Friar Michael Lasky, General Delegate for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC), shared the following message on the Order’s website for the Season of Creation 2023:
Pope Francis’ theme for the Season of Creation 2023, Let Justice and Peace Flow, comes to us from the Prophet Amos. These words always remind me of another modern-day prophet, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther KING, Jr., who said in his famous I Have a Dream speech, during the 1963 March on Washington, “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
These prophetic words can help us to better focus on Laudato Si’ as a social teaching. Pope Francis reminds us, “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” (Laudato Si’ 139) The cry of the poor and the cry of the earth are connected.
Today, we can see the connection of these issues in the suffering of the people in West Africa after the recent coup d’etat in Niger. The tensions are over control of gold, uranium, and petrol. Our friars in neighboring Burkina Faso tell me of two coups their country experienced in 2022. They now have a new and young president who is trying his best to fight against terrorism. All the while, the friars in Sabou have been helping refugees who are fleeing from the various parts of Burkina Faso that are controlled by terrorists. They are providing the refugees food and medical care at our Franciscan hospital. Our friars and the people of West Africa are not satisfied and wait for justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream…
Today, we can see the connection of these issues in the suffering of the people of Venezuela after the economic catastrophe there. Over seven million people have emigrated in search of a better life, as those who remain are left with a crippled healthcare system due to shortages of food and medicine. Together with their people, our friars in Venezuela live day to day, not sure what tomorrow will bring. They too are not satisfied and wait for justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream…
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During this Season of Creation 2023, may we all pray with and for our brothers in West Africa and Venezuela, as a united fraternity “that will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
– friar Michael Lasky OFM Conv.
