26 February.  SEE: St Francis, Fire and Water.   Mrs Beatus continued her sharing about St Francis. PRAISED BE YOU, my Lord through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.  PRAISED BE YOU, my Lord through Brother Fire, through whom you light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.  Both water and fire are gifts of creation without which there would be no life on earth and yet they are dangerous hazards as well. Scripture describes their positive qualities and also how they were used by God as punishment, as found in the stories of Noah and the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. In the context of our current reality with climate change and the extreme weather we have experienced in recent times, resulting in floods and wild fires, their positive and negative properties play a very significant role to keep in mind.  

Water is absolutely essential for life throughout creation and has been throughout the earth’s history.  In bygone days large herds of animals would migrate, following the water sources known to them. Although most desert locations appear devoid of plant life, with even a small amount of rain, the land surface will suddenly become green. Plants that have been dormant or seeds that have lain ungerminated will spring to life.  Water is found in the great oceans covering 2/3 of the planet, in natural streams, rivers, lakes, manmade dams and canals.   Glaciers and snow-capped mountains hold water while ice-caps cool the poles.  The water cycle draws water into the atmosphere and circulates it in the form of rain. The bodies of humans and animals consist of 70% water.  Devastating floods result from climate change but many parts of the world are water-scarce affecting sustainable life for all the families of nature, plant, animal and human.   Safe drinking water is a universal right that should not be restricted or privatised.  The poor are most often the ones deprived of access to safe water, for drinking and sanitation, while a large amount of water is wasted. Water has a powerful symbolic significance in all cultures.   

JUDGE, reflect and share.  Scripture:  At that time Jesus said to his disciples, “Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find.  What man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish will give him a serpent?  If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?   Matthew 7:7-12.  Pope Francis: Access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right since it is essential to human survival and a condition for the exercise of other human rights. Our world has a grave social debt towards the poor who lack access to water because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity. The problem of water is partly an educational and cultural issue, since there is little awareness of the seriousness of water issues in the context of inequality among people. LS 30.  “Someday after mastering the winds, the waters, the tides and gravity we shall harness for God the energies of love and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” T de Chardin from The Phenomenon of Man.

ACT AND PRAY.  Examine how access and use of water and fire are manipulated today.  What role can we as eco-friendly families play to lobby and advocate for equal rights in a spirit of sustainable living for all.  Pray in thanksgiving and for rights, dignity and responsible action.