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I live in a small village to the north of Lochgilphead in Mid Argyll. Like all local authorities, Argyll and Bute has had to make interesting choices to balance its books, and one of those choices was to limit still further our refuse collection.

I think there was a bit of panic at the start of this arrangement. Interestingly, that wasn’t over the possibility of over-flowing, stinking green bins or plagues of rats. It was whether we’d remember which week was which – and so far, in this village we must all have the council’s refuse collection calendar stuck on the fridge door, because on the appropriate days, the rumble of bin wheels to the pavement heralds the positioning of the proper bin of the week.

Being a bit of a control freak, I use my bright blue bin for paper only and after Mass on a Sunday I make the pilgrimage to the local dump with plastics, glass, cans and the occasional dead (low energy) light bulb. This has become something of a social event – the place is hoaching with folk bringing everything from garden waste to white goods, empty cartons to cast-off clothes. There is also a local Facebook page where unwanted goods are sold and swapped.

This is an area that recycles with a vengeance. Awards have been won.

We are far from perfect, but a lot of people in this mainly rural area seem to be answering Pope Francis’ plea in the encyclical letter Laudato Si’ that we should care for our common home.

It could be because there’s an active eco group in the area. And if that is a contributory factor, then I am right with the Scottish Bishops’ Conference, which is urging more Catholic parishes to become part of the Eco-congregation Scotland scheme.

In November, Ardrishaig Church Eco Group held an open meeting to discuss how best to encourage our politicians to focus on the commitments made at the Paris Conference on climate change held in December 2015. The guest speaker was our MP, Brendan O’Hara, and representatives from St Margaret’s RC parish turned out in force to add their voices to the on-going battle to care for our ‘common home’.

Argyll and the Isles Diocese is as aware of the issues as any urban area polluted by exhaust fumes and industrial output. We want the Paris Agreement to work and we are as worried as anyone that President-elect Donald Trump might scupper progress with his denial of human blame for climate chaos.

At the Ardrishaig meeting, the swap of ideas and information at the meeting showed how concerned people are. The issue was discussed on every level, from local recycling to the effects on developing countries that produce the least emissions but suffer the most.

Brendan O’Hara said he’d explore whether the dumping of a surplus stock of 1980s cars in developing countries means that a new form of tied aid is emerging. Yes – the issues are more complex than sorting out the plastics we can recycle.

The voice of the Eco-congregation Scotland movement is an evolving one.  It’s not (as one misconception still has it) a matter of putting eco-friendly heating systems into churches (although churches such as St Margaret’s have done so). It is about changing our lifestyles – our voices and actions can help to care for our common home. With representatives from both Justice and Peace Scotland and SCIAF on the board of Eco-congregation Scotland, the percentage of Catholic parishes taking up the challenge should rise – but we can’t leave it to others.

Parishioner power can convince politicians to act. SCIAF’s Caring for our common home booklet is good for practical advice (0141 354 5555, email frayner@sciaf.org.uk or download a PDF (and conserve the forests) on http://www.sciaf.org.uk/go-green-with-sciaf/go-green-with-sciaf.html

How would we respond if we found out that two million refugees would be coming into Scotland? Refugees who needed medical help, housing and food. Refugees who are fleeing a civil war in their homeland. Refugees, many of them children, who have witnessed the death of family members at close quarters and have been severely traumatised by such experiences?

As Christians we would say that we would welcome them and want to help. But, stop for a moment. Think of the consequences of so many people coming to our small country.

Would we, could we, find shelter for everyone? How and where would we educate the children? Would our much loved NHS cope with such an influx of people, many of them children, who have been physically and mentally scarred by their experiences?   The task would be extremely daunting. But that is the reality for our brothers and sisters in Lebanon.

Over 6.5 million Syrians are displaced within their own country and nearly five million have fled into neighbouring countries like Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

Fr. Paul Karam, the Director of Caritas Lebanon, visited SCIAF recently to explain the work he and his colleagues are doing to support many of the 1.5 million refugees now living in his country.

He told us how the number of refugees continues to grow as the situation within Syria worsens.  Reception centres and mobile clinics have been set up to feed and care for people but the impact on the people of Lebanon has been severe.  Schools are operating on a shift system to try to ensure every child has an education. The whole social infrastructure is under severe pressure.

Such a huge challenge requires all the support we can afford to give. In material terms money donated to SCIAF’s appeals is helping to provide basic necessities: food parcels, clean water and wash kits containing soap, nappies, sanitary towels and other essentials to help stop the spread of disease; accommodation and blankets to protect against the cold winter nights; and heaters and cooking equipment to keep body and soul together.

But they also need our prayers, and to know that, as we approach the Christmas season and look forward to family gatherings, they and their families are in our hearts and our prayers.

“Accept one another, then, for the sake of God's glory, as Christ accepted you.” Romans 15:7

Lost in a sea of strangers, stripped of any sense of belonging, security or identity, our sisters and brothers are scared and at the mercy of others.  Lord, we pray for all refugees throughout the world.   Help us to follow your example of reaching out to the stranger, the poor and the marginalised. Help us to create a world where refugees find the peace and acceptance they desperately need. 

To give to the SCIAF Syria appeal visit: ww.sciaf.org.uk or telephone 0141 354 3555

I have to admit that I could not claim any great knowledge of Interfaith Week in the past but this year it really impacted my awareness with two events in particular raising its profile in Glasgow: the launching of Interfaith Glasgow as a separate charity at Glasgow City Chambers on 14th November and the signing of the Interfaith Food Justice Declaration at the new Glasgow Central Gurdwara on 17th November.  

It was good to attend the City Chambers launch event and witness the formal setting out of Interfaith Glasgow as a separate entity from its “parent” Interfaith Scotland, although as the speakers at the event reminded us, there has been a long tradition of migration, integration and interfaith work in Glasgow. Indeed, as Sr. Isabel Smyth,  the Secretary of the Bishops' Committee on Interreligious Dialogue, said, in the area of interfaith work, the Glasgow Sharing of Faiths Group was the first in Scotland, and one of the pioneers of interfaith work had been the late Stella Reekie, through the International Flat.

The second event gave me a chance to visit the new and splendid Gurdwara in Berkeley Street and to witness something practical that the various faith communities in Glasgow are doing together as a result of identifying what they have in common and building on that.  

The event had been organised by the informal Interfaith Food Justice Network, co-ordinated by Interfaith Glasgow and the Transformation Team of Faith In Community Scotland.  It centred around the formal signing, on behalf of the faith communities, of the Food Justice Declaration (full text accessible at http://bit.do/foodjustice ) which sets out in clear and simple language the beliefs of the signatory faiths that food is a basic human right and no one should have to turn to foodbanks or other forms of emergency food aid.  he declaration finishes with a pledge of the signatories to support each other in working for effective change.

Before the declaration was signed by those present, there were short inputs from Martin Johnstone , who chaired the Independent Working group on Food Poverty set up by the Scottish Government and which reported in June this year; Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities; and Dr. Inderjit Singh from the Gurdwara.

Both Martin and Dr. Singh made clear the importance of food in their faith communities. Martin began by recounting one of the late Bishop Mone’s stories about a little boy sharing a biscuit he had given him with his friends and how this had given him a whole new insight into the Eucharist. He also quoted the words of Pope Francis which he had at a Mass in St. Peter’s Rome the previous Sunday “There can be no peace in the homes of the prosperous as long as justice for all is lacking.” 

He made it clear that in Scotland people should not be having to make the choices between eating and heating, or going without to feed your children.  Places of worship, he suggested, can be places where community is built through food growing, preparation or sharing.  He finished with the reminder that for the Christian faith tradition, a meal is at the heart of our faith.

Dr. Singh in turn explained the centrality of the langar (common kitchen) in Sikhism.  Listening to Dr. Singh, I appreciated how very fitting it was for us to be signing the Food Justice Declaration in the Gurdwara because for Sikhs, the provision of food is an important part of their religious practice, and the langar open to all without distinction of race or religion. It expresses in a very practical way equality and community inclusion, as well as providing the opportunity for service and voluntary giving.  The whole family is involved in the work of the kitchen as we saw later when we were given the opportunity to sample a langar meal.  

Angela Constance expressed her agreement that it is a disgrace in our advanced economy that food poverty exists, and this is just a symptom of wider poverty.  She drew attention to the government’s Fairer Scotland Action Plan, which was published at the beginning of October, and she appealed to the Network to help, acknowledging that the government cannot build a faire Scotland on its own.  One idea she raised was that the right to food could be enshrined in Scots law – what would this look like?