Apostles for Today
Prayer and Reflection
for
April 2016
Living
God’s Mercy with all of creation
The
theme of this reflection is very much close to my heart and linked to
my cultural roots. I grew up in direct contact with nature and we fed
ourselves with the fruits of the earth. I have always admired its
diversity and beauty. I remember that when I saw the Atlantic for the
first time, I could not hold my emotions back, saying: God made you!
I had a similar experience when I found myself, as a missionary,
within the planet’s largest “Biodiversity Sanctuary”, the
Amazon.
Today
I live in the beautiful city of Rome, full of life, history, beauty,
culture, tourists and pilgrims, but at the same time, chaotic and
polluted, receiving thousands of brother and sister immigrants and
refugees. Having fled from wars often provoked by economic interests
and human exploitation. We are also afraid of the threat of terrorism
in its increasingly extreme manifestations throughout the world.
Within
this panorama we are called, as Pallottine Family in the Church, to
live God's mercy and take care of all creation. A theme which is at
the centre of Pope Francis’ reflections, and is also a cause of
concern for the UN, for non-governmental organizations, for
scientists, theologians, churches, families and individuals. It is
proper concern for our common home.
The
biblical message regarding creation is fundamentally positive.
Creation is the first act of God’s love. Everything flows from this
source of life and being which is God himself, as from the womb of a
mother. Seven times we are told that what God had done is good and
beautiful, the last time concluding with "God saw everything
that he had made, and indeed, it was very good" (Gn 1:31) and
the first song to the Lord’s merciful love was born from
contemplating the work of Creation: "Give thanks to the Lord for
he is good, for his mercy it is everlasting" (Ps 117).
God
created man and woman and has woven a dialogue of friendship with
them. He put all of creation in their hands to be protected and
cultivated, and one of the most beautiful, joyful and liberating
things given to us is to contemplate the work of creation, and
ourselves within it. To feel ourselves to be “creatures”, objects
of the Creator’s loving and provident concern, situates us in our
right place before God, in true, joyful humility, full of gratitude
and able to assume the responsibilities that He entrusts to us with
the gift of life.
The
human vocation will, therefore, be understood in terms of the
cultivation and safekeeping of a precious reality which is beloved by
God. On the other hand, ‘“keeping” means caring, protecting,
overseeing and preserving’ In this sense, every community “can
take from the bounty of the earth whatever it needs for subsistence,
but it also has the duty to protect the earth and to ensure its
fruitfulness for coming generations” (Laudato Sì (LS) n. 67).
This,
therefore, is a privileged field for the exercise of a merciful
dominion over creation on our part and that of all humankind; for
good administration expressed in caring practices; to make concrete
that good news which is at the heart of the Gospel for the earth and
for humanity itself.
As
image and likeness of God, we are called to be the manifestation of
God’s glory in the world and dialogue partners of God on earth
before all creation. Only we can assume a conscious attitude of
respect for nature. Only in us can an integral and merciful
ecological conscience emerge.
For
the first time, we are facing an ecological crisis of planetary
proportions caused primarily by human activity. In addition, we are
convinced that essential natural resources for life and human dignity
are under a “universal social mortgage” (cf. John Paul II,
Sollicitudo
rei socialis
n. 42): since the earth is ultimately a common heritage, its fruits
are for the benefit of all. The land contains resources that, while
limited, are still sufficient for all humanity.
Protecting
the environment is a challenge for all of us and we are called to
listen to the cry of the earth and of the poor who are desperate.
Technical and scientific advances can contribute greatly to
humanising the world, but can also be instruments of destruction and
death. If technical progress is not matched by corresponding progress
in human ethical formation and integral growth, it ceases to be
progress, and becomes a threat for humanity and for the world.
Integral ecology requires a "reconnection" of scientific
and technical progress with ethics. When we human beings approach the
environmental issue, we must assert the primacy of ethics over
technology, from which comes the need to always safeguard human
dignity.
Consumerism
and the wasting of resources, which leave much of the human
population in misery, are opposed to any sound ecologically integral
ethical option. The elimination of poverty is one of the first steps
that human beings can take to solve ecological problems. An
“ecological conversion” of individuals and peoples is required
this to happen, especially of those who have an abundance of wealth.
The
destruction of the environment and ecological problems are rooted to
a great extent in a blurring of people’s ethical awareness. In this
way some elements of this ecological crisis reveal their moral
character.
Thus,
the ecological crisis gives us the opportunity for a radical critique
of how we are organising the production of goods and human
coexistence. It also indicates a new paradigm in the relationship
between nature and humans. It is necessary to point to a new way of
living and thinking, not merely to conceive of nature only as a
resource to be exploited. In this respect an ecological conversion is
needed, whereby human beings cease to see themselves simply as
isolated individuals, but rather as part of a whole, capable of
natural and social interrelations. This self-understanding leads to
an ethical and spiritual conversion which generates behaviour and
attitudes of respect, of self-restraint, of just measure, and of
solidarity with nature and with other human beings.
From
here comes the awareness that solutions must be generated and
developed within ourselves, since the best way to respect nature is
to promote an “integral human ecology” open to transcendence.
Respect for human beings and for nature has a complementary
reciprocity. The primary ecology is to defend “human ecology”. If
“human ecology” goes well, all creation will benefit. In fact,
the ecological crisis arises almost always from our spiritual and
social deserts.
A
full and merciful ecology requires an effective change of mentality
which propels us to adopt new lifestyles. These lifestyles should be
marked by personal and social sobriety, temperance and
self-discipline. It is necessary to escape from the logic of mere
consumption and promote forms of production which respect the order
of creation and which satisfy the needs of all. Such an attitude
encourages a renewed awareness of the interdependence which binds all
of the inhabitants of the earth together. This invites us to be
agents of change of the structural causes which generate such
behaviour. In this regard, the formation of conscience and of an
integral spirituality have a fundamental role.
We
are called to relinquish an aggressive way of life and instead prize
kindness, caring relationships and the value of the dignity of
others. Integral human ecology not only reveals the relationship
between the human person and the environment, but also the
relationship of each person with him- or her-self and with the
Creator. Duties towards the environment flow from those towards the
person, considered in him- or her-self and in relation to others.
All
of this also requires a response at the level of spirituality,
inspired by the belief that creation is a gift that God has placed in
the responsible hands of human beings for their use, recognition,
gratitude and loving care. Nature presents itself to our eyes as the
imprint of God, as a place in which his creative, providential and
redemptive power is revealed. For this to be possible, we need to
help one another to rediscover our connection with God and the
mission given to us to be “shepherd and guardian” of ourselves,
of others and of all creation. The new creation in Christ and the
continuous creation reveal that nothing of what exists in this world
is indifferent to the creating and redeeming plan of God.
Certainly,
as a family inspired by St. Vincent Pallotti, who makes our being
created in the image and likeness of God the foundation of our common
vocation, we can help to put in place a new style of life and new
missionary perspectives and sing the mercy God with all creatures.
“Ah
my God, faith reminds me that You are infinite Goodness and, as such,
are infinitely diffusive, and with infinite love from all Eternity
you have mercifully decreed the ineffable Work of the Creation of the
entire Universe to spread in your creatures all of Yourself, eternal,
infinite, immense, incomprehensible. [...] Ah my God, faith reminds
me that you have carried out the loving Decree of Creation, and that
before creating human beings, you created Heaven and Earth, and in
Heaven the Angels, and on earth everything visible [...] in service
of human beings, so that everything needed for the necessities of the
present life be provided to be used as much as is needed to attain
our final single Blessed End”
(OOCC XIII, pp. 30-31).
“Human
beings are created, as Holy Faith teaches us, in the image and
likeness of God, God who is charity in essence, and therefore human
beings are living images of divine charity according to the essence
of their creation: and since God, being charity in essence in his
external operations is always attentive towards human beings and was
so to the point of sending his Only Begotten Son to redeem the human
race by his death on a Cross, so human beings must imitate God
according to their possibilities through the effectiveness of their
works by loving their neighbour, which includes everyone of every
condition, country, nation etc. capable of knowing God and,
therefore, human beings according to the essence of their creation
cannot exempt themselves from the precept of charity” (OOCC
IV, pp. 172-3).
For
personal and community reflection:
“The
natural environment is a collective good, the patrimony of all
humanity and the responsibility of everyone. If we make something our
own, it is only to administer it for the good of all. If we do not,
we burden our consciences with the weight of having denied the
existence of others. That is why the New Zealand bishops asked what
the commandment “Thou shall not kill” means when “twenty
percent of the world’s population consumes resources at a rate that
robs the poor nations and future generations of what they need to
survive”
(LS n. 95).
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Do we really consider the good things which we have as a gift from God which we are called to share and use for the good of all?
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In what ways and to what extent do we live out the consequences of this in our daily lives as individuals, as families, as communities?
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What practical steps are we willing to take as individuals, as families, as communities, as NCCs and LCCs, to protect the environment and to respond to the cry of the poor?
P.
Gilberto Orsolin SAC,
Rome
____________________________________________________
Segretariato
Generale, Unione dell’Apostolato Cattolico
Piazza
San Vincenzo Pallotti 204, 00187 Roma, Italia uac@uniopal.org
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