this: We have forgotten how to say, “This is enough.” Enough clothes. Enough gadgets. Enough plastic. Enough consumption.Enough waste. Enough profit at the expense of the environment.
The earth has enough for our needs, but our wants can become endless. Care for creation therefore requires not only planting trees and cleaning rivers. It also requires conversion of the heart. We need to learn again the Christian virtue of simplicity.
Buy what we need. Use what we have. Repair what can still be repaired. Share what we do not need. Avoid unnecessary single-use plastics. Waste less food. Conserve water and electricity.
And yes, plant trees—but please, after planting them, do not forget them! Often we have a beautiful tree-planting ceremony: pictures, speeches, smiles, Facebook posts. After three months, we return and the trees are all dead! Planting takes one day. Growing a forest takes years of love.
“DO NOT WORRY”
Three times in this Gospel, Jesus tells us not to worry.
But “Do not worry” does not mean “Do not care.” Jesus is not teaching irresponsibility. Christian trust is not an excuse for ecological neglect.
We cannot destroy our watersheds and then simply pray, “Lord, please don’t let us suffer from floods.” We cannot fill our waterways with garbage and then ask God to stop the water from rising. We cannot cut down trees carelessly and then wonder why our soil, water, climate, and communities suffer.
Prayer and responsibility must go together. We pray because we trust God. We act because God trusts us. He has entrusted creation to our care.
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A TREE I WILL NEVER SIT UNDER
There is an old story about an elderly man who was planting a small fruit tree.
A young man saw him and laughed.
“Lolo, why are you planting that tree? It will take many years before it grows big enough to bear much fruit. You may not even be alive to enjoy it.”
The old man continued putting soil around the little tree.
Then he smiled and said: “All my life, I have eaten fruit from trees I did not plant. Now it is my turn to plant trees for people I may never meet.”
——
My dear brothers and sisters, that is what care for creation is about. We are enjoying trees we did not plant. Water sources we did not create. Mountains we did not build. Seas we did not fill. A beautiful place we inherited from generations before us.
The question is: What kind of environment will we leave to the children who come after us?
Perhaps we will never meet them. But we can a
