God Incarnate . . . Our faith in the Mystery of the Incarnation brings us to contemplation of the God of Mercy amongst His people in deep social change. As missionary disciples in the Church, our faith and science urge us to explore the meanings of the new cosmology and integral ecology (Elizabeth Davis rsm). Pope Francis' The Joy of the Gospel mentions the Church's expression of genuine catholicity in showing forth the "beauty of her varied face" in our ministries to answer the cry of Earth and the cry of the Poor. Our experience at the grassroots of these particular concerns seems to point out that Earth our home is truly degraded with "throw aways" that are piled as trash, and that the Poor have become "victim instruments" of the trash in their midst being scavengers for a "living".

The “throw-away culture” which Pope Francis brings to our awareness as an attitude that needs to be checked, being destructive and detrimental to environment, has crept into our system as an easy or convenient way of acquiring what we want and discarding what we don’t want without consideration of its consequences to the environment and the people around us. “We must never allow the throwaway culture to enter our heart, because we are brothers and sisters. No one is disposable!” (Pope Francis)...

Margaret Mary Alamban rsm is a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy Philippines.

She is the Deputy Director and Finance Manager of Mother of Hope Children Center (MHCC) Tacloban City.