Alexandra Nash

Dr. Gabrielli
Faith Religion and Society
16 January, 2016

The Earth: God’s Gift to Mankind

Imagine for a moment that one day you wake up from a long night of rest and are

suddenly unable to breathe. The supply of oxygen in the air that you had relied on for your entire

life has been depleted overnight and you are unsure of how much longer you will survive.

Though it is unlikely that this scenario will occur in the near future, in hundreds of years, it could

become a reality. It is no secret that the Earth is slowly being destroyed by deforestation and

pollution, and the animals that currently inhabit the Earth are beginning to lose their habitats.

Catholic Social Teaching is an effort of the Catholic church that emphasizes care for creation in

today’s world. As shown through the texts and leaders that embody Catholic Social Teaching, it

is clear that we are called to improve and care for the Earth that was given to us by God, as well

as the rest of God’s creation, in our everyday lives.

Primarily, we are called to improve and care for the Earth because it is a gift to us that

was given by God. As recipients of such a wonderful gift, we must show that we are grateful to

God by taking care of said gift. We must not throw it away or disrespect it, rather we are to love

it as dearly as God loves us. God is the creator of all things, living and nonliving, as explained in

the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, and it is our duty as part of God’s creation to care for

the rest of it. God created the Earth before He created man so that man could be sustained by the

Earth. However, man had an obligation to care for the Earth in turn, as it is written, “the LORD

God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). This

represents the beginning of the relationship between the Earth and man.

Additionally, as we are called to maintain the Earth, it is specified that all of mankind
must do so together. It is stated in an encyclical by Pope Leo XIII entitled Rerum Novarum, “for

God has granted the earth to mankind in general, not in the sense that all without distinction can

deal with it as they like, but rather that no part of it was assigned to any one in particular,”

meaning that we all must share the responsibility of caring for the earth (para 8). Rerum

Novarum goes on to support private ownership, but makes the distinction that the earth continues

to sustain all of human life, not simply those who take ownership to a particular plot of land.

Even those who do not take ownership of the land are able to reap its benefits, therefore, we all

must help to maintain the beauty of the earth. In an additional encyclical published by Pope

Francis entitled Laudato Si’, it is emphasized the need for all humankind to take responsibility to

the earth. In paragraph 67, Pope Francis states, “each community can take from the bounty of the

earth whatever it needs for subsistence, but it also has the duty to protect the earth and to ensure

its fruitfulness for coming generations.” The encyclical goes on to elaborate on the fact that

mankind should not to rule over the earth as kings because God is the one true ruler of earth. We

are simply His servants that have been called to care for His creation.

Furthermore, the message of urgency that is used when it comes to caring for the Earth is

exemplified through the lives of many Catholic Social Justice leaders, one in particular being

Peter Maurin. Peter was a close associate of Dorothy Day, and the two founded the newspaper,

The Catholic Worker in 1933, which started to spread Catholic Social Justice all over an

impoverished world. Peter had always found great joy in God’s creation and greatly called the

land. In her autobiography entitled The Long Loneliness, Dorothy Day writes of Maurin, “[he]

wanted to see the grass spring up between the cobbles of the city streets. [He] wanted to see the

workers leave the cities with their wives and children and take to the fields, build themselves

homes, where they would have room to breathe, to study, to pray, where there would be work for
all” (Day 195). Peter put so much faith into the land to solve society’s problems, that he believed

if people would return to working on farms, unemployment would no longer be an issue. In

following Peter’s example, we need to devote much respect to the land and preserve it so that the

problems of future generations may be solved by God’s creation.

Subsequently, we must take care of not only our earth, but also the rest of God’s creation,

specifically, our fellow human beings. As a current Music Therapy major, I hope to be able to

improve the lives of others through counseling as well as through music. Musicians, especially

famous musicians, have the power to reach out to massive amounts of people and touch their

lives in some way through song. One band in particular heals people through song, and also

through their organization, Music for Relief. Linkin Park founded Music for Relief in 2005 as a

response to the tsunami in the Indian Ocean the previous year. Since its start, Music for Relief

has raised over seven million dollars for survivors of natural disasters across four continents

(Music for Relief). Part of its mission is to protect people as well as the environment. Music for

Relief organizes benefit concerts to help raise money for its cause, and also asks fans of Linkin

Park to spread the word by planting trees in deforested areas. As Pope Benedict says in he

encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, “there will always be situations of material need where help in the

form od concrete love of neighbor is indispensable” (para 28). Music for Relief exercises this

“love of neighbor” and embodies Catholic Social Teaching because of its dedication to caring for

not only God’s earthly creation by planting trees, but also God’s human creation through

financial support.

Overall, I have found Catholic Social Teaching to be beneficial to the earth and

humankind. It is no secret that the quality of the world is not what is once had been. With climate

change and air pollution, we need to preserve the earth for our children, and Catholic Social
Teaching helps to shed light on this problem. It is important that we are encouraged through the

Catholic church to take care of our home. Personally, I could further Catholic Social Teaching by

working with my home parish to establish a recycling project and we could make all of our

bulletins out of environmentally friendly materials. Catholic Social Teaching has taught me to

see the world as a gift that I should not take for granted. I agree that there is a strong need for

care of God’s creation, and I am grateful that Catholic Social Teaching has been promoting this

message throughout history.

 Works Cited

Day, Dorothy. The Long Loneliness. New York: Harper One, 1952. Print.

Genesis. Bible Gateway. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

<https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+2%3A15&version=NIV>.

Music for Relief. Music for Relief, 2016. Web. 16 Jan. 2016. <http://musicforrelief.org/our-

story/>.

Pope Benedict XVI. "Deus Caritas Est" Vatican: The Holy See. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.

Pope Francis. “Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home.” VaticanL The Holy See. N.p., n.d.

Web. 22 Jan. 2016

Pope Leo XIII. "Leo XIII - Rerum Novarum." Vatican: The Holy See. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan.

2016.