Avuncular Pride

Hearing the refrain of divine environmentalism

03/11/2024

Is 65:17-21 Thus says the LORD: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; For I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people. No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there, or the sound of crying; No longer shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime; He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years, and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed. They shall live in the houses they build, and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.

I have a great deal of avuncular pride in my eight nieces and nephews. When we were together for Christmas, the two oldest girls, Raichel and Sophia, were sharing what they do for work. They both graduated from college – one is a Bulldog from the University of Georgia, and the other a Gator from the University of Florida, which I have forgiven them for – and both with different degrees in environmentalism. I was truly inspired by their love for the earth and their desire to care for it. One works for Dicks’ Sporting Goods and the other for RES (Resource Environmental Services).

You may have heard recently that the SEC – the Securities and Exchange Commission, not the South Eastern Conference – required companies to be more transparent with how they are being friendly toward the environment, reducing emissions and their carbon footprint. In other words, it is not just my nieces who care about the earth, so do investors, and major companies are starting to pay attention and put big bucks behind it, like hiring my nieces!

And this caring for our common home is nothing new, but a refrain that is regularly repeated throughout the Bible. We hear this refrain in the first reading this morning from Isaiah 65: “Thus says the Lord; Lo, I am about to create a new heavens and a new earth.” But this was not “new” with Isaiah because this refrain goes all the way back to Noah and the building of the Ark.

Bishop Robert Barron noted: “Taking representatives of all the animals links us to the creation narrative, and this signals, once again, that the salvation of human beings is inextricably linked to the salvation of the entire cosmos” (The Great Story of Israel, 15). By the way, I saw this funny church sign that read: “Noah was a brave man to sail in a wooden boat with two termites.” That is, God is busy creating a new heavens and a new earth; and he's not just going to throw the old away. We would hear this refrain sounded again in the New Testament by St. Peter in 2 Pt 3:13, and finally in last book of Rv 21:1.

In other words, my avuncular pride in Sophia and Raichel is not born from their jumping on the band-wagon of some new trend or fad. Incidentally, FAD stands for “for a day.” Instead, these girls are hearing the refrain of a song that is as old as creation itself and was originally sung by the Creator. After all, God made his creation in the beginning and he looked upon it and “found it very good” (Gn 1:31. That is, God does not want to throw away his creation, but to recycle it, indeed, to renew it. And somehow my nieces get that, and want to be part of that “divine environmentalism.”

Here are some examples of hearing and repeating this refrain ourselves. For instance, it can be rather easy and super convenient to use disposable dishes – cups, plates and silverware – but try to use real glasses, real plates, and real silverware. And you will find that your food tastes better out of a real glass and on a metal fork. I have a friend who, whenever he receives gifts for Christmas or his birthday, always gives away to the poor something he already owned. He never has to do spring cleaning because he’s spring cleaning all year around! And perhaps a really easy way to help the environment is get a dog from the shelter, which is where I found Apollo, rather than from a breeder. They say that the mutts are the smartest dogs because they benefit from a broader gene pool. And I believe it because Apollo is a lot smarter than his owner!

By the way, do you know what the word “avuncular” means, since I have used it three times in this homily? It means “of or relating to an uncle, especially in kindliness or geniality.” It is another way of expressing how much I love my nieces and nephews. And my avuncular love for them has helped me to learn from them how God wants to create “a new heavens and a new earth.” And my nieces are a shining part of the newness.

Praised be Jesus Christ!