What happens in the ecosystem could be transferred to the spiritual realm in a broad metaphor. When humanity received the keys to the planet, the "contract" guaranteed the obligation of respectful care and work. But, immediately, it forgot about the "Landlord", the "contract" and the advantageous lease conditions.
The priest knows that it is very difficult to cook without plastics in food; or to drive around his parishes without fossil fuels; or to heat houses, premises and churches with renewable energies; or to grow 100 % organic products on the parish farm. A "páter" remains alert because many try to steal Christmas or Easter, stripping them of their Christian genuineness through consumerism and disordered pleasure. But that does not prevent him from celebrating the fiest of the Covenants of God's Love with his children. He also likes that his collaborators and poor people close to him feel the warm embrace of the Church with some small detail that he gives them. He is also an expert in taking advantage of and recycling materials for the different activities of his parishioners.
The presbyters will always remember that the human race continues to suffer because of a serious pollution: that of original sin, which has left a putrid river of consequences that poison the fields of human happiness wherever it passes. The "climate change" that most convinces them refers to the need for a new heart and new interpersonal relationships. Respect, peace, forgiveness, fraternity... Jesus Christ devised the healthiest "environment" for his brothers.
A good pastor does not believe in "points of no return" because he has learned that it is never too late to apply God's mercy. There is always an opportunity to redeem oneself and start anew. This is how he lives it in the Sacrament of Forgiveness. Of course, he is aware that someone has to "bear" the consequences, even if he was not at fault. Reparation is required; the most important has taken place on the Cross, but each of the efforts of men and women can be associated with that act of love and become the greatest exercise of "recycling".
A parish priest says "no" to human waste. When the family threw one of its members out of the house (there was no lack of good reasons), D. Bonifacio accompanied him to look for a roof over his head; he discovered his murky past; he tried to correct some mistakes (with little success, by the way); and, above all, he did not disappear. Venancio, the emigrant, told unbelievable stories in Venezuela. Nobody believed them. D. Fulgencio didn't either, but he listened; he went to visit him in the hospital after a traffic accident and there his son revealed that many things were true, even if he told them in his own way: "He treated his customers better than his family; but he did run that store...".
When Father Rafa picked up the car at the workshop, the mechanic thanked him with emotion that he had visited all the families during the Christmas season; also his elderly parents. In that town they noticed that loneliness was creeping into the homes of the rural depopulated area; that people remembered with dangerous melancholy those who were missing at that time; that it was very difficult to instill hope in them and, now, they even felt a new desire to go on living.
In a monastery a priest was living in seclusion, separated from pastoral activity for a blood crime. "I deserve it; it wasn't me; it was the alcohol...". The weight of guilt did not prevent him from recognizing his faults. It was impressive to go into one of the cloister's storage rooms and see the enormous amount of handicrafts he had made. "I had a very bad time. They made me a vacuum. I wanted to die. The doctor discovered that I had a gift for sculpting and begged me to focus my attention on it. This task and the visit of some unbiased colleagues saved my life...".
The "climate change" in society passes through prayer. Prayer itself becomes a climate that allows us to see God in ordinary events and to feel loved and accompanied. It also passes through the figure of the "paternal" priest, who makes Christ "brother" present in the lives of many people. And he brings to souls the clean Energy of Grace, Forgiveness, Eucharistic Food, etc.
