Earth Day, Racism, and the Pandemic—Fr. Kevin Nadolski, OSFS
Fr. Kevin Nadolski, OSFS, Vice President for Mission
Writing this reflection on our colorful campus the day before Earth Day, I am grateful for the cool breeze that streams the dank, sour smell of mulch through my pollen-coated nasal passages. I recall the quick, mini-debate with the DPT student who held the Chappuis door for me this morning: Whose allergies are worse? It is spring, and we are joyful.
Sort of.
The pandemic pricks our patterns of life more painfully than the needles that protect us from illness and death. Racism imprisons our nation, despite a verdict that confirms what we already knew: Racism kills. Fatigue slows us; duty drives us; hope pulls us.
Racism feels so distant and different from Covid-related deaths, infections, and economic perils— and even further removed from environmental degradation. Yet, they are intimately connected.
In Laudato Si, the seminal encyclical of Pope Francis calling the world to care for creation, he declares in a reflection on the biblical account where Cain kills Abel that “everything is interconnected”: “Disregard for the duty to cultivate and maintain a proper relationship with my neighbor, for whose care and custody I am responsible, ruins my relationship with my own self, with others, with God and with the earth” (no. 70).
Cain kills Abel.
Derek kills George.
Humanity kills the Earth.
Everything is interconnected.
In his book, The Ten Green Commandments of Laudato Si (2019), Fr. Joshtrom Kureethadam, professor of philosophy at Rome’s Pontifical Salesian University and official of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, hails a number of ecological virtues; two intersect with our University’s core values: gratitude and humility.
Pope Francis reminds us pointedly about the thankfulness we likely learned in our youth:
One expression of this attitude is when we stop and give thanks to God before and after meals. I asked all believers to return to this beautiful and meaningful custom. That moment of blessing, however brief, reminds us of our dependence on God for life; it strengthens our feeling of gratitude for the gifts of creation; it acknowledges those who buy their labors provide us with these goods; and it reaffirms our solidarity with those in greatest need (no. 227).
The pope goes on to remind us of the essential nature of the Eucharist and elsewhere tells us: “Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry” (Angelus Address, June 5, 2013). As a University community in response to our core value of gratitude, can we commit to praying Grace Before and After Meals? Can we commit to not wasting food and not stealing from the table of the poor?
With humility, Pope Francis offers a challenge and an examination of conscience.
Once we lose our humility and become enthralled with the possibility of limitless mastery over everything, we inevitably end up harming society and the environment. It is not easy to promote this kind of healthy humility or happy sobriety when we consider ourselves autonomous, when we exclude God from our lives or replace him with our own ego, and think that our subjective feelings can define what is right and what is wrong (no. 224).
Inspired by our core value of humility, can we distance ourselves from hubris, the virtue’s antithesis, that tempts us to put ourselves over others, the Earth, or even God. Indeed, we are not our own masters.
Below are listed a number of the events for today’s Earth Day, begun in 1970 on this day because of its position between how colleges planned their Spring Break and final exams. The commemoration is no longer just for University students. It is humanity’s call to remember that when we do not respect the Earth, we can stop respecting our neighbors with whom we live on Earth, those struggling for fresh water or even a breath of fresh air.
Fr. Kevin Nadolski, OSFS, is the vice president for mission and an assistant professor of education.
Earth Day 2021 Events
April 22, 2021, noon–4PM
University Mall
Sponsored by Office of Student Engagement and Leadership
Center for Faith and Justice:
- Office of Service and Community Advocacy
- Office of Campus Ministry
Activity and Information Tables
- Gardening: Enjoy a local field trip to the Campus Garden.
- Species Preservation: Learn about and donate to our World Wildlife Fund sponsorship program, where we have adopted an elephant.
- Upcycling: Invest in the future by repurposing cans and bottles for potted plants.
- Gifts & Prizes: Take home environmentally friendly giveaways and prizes, such as succulents, reusable straws, Hydroflask, hammock, solar-powered phone chargers, stickers, etc.
- Lawn games and music: Rock & roll and jazz it up with Dr. Fran Mayville and Joe Freemont.
Inspiration
- Tyrone Russell’s racial justice keynote sponsored by the Black Student Union at 4PM on Zoom.
Meeting ID: 924 1592 2164
Passcode: 179288
Food & Fellowship
- CAB sponsored Food Truck: From noon-4PM in the Dorothy Day Parking Lot. Grab a treat! Be sure to get in line 15 minutes before each to get a food ticket. Bring your DSU ID to swipe. (Food trucks are for students only.)
- Earth Day-themed events: Join the fun all day, behind the Dorothy Day Student Union: Check social media and Engage for details.
Exercise Body, Mind, & Spirit
- Yoga & Meditation Class: Join alumna Mary Pratt-Henaghan at 9PM on Zoom.
Meeting ID: 917 5418 9898
Passcode: 042862