Preach the Gospel to the whole Creation

Among the Chinese priests I know, Fr. Anthony Chang 鄭生來神父 is one of his kind. When you first meet him, you will feel that his complexion is too dark to be Chinese. That probably is more a reflection of his life-long contribution to ecology than his genes. His speech is gentle like breeze, never an aggressive type. This is actually very appropriate for an advocate of environmental protection.

The Christian drama begins in the once harmonious Eden. The Fall of the first man alienated him from God
And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Genesis 3:10),
from his fellow (wo)man
The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." (Genesis 3:12),
and from the Creation
cursed is the ground because of you;
in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life (Genesis 3:17b).
Sins spread like virus on this planet and contaminate everything they touch. St. Paul says
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now (Romans 8:22). Therefore, not only man, but also the whole creation needs redemption, a reconciliation with the Creator.
Today, we read of the appendix in Mark. In quick succession, Mark summarizes Jesus' apparitions to Mary Magdalene (as found in John), to 2 disciples (as in Luke) then to the 11 apostles (as in Luke and John).
Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen (Mark 16:14).
Then, Jesus commissioned them out to preach the good news to the whole world (as in Matthew). It reads
And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον to the whole creation πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει   (Mark 16:15).
Indeed, Mark has quite a total vision of redemption. I think all Christians should. Our redemption comes from believing in the risen Jesus, from reconciling with God. Human beings can believe in Jesus. What about the other creatures? For most pet owners, they are able to experience a kind of emotional bond with their pets. It seems to me to be a first step towards our reconciliation with the alienated Creation since the Fall. Naively put, in Christ, we achieve reconciliation with God as well as our fellow men. When we treat the planet like our pet, we achieve reconciliation with the Creation and restore it to the original design of God. Of course, we need more than just one Fr. Anthony Chang to flesh out this simplistic skeleton of 'ecology theology'.

My sweet Jesus, we Christians should be active environmental protectors. Let us care more about the health of this alienated planet. May the day come when the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together. Amen.