Jesus' compassion for the crowd wandering in bewilderment, “like sheep that have no shepherd” (Mk 6:34), is the feeling of many who consider the situation of our land and of the world in which we live now-a-day. The accumulation of problems, the disasters that afflict peoples, families, environments, the often incomprehensible behaviour and bewildering situations reach me as words, groans, invocations, cries of anger, and pleas.

From the encounters I experience, from the confidences I gather, I have become convinced that one of the widespread feelings is a kind of exhaustion, as of those who can no longer cope and must keep going. That's it: ‘Tiredness’ seems to me to be one way to interpret the situation.

That is why I pray and invite people to pray with Psalm 22: it is the contemplation of God's work that accompanies the troubled path of his children and never abandons them. He provides rest from tiredness weariness, security in fear, courage in the face of threats, serenity in the dark valley.

Humanity is tired, and those of us with responsibility for the common good must feel the task of providing relief. In the name of God, I ask all to explore ways to provide relief. In the name of God, let the earth rest! Have compassion for yourselves, your contemporaries, your children, and find ways to let the earth rest!

What are people tired of?

People are not tired of life, because life is a gift from God that continues to be a source of wonder and gratitude. People are tired of a meaningless life, which is interpreted as an inescapable movement towards death. They are tired of a forecast of the future that leaves no hope. It is tired of a life flattened to earth, of things reduced to objects, of relationships reduced to precarious experiments. It is tired because it has been robbed of the ‘beyond’ that gives meaning to the present, substance to desire, significance to the future.

People's tiredness is not because of work fatigue, because people work with passion and seriousness, they commit their forces, their intellectual resources, and their skills. They work well and are proud of a job well done. People are tired of work that is not enough to live on, of work that imposes exasperating hours and travel. People are tired of accidents at work. People are tired of young people not finding work and the demands of work being frustrating. People are tired of bureaucracy, of the obsession with control that treats every citizen as a subject to be watched over, rather than as a person to be involved in responsibility for the common good.

People are not tired of family life, because family is the first value, and the most necessary good for society, it is the web of relationships that gives security, encouragement, and companionship. People are tired of the frenzy that imposes itself on the life of families with the accumulation of commitments and the services needed to build up their image, to make sure their children are not missing anything, to not neglect the elderly. People are tired of that helplessness in the face of a depressing climate that poisons the thoughts, dreams, and emotions of the most fragile, that induces so many adolescents not to desire to live.

People are not tired of administration, public services, law enforcement, politics, because they are convinced that common life needs to be regulated, supervised, organised. Instead, people are tired of politics that shows itself as an irritating succession of squabbles, of a short-sighted management of public affairs. People are tired of public services that force them to turn to the private sector, of an administration that does not know how to valorise the resources of civil society, community initiatives for education, care, housing, health. People are tired of the gossip that disqualifies people.

People are not tired of good communication, because communication is the service needed to have an insight into the world. Instead, people are tired of the communication that picks up the rubbish of life and displays it as if it were life, tired of the news that magnifies the bad and ignores the good, tired of the social media that conveys narcissism, vulgarity and hatred. Please, let the people rest!

What is the earth tired of?

The earth is not tired of man, for it knows that it is created so that man and woman may live and generate life, love and inhabit the earth, cultivate the garden prepared by the Creator so that all the children of men may live and be content to live. However, when man in this common home, a place of growth, refreshment, contemplation, where everything is in vital connection, trespasses from his role as guardian by wanting to become the absolute master and ruler - substituting himself for God - the balance falters and the vital connections are ruined. Evil, disease, war, devastation take over, which then affect humanity and creation as a whole. The earth is tired of that way of working the land, its clothes and its bowels, when resources are exploited with insatiable greed. The earth is tired of that way of inhabiting the earth reducing it to a rubbish dump, of that way of living the present that does not care about the future and the threats of the desert, the heat, the air that generations to come will breathe. The earth is tired and groans, cries out, protests: climate upheavals are, from the earth's point of view, a rebellion against a broken balance, a betrayed covenant. The earth is weary of war and groans and cries out with the voice of the blood of many brothers and sisters, ‘crying out to God from the ground’ (Gen 4:10).

The earth is not tired in offering its gifts for the sustenance and feasting of the children of men. For this it was created and for this it must be cherished and cultivated. For this it beautifies itself and presents itself orderly and hospitable. The earth is tired of that way of claiming its fruits that enriches the rich and impoverishes the poor, of that exploitation that deadens life and multiplies profit. The earth is tired of the stupidity that poisons the waters and the air.

The earth is not tired of animals that are companions for the lonely, render valuable services, nourish and cheer life. Animals make children play, the elderly smile and offer help in the rehabilitation of those in need. The earth is tired of animals that disproportionately invade people's homes, affections, resources, time and sometimes seem to take the place of children. It is tired of that way of exploiting animals that lacks mercy and common sense. Please let the earth rest!

What is the city tired of?

The city is not tired of houses, because houses, offices, public and private facilities are the life and substance of the city. The city is tired of houses abandoned to decay, of the greedy consumption of land, of unused areas, of houses that could house people and are instead empty because of petty calculations, empty out of fear of those seeking housing, empty in order to avoid nuisance. The city is tired of houses being occupied and taken away from those who are entitled to them.

The city is not tired of tourists, because it wants to be known, admired for its history and beauty. The city is tired of the tourists who crowd it without respect, who invade the houses with quick passages and depopulate it of residents. The city is tired of hasty tourists who regard the city's treasures only as objects to be photographed instead of as tales of history, testimonies of faith, beauties to be contemplated.

The city is not tired of rain and wind, because it welcomes the water that fertilises the earth and allows itself to be caressed by the wind that scatters seeds and pollen. The city is tired of that water that overflows and invades houses and shops, blocks roads and drives traffic crazy; it is tired of that wind that uproots trees and throws them onto passers-by, roads, cars. The city is tired of that superficiality that neglects what can prevent floods, fires and the disasters that come with them. Please let the city rest! And rest a little you too!