Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Peace Sunday - Year A

OUR COMMON HOME

At home here in the UK, we use water for drinking, cooking, bathing, brushing teeth, washing clothes, dishes, and cars, flushing toilets, watering gardens and lawns etc. Many of us take water for granted, unaware that water is a very very unusual substance. Its most spectacular property is that ice floats in water. No big deal you might say, but water is almost the only substance in the universe for which the solid form floats on the liquid! If it didn’t the water below the surface of a frozen lake, river or ocean would turn to ice destroying the life that lives there. Water also has a huge heat capacity giving our oceans the ability to even out temperature differences across the planet, to drive the ocean currents like the gulf stream and regulate our weather systems. It is also the best all-around solvent, capable of dissolving more solid substances than any other liquid, allowing it to transport valuable chemicals, minerals and nutrients in such a way as to support life.

On the issue of water Pope Francis says, “We all know that it is not possible to sustain the present level of consumption in developed countries and wealthier sectors of society, where the habit of wasting and discarding has reached unprecedented levels. The exploitation of the planet has already exceeded acceptable limits and we still have not solved the problem of poverty.”

– [27] LAUDATO SI

The average person in the UK uses 150 litres of water each day. We can reduce this in a number of simple ways: turn off the tap when brushing your teeth; take a shorter shower; use full loads in your washing machine or dishwasher; install a water butt to your drainpipe and use it for watering your garden; fix that dripping tap; invest in water-efficient shower heads and many ways - see water saving products

Take care and God bless