(Vatican Radio) Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the Papal Household, urged Christians to glorify God for creation, saying “the primary duty of human beings towards creation is to lend it a voice.” He said St Francis of Assisi did not pray “for creation” but instead prayed “with creation” or “because of creation.” The preacher noted that “the sovereignty of human beings over the cosmos” does not entail “the triumphalism of our species but the assumption of responsibility toward the weak, the poor, the defenseless.”
Fr Cantalamessa ‘s remarks came during the homily delivered by him at the Vespers in St Peter’s Basilica on September 1st for the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation, presided over by Pope Francis.
Please find below an English translation of Fr. Cantalamessa’s homily:
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap.
PRAYING FOR CREATION OR PRAYING WITH CREATION?
Homily at Vespers for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
Presided over by the Holy Father Francis
St. Peter’s Basilica, September 1, 2016
Why then, man, are you so worthless in your own eyes and yet so precious to God? Why render yourself such dishonor when you are honored by him? Why do you ask how you were created and do not seek to know why you were made?
The words we have just heard were spoken by St. Peter Chrysologus, the Bishop of Ravenna in the 5th century AD, more than 1500 years ago. Since that time the reason for human beings to consider themselves worthless has changed, but the fact remains. At the time of Chrysologus the reason was that people are “taken from the ground,” that they are dust and will return to dust (see Gen 3:19). Today the reason for that sense of worthlessness is that human beings count for less than nothing in the endless vastness of the universe.
There is almost a competition among non-believing scientists as to who will go the farthest in affirming the total marginality and insignificance of human beings in the universe. One of them has written, “The ancient covenant is in pieces; man knows at last that he is alone in the universe’s unfeeling immensity, out of which he emerged only by chance. His destiny is nowhere spelled out, nor is his duty.” Another asserts, “I’ve always thought that I was insignificant. Getting to know the size of the Universe, I see just how insignificant I really am! . . . We’re just a bit of slime on a planet belonging to one sun.”
But I do not want to linger over this pessimistic vision or on the reflections based on its way of conceiving the environment and its priorities. A disciple of Dionysius the Areopagite in the 6th century enunciated this great truth: “One should not refute the opinion of others, nor should one write against an opinion or a cult that does not seem good. One should write only on behalf of the truth and not against others.” One cannot make this an absolute principle because at times it can be necessary to refute false and dangerous doctrines. But it is certain that a positive presentation of the truth is more effective than the refutation of its opposite error.
Chrysologus continues his discourse by explaining the reason why human beings should not think of themselves as worthless:
Was not this entire visible universe made for your dwelling? […] For you were the heavens embellished with the varying brilliance of the sun, the moon, and the stars. The earth was adorned with flowers, groves, and fruit; and the constant marvelous variety of lovely living things was created in the air, the fields, and the seas for you, lest sad solitude destroy the joy of God’s new creation.
The bishop of Ravenna is merely reaffirming the biblical idea of the sovereignty of human beings over the cosmos that Psalm 8 sings about with no less lyrical inspiration. St. Paul completes this vision by indicating the place that the person of Christ occupies in all this: “whether . . . the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor 3:22-23). We are presented here with a “human or humanistic environmentalism,” an environmentalism that is not an end in itself but one that is related to human beings, not only, of course, human beings today but also human beings in the future.
Christian thinking has never stopped asking itself about the reason for this transcendence of human beings with respect to the rest of creation and has always found it in the biblical affirmation that human beings were created “in the image and likeness of God” (see Gen 1:26).
The insight that theology today—also thanks to the renewed dialogue with Orthodox thinking—has attained for a truly satisfying explanation of this is an understanding of what being in the image of God means. Everything is based on the revelation of the Trinity brought by Christ. Human beings are created in the image of God in the sense that they participate in the intimate essence of God, which is the relationship of love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. St. Thomas Aquinas defines the divine Persons as “subsistent relations”; they do not have a relationship with each other but are that relationship.
Only human beings—insofar as they are persons and thus capable of free and conscious relationships—participate in this personal and relational dimension of God. Since the Trinity is a communion of love, God created each person as a “being in relationship.” This is the sense in which every human being is “in the image of God.”
It is clear that there is an ontological divide between God and human creatures. Nevertheless, by grace (and never forget this point!) this divide has been bridged in such a way that it is less deep than the one existing between human beings and the rest of creation. This is a bold affirmation, but it is based on Scripture which defines people redeemed by Christ as “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4).
Only the coming of Christ, however, has revealed the full meaning of being in the image of God. He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15) par excellence; as the Fathers said, we are “the image of the Image of God” insofar as we are “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29), created “through him and for him” (Col 1:16) who is the new Adam.
***
An objection arises here immediately and not only on the part of non-believers. Isn’t all this just the triumphalism of our race? Doesn’t this lead to an indiscriminate dominion of human beings over the rest of creation with consequences that are easily imaginable and unfortunately already occurring? The answer is no, not if human beings truly act in the image of God. If a human being is the image of God insofar as he or she is “a being in communion,” this means that the less selfish a person is, closed in on himself or herself and forgetful of others, the more that person is truly human.
The sovereignty of human beings over the cosmos thus does not entail the triumphalism of our species but the assumption of responsibility toward the weak, the poor, the defenseless. The only reason people like these are to be respected, when they have no other privileges and resources, is that of being human beings. The God of the Bible—but also of other religions—is a God “who hears the cry of the poor,” who “has mercy on the weak and the poor,” who “defends the cause of the wretched,” who “does justice to the oppressed,” who “despises nothing that he has created.”
The Incarnation of the Word has brought an additional reason to care for the weak and the poor, whatever race or religion they belong to. The Incarnation in fact does not only say that “God became man,” it also demonstrates what kind of man he chose to become: not rich and powerful but poor, weak, and defenseless. A human being and that’s all! The manner of his Incarnation is no less important than the fact of his Incarnation.
This was the step forward that Francis of Assisi, because of his life experience, has allowed theology to take. Before him people emphasized almost exclusively the ontological aspects of the Incarnation: nature, person, hypostatic union, communication of idioms, etc. This was necessary to counteract heresy, but once the dogma was established, people could not stop there without making the Christian mystery dry up and making it lose a great part of its power in its opposition to sin and injustice in the world.
What moved Saint Francis to tears before the Christmas manger was not the union between the natures or the unity of hypostasis but the humility and the poverty of the Son of God who “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor” (2 Cor 8:9). The love of poverty and love of creation went hand in hand for Francis and shared a common root in his radical renunciation of wanting to own anything. He belonged to that category of people whom St. Paul describes “as having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Cor 6:10).
The Holy Father takes up this message when he makes “the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the planet” one of the fundamental concerns of his encyclical on the environment. What is it that produces the greatest damage to the environment and simultaneously the misery of a great number of people if not the insatiable desire of some to increase their possessions and their profits disproportionately? One should apply what the ancients said about life to the earth: “vitaque mancipio nulli datur, omnibus usu”—“life is not a grant in freehold; life’s a loan.”
* * *
At times we are rudely reminded of the truth that we are not the masters of the earth through events like the earthquake of last week that took place not far from here. Then the question we always ask comes back again: “Where was God?” Let us not make the mistake of thinking that we have an easy answer to such a question. We weep with those who weep, like Jesus did when faced with the sorrow of the widow of Nain or the sisters of Lazarus.
Faith, however, allows us to say something about this. God did not program creation as if it were a clock or a computer in which every movement is programmed from the beginning, except maybe for some periodic updates. By analogy with human beings, we can speak of a certain “freedom” that God has given to matter to evolve according to its own laws. In this sense (but only in this sense!) we could even share the point of view of non-believing scientists who speak of “chance and necessity.” In evolution everything seems to happen “by chance,” but “chance” itself is part of the plan of the Creator and does not exist “by chance.”
This fact brings with it tremendous dangers for people but also an increase in human dignity; in this way humanity is called to measure itself against the challenges of evolution. The people of the Netherlands had to struggle for centuries to avoid being submerged by the North Sea, and during this struggle they coined a famous phrase: “Luctor et emergo,” “I struggle and emerge.”
There will be one day “a new heaven and a new earth” (2 Pt 3: 13), free from every bondage and decay, but this will come to pass at the end of time when humanity itself will be fully and eternally liberated from sin and death (cf. Rom 8:19-23). One thing, however, Jesus assures us of meanwhile is that the human creature is never completely at the mercy of the elements of the world: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Lk 12:6-7).
To the question “Where was God on the night of August 23,” the believer does not hesitate, therefore, to respond in all humility, “He was there, suffering with his creatures and receiving into his peace the victims who were knocking at the door of his Paradise.”
* * *
The reading from the Book of Wisdom that we heard before the patristic reading of Chrysologus speaks to us of the first and fundamental duty of human beings that stems from their privileged position at the heart of creation. It said,
all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature;
and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know him who exists,
nor did they recognize the craftsman while paying heed to his works. (13:1)
St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans takes up this well-known subject but with a variation that applies to all of us and strikes close to home. In relation to creation, he says, sin does not consist so much in the failure to rise above it and recognize the Creator, as in the failure to glorify and thank God: “For although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him” (Rom 1:21).
This is not just a sin of the mind but also of the will, and not just a sin of atheists and idolaters but also of those who know God. In fact immediately afterward the Apostle includes among people who “are without excuse” those who have been given revelation and, confident in this knowledge, feel secure and pass judgment on the rest of the world, without realizing that if they are seeking their own glory instead of God’s they are committing the same sin as unbelievers (see Rom 2:1ff).
There are many duties that human beings have concerning creation, some more urgent than others: water, air, climate, energy, protecting the species at risk, etc. People speak of these issues in all the venues and meetings that deal with ecology. There is, however, a duty to creation that we cannot speak about except in a meeting of believers, and it is absolutely appropriate that it therefore be placed front and center during the present moment of prayer. That duty is doxology, glorifying God for creation. An ecology without a doxology makes the universe opaque, like an immense glass map of the world that is without the light that should illuminate it from within.
The primary duty of human beings toward creation is to lend it a voice: “The heavens and the earth,” says one psalm, “are full of his glory” (see Ps 148:13; Is 6:3). The heavens and earth are pregnant with it, so to speak, but they cannot give birth to it by themselves. Like a pregnant woman, they too need the hands of a midwife to bring forth what they are pregnant with. And these “midwives” of the glory of God should be ourselves, the creatures who are made in the image of God. The Apostle also alludes to this when he speaks of a creation that “is groaning and suffering in travail until now” (see Rom 8:19, 22).
How long has the universe had to wait, what a long run-up it has had, to reach this point! It took billions of years during which opaque matter evolved toward the light of consciousness like the sap that slowly rises from under the ground to the top of the tree to flow into its leaves, flowers, and fruit. This consciousness was finally attained when “the human phenomenon,” as Teilhard de Chardin calls it, appeared in the universe. But now that the universe has reached this goal, it expects that human beings perform their duty and take on the task, so to speak, of directing the choir and to intone, in the name of all creation, “Glory to God in the highest!”
Someone who took this duty literally was the Dominican Blessed Henry Suso, known as “Saint Francis of Swabia”. He left us this touching testimony:
When I sing these . . . words [of the sursum corda] in the holy mass, . . . they bear me upwards into God, . . . and I gather round [in my mind] all the creatures which God ever created in heaven, on earth, and in all the elements, each one severally with its name, whether birds of the air, beasts of the forest, fishes of the water, leaves and grass of the earth, or the innumerable sand of the sea, and to these I add all the little specks of dust which glance in the sun beams, with all the little drops of water which ever fell or are falling from dew, snow, or rain. . . . And then the loving arms of my soul . . . extend themselves towards the innumerable multitude of all creatures, and . . . just as a free and blithesome leader of a choir stirs up the singers of his company . . . [I incite] them to sing joyously, and to offer up their hearts to God.
We believers ought to be the voice not only on behalf of all the other creatures but also on behalf of our brothers and sisters who have not had the grace of faith. Let us not forget in particular to glorify God for the amazing achievements of technology. It is true that they are the work of human beings, but whose people are these? Who made them? I asked myself a question and I repeat it here out loud: Do we really glorify God for his creatures or do we only say we do? Is our approach just a theory or also a practice? If we do not know how to do it with our words, let us do it with the Psalms. In them even the rivers are invited to clap their hands to the Creator (see Ps 98:8).
Glorifying God is not for his sake but for ours. With it we “set the truth free” (see Rom 1:18); creation is redeemed from fallenness and vanity, that is, from having no meaning, into which the sin of human beings has dragged it and the unbelief of the world still drags it today (see Rom 8:20-21). One of the prefaces at Mass addressed to God says,
. . . although you have no need of our praise,
yet our thanksgiving is itself your gift,
since our praises add nothing to your greatness
but profit us for salvation.
If Francis of Assisi still has something to say to us today about the environment, it is precisely what we have just said. He does not pray “for” creation, for its preservation (in his time there was not yet a need for that); instead he prays “with” creation or “because of creation” or even “on account of creation.” All these nuances are present in the preposition “per” that he uses, which means “through” and “for”: “Praised be you, Lord, through Brother Sun, through Sister Moon, through Mother Earth.” His canticle is entirely a doxology and a hymn of thanksgiving. It is precisely from this that Saint Francis derives his extraordinary respect toward every creature, for the sake of which he desired that even wild plants be granted space to grow.
This message was also taken up by the Holy Father in his encyclical on the environment. It begins with the doxology “Laudato si’” and ends significantly with two distinct prayers: one “for” creation and the other “in union with” creation. Let us draw a few invocations from that second prayer to conclude our reflection:
Triune Lord, wondrous community of infinite love,
teach us to contemplate you
in the beauty of the universe,
for all things speak of you.
Awaken our praise and thankfulness
for every being that you have made.
Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined
to everything that is.
God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth. Amen.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) To mark the September 1st day of prayer for creation, Pope Francis has added a new work of mercy for Catholics to perform: caring for our common home, the planet and all its inhabitants.
At a press conference on Thursday morning, Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the new Vatican office for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Bishop Brian Farrell from the Council for Christian Unity, introduced the Pope’s message for this annual observance, together with Irish author Terence Ward.
Philippa Hitchen went along to find out more…
Listen:
‘It’s not every day that you have a new work of mercy in the Catholic Church!’ That was how the new director of the Vatican press office, American Greg Burke introduced the briefing, focused on the papal message entitled ‘Show Mercy to our Common Home’.
Since biblical times, Christians have been called to carry out 6 acts of mercy, listed in St Matthew’s Gospel – giving food and drink to the hungry and thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the prisoners – with a 7th one, burying the dead, added in medieval times.
Now the new papal message adds an eighth one to that list and, as Terence Ward, author of ‘The Guardian of Mercy’ pointed out, it could be seen as the most significant of them all…
“ Caring for our Common Home. Groundbreaking and visionary, ecumenical and ecological. One could argue that this is the highest work of mercy because it includes all the others, a modern work of mercy for our modern epoch .”
As Bishop Brian Farrell explained, it’s an issue around which there is broad ecumenical agreement throughout the Christian world, with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and other Orthodox leaders pioneering many groundbreaking initiatives to raise awareness about critical ecological concerns.
But what exactly does this first every papal message for the day of prayer for creation call for? Not surprisingly, mercy is the key to unlocking that ‘ecological conversion’ of our hearts that Pope John Paul first called for a quarter of a century ago. As Cardinal Turkson explained, it’s a step by step process which begins by recognizing the harm we have already done through our selfish, irresponsible and greedy behavior..
“ The first step in this process is to humbly acknowledge the harm we are doing to the earth through pollution, the scandalous destruction of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity, and the spectre of climate change—which seems nearer and more dangerous with each passing year. And to realize that when we hurt the earth, we also hurt the poor, whom God loves without limit ”
After acknowledging the harm done and confessing our sins, we are then called to change our lives, beginning with the small changes that can lower our own carbon footprint, while also advocating for an economic and political system that is just and sustainable, rather than focused on short term financial and electoral gains.
Much of the Pope’s appeal to all people of good will was already spelt out a year ago in his groundbreaking encyclical Laudato Si’ but, as Cardinal Turkson asked at the end of the briefing, how many of us are ready and willing to respond to the challenges that document contained?
“ It should not be a document to be read, but […] a document with practical implications that we should all try to implement and to practice ”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for Creation was presented on Thursday at a Press Conference in the Holy See Press Office.
Presentations were given by the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson; the Secretary for the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Bishop Brian Farrell; and the author of the book The Guardian of Mercy, Terence Ward.
The full text of the prepared remarks are below
Press Conference / Conferenza Stampa, 1.09.2016
Presentation of the Message of Pope Francis, “Show Mercy to our Common Home” for the celebration of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson
Last year, following the launch of his encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church would follow the good example our Orthodox brothers and sisters and institute a “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.” This is in recognition of the leadership of the beloved Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who has long understood that when human beings abuse the gifts of creation, they commit sin. The idea of a common day of prayer for our common home came at the suggestion of his representative, my brother Metropolitan Ioannis of Pergamon, who—to my great joy—came to Rome to help launch the encyclical last year. We also stand together with other Christian communities and with other religions too—because care for our common home is something that truly unites us all.
When Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church would also mark this day of prayer for creation, he noted that it would “offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”
So for a first papal message for the Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation to come during this Jubilee Year of Mercy is very appropriate. For we are being asked to show mercy to our common home—to acknowledge and repent for our sins against creation, and to amend our ways through the merciful grace of God.
The first step in this process is to humbly acknowledge the harm we are doing to the earth through pollution, the scandalous destruction of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity, and the spectre of climate change—which seems nearer and more dangerous with each passing year. And to realize that when we hurt the earth, we also hurt the poor, whom God loves without limit.
Pope Francis is asking us to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that this is sin—sin against creation, against the poor, against those who have not yet been born. This means that we must examine our consciences and repent. I realize that this is not the way we traditionally think about sin. These are sins, Pope Francis says, that “we have not hitherto acknowledged and confessed.”
But we are now called upon to do so. This means we need to take a long and hard look at our lifestyles, especially when they reflect a “disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary.”
But it goes even deeper. A genuine examination of conscience would recognize not only our individual failings but also our institutional failings. As Pope Francis says, “we are participants in a system that ‘has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature.’” This implicates all of us in one way or another.
If we truly desire to repent, we can confess our sins against the Creator, creation, and our brothers and sisters. And “the merciful grace of God received in the sacrament will help us to do so.”
Once we have done this, Pope Francis says, we are ready to amend our lives and change course. This adjustment also has an individual and institutional dimension. Individually, we are called to “ecological conversion” in our daily lives. We should not think that our efforts—even our small gestures—don’t matter. Virtue, including ecological virtue, can be infectious—one person’s good example can encourage others to do better.
Yet individual initiative, important though it is, is not sufficient to turn the ship around. Ecological conversion entails not only individual conversion, but community conversion too. We need a conversion of economics and politics—away from an obsession with short-term and self-centred financial or electoral gains, and toward a true appreciation of the common good.
This is brought into stark relief when we consider the sustainable development agenda. Pope Francis praises the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change last year. But for this agenda to succeed, it will require a heroic amount of political will and a heroic effort by business and economic interests. This too is part of what Pope Francis means by a “firm purpose of amendment.”
Yet are we seeing that adjustment? Are we amending our ways? On climate change, the global community has drawn a red line under a rise in global temperatures of 2 degrees Celsius. This is will require a complete shift away from fossil fuels toward renewables by about 2070. This is a momentous undertaking. But have we as a society truly deliberated on what this means, and what it will take to get there? We have not. And the Paris Agreement puts 2 degrees Celsius as the upper limit, and asks us to try to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius instead. This is exponentially more difficult, and it will require an even stronger “firm purpose of amendment.” Are we up to the task?
This is the responsibility of all of us. Pope Francis says it is up to citizens to insist that these commitments are honoured, and to advocate for more ambitious goals. As one example from Laudato Si’, he suggests that social pressure—including from boycotting certain products—can force businesses to consider their environmental footprint and patterns of production. The same logic animates the fossil fuel divestment movement.
Let us also not forget the global solidarity dimension. As part of paying down their “ecological debt” to their poorer neighbours, richer countries need to provide them with needed financial and technical support. This too is a component of the “firm purpose of amendment.”
Following this amendment of our lives and institutions, Pope Francis is calling us toward a new work of mercy. For as he says, “nothing unites us to God more than an act of mercy, for it is by mercy that the Lord forgives our sins and gives us the grace to practice acts of mercy in his name.” This is really the final step of ecological conversion, a true internalization of an ecological sensibility. So we are being asked to complement both the spiritual and corporal works of mercy with care for our common home.
To sum up, then: this Message is the next logical step after Laudato Si’, for it is showing us how to internalize its teaching in our lives and in our world. It is asking us to live Laudato Si’! Are we ready to respond to the Holy Father’s invitation – and challenge?
Press Conference for the presentation of Pope Francis’ Message
for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
1 September 2016
Bishop Brian Farrell
All Christians, East and West, pray that God will continue to sustain and bless the work of his hands “until all the earth sings the praises of his Name” (cf. Psalm 66). Christians of all traditions are familiar with prayers for the harvest, for rain, for the end of shortage or for help during natural disasters. For example, the Roman Book of Blessings provides blessings for fields and flocks, our homes, food, and more. To bless is to recognize that everything – the whole of creation and all its parts – are a gift of God’s inexpressible love, a gift he entrusted to our human care and labour as the way of providing for common human needs.
It is a great sign of ecumenical progress that Christians in all churches are joining together in prayer at the same time to praise God for his work, to seek his protection of it and to re-commit themselves to safeguarding it.
In the time of the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios (1989), the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to dedicate 1 September, the beginning of the liturgical year in the Orthodox calendar, to prayer for the safeguarding of creation. On that day the Orthodox liturgy reads the biblical account of the creation of the world.
For his part Ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew has given particular attention to the theme of the care of creation, so much so that he has been called “the green Patriarch”. Among the initiatives he has promoted are the scientific Conferences on the island of Chalki and the inter-Christian Symposia on the safeguarding of the precious resource of water, with the participation of Catholic representatives.
Patriarch Bartholomews’s engagement was underlined in Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Sì. For this reason Metropolitan Ioannis Zizioulas was invited to take part in the press conference to present the encyclical in June of last year.
On that occasion Metropolitan Zizioulas launched the idea of a joint day of prayer for the care of creation.
The Holy Father gladly took up the idea and last year established the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church, to be celebrated each year on 1 September, coinciding with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Throughout the Christian world, the Holy Father’s decision was greatly appreciated.
The World Council of Churches had already dedicated the period between 1 September and 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis, to prayer and reflection on safeguarding creation. The Anglican Communion too celebrates such a day on 1 September. The day dedicated to prayer for the care of creation by the Moscow Patriarchate is the first Sunday of September, because 1 September is already a holiday for the opening of the school year.
The fact is that there is broad ecumenical agreement on this important issue. Significantly for this year, the Secretary General of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, uses a video message to encourage the faithful of the member churches to pray for this intention. Likewise, the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences together with the Conference of European Churches and the European Christian Environmental Network have published a common message.
The hope is that on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation members of all confessions will come together for prayer and collaboration in common actions regarding this issue, also at the diocesan and parochial levels.
In today’s Message, Show Mercy to Our Common Home, the Holy Father underlines the connection between our responsibility towards creation and our prayer and reflection during the Jubilee Year of Mercy. He calls us to conversion: to name and deal with the selfishness that has caused a disproportionate over-use of the world’s resources, to deepen repentance, and to cultivate a “merciful heart.” These are the very sentiments that fill the Orthodox “Vespers for the Preservation of Creation”, a very beautiful prayer of praise and supplication to God for the earth and all its inhabitants.
In sharing that prayer, conversion and “merciful heart”, Christians are united at a very deep level in spite of the visible divisions between them. This spiritual communion motivates them to do things together to answer the challenge of safeguarding the environment by ‘changing course’. As today’s Message says, our culture of prosperity is distorted and our desire to consume more than what is really necessary is disordered. We must change our attitudes and our actions. All Christians together are called to make this change.
Intervention of di Terence Ward, author of the book The Guardian of Mercy
On a day of creation and being Irish, I could not avoid sporting some green.
I was invited to briefly speak on this “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” because of my recent book The Guardian of Mercy , Il guardiano della Misericordia. The story centers on a Caravaggio masterpiece in Naples called The Seven Acts of Mercy and how it changed the life of its Guardian. This story happens to also be in remarkable harmony with the Pope’s message.
All sacred traditions speak to Compassion and Human Solidarity which remain the cornerstone of every faith. Voices echo across great distances and time, chanting the same refrain. From the Torah to the Koran, from the Annalects to the words of Ashoka. And, in our New Testament.
Originally, in Matthew 25, there were 6 acts of mercy: Jesus said: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”
In the medieval period, a 7th was added, Burying the Dead.
In our modern times, we have all seen Pope Francis perform all these acts of mercy. And now he has added an 8th work of mercy. And, HE SHARES IT WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD — Caring for our Common Home. Groundbreaking and Visionary. Ecumenical and Ecological.
ONE COULD ARGUE THAT THIS IS THE HIGHEST WORK OF MERCY because it includes all the others. A modern work of mercy for our modern epoch. Ecumenical above all. And deeply linked to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople who has long spoken about the ecological sin of harming creation. In turn, Pope Francis has focused on the devastation of the environment and the suffering of the poor”. He asks us to” hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
TODAY, Pope Francis renews his dialogue with “EVERY PERSON LIVING ON THIS PLANET,” a dialogue that he began in Laudato Si.
And NOW it is perfectly clear why his Encyclical was released during this Year of Mercy.
WE ARE ALL TIED TOGETHER. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND. We ARE BOUND TO CREATION AS STEWARDS of CREATION.
The secular French philosopher Edgar Morin hailed LAUDATO SI as a “call for a new civilization.” Bill McKibben, the noted ecologist, says “it may be the most important document in recent times.”
The Pope’s vision reaches far beyond any political labels. His critique is not simply an environmental treatise. It is a breathtaking moral, social, economic, and spiritual commentary on our modern epoch; fundamentally questioning our style of life.
“Intergenerational solidarity is not optional,” he reminds us, “the world we received also belongs to those who will follow us.”
And with this announcement today, Pope Francis cements his Year of Mercy by adding to his powerful message in Laudato Si.
1. THE FIRST STEP. THE HOLY FATHER TODAY CALLS TO US TO EXAMINE OUR CONSCIENCE.
Be aware that we are not disconnected from the rest of nature but joined in universal communion. Acknowledge our contribution, big or small, in the destruction of creation.
2. THE SECOND STEP IS TO BEGIN TO CHANGE COURSE
Think of concrete actions, however small. Avoid plastic, reduce water, separate your garbage, use public transport, help others, and turn off lights.
Never think that these are too small. Seek a way to enjoy life’s gifts while controlling consumption. Shun short-term thinking in both business and politics, quick financial gain or electoral greed.
Begin to consider a lifestyle that cares for Nature. The Common Good.
And ask what sort of world we want to leave behind.
DO WE WANT TO TRY TO BE GOOD ANCESTORS
3. EMBRACE THIS NEW WORK OF MERCY
Nothing elevates us more than an act of mercy. The objective is sacred– human life and all it embraces.
Simple daily gestures break the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness.
On the larger scale, Citizens should absolutely insist that their govts. and companies act responsibly to honor the Paris Climate Change Agreement…and should advocate for more ambitious goals.
Governor Jerry Brown of California, at the Conference of Mayors here last year said: “we need to think of instances where radical change occurred. Being right here in Rome where we can walk through the ruins of a great Roman Empire gives us an example. It was defeated not by another empire, but by 12 Galileans who had no money, who didn’t even speak Latin, but who began the process of taking down the Empire and replacing it with Christianity.”
And we need to remember it was Gandhi, who overthrew the British Empire. A man with a little cloth wrapped around his body, who now speaks more about where we are than Winston Churchill or any politician.”
So, our Holy Father’s message is embrace this NEW WORK OF MERCY – large and small – care for the common home.
My final question is how would Caravaggio have rendered this 8th work of Mercy into his masterpiece? I leave this for you to imagine….
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has issued a Message to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Taken from the Extraordinary Jubilee Year and his encyclical letter, Laudato si’ , the theme of the Holy Father’ Message is: Show mercy to our common home .
Below, please find the full text
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MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CARE OF CREATION
1 SEPTEMBER 2016
Show Mercy to our Common Home
United with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, and with the support of other Churches and Christian communities, the Catholic Church today marks the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation”. This Day offers “individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.” [1]
It is most encouraging that concern for the future of our planet is shared by the Churches and Christian communities, together with other religions. Indeed, in past decades numerous efforts have been made by religious leaders and organizations to call public attention to the dangers of an irresponsible exploitation of our planet. Here I would mention Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople who, like his predecessor Patriarch Dimitrios, has long spoken out against the sin of harming creation and has drawn attention to the moral and spiritual crisis at the root of environmental problems. In response to a growing concern for the integrity of creation, the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu in 2007 proposed celebrating a “Time for Creation” during the five weeks between 1 September (the Orthodox commemoration of God’s creation) and 4 October (the commemoration of Francis of Assisi in the Catholic Church and some other Western traditions). This initiative, supported by the World Council of Churches, has since inspired many ecumenical activities in different parts of the world. It is also encouraging that throughout the world similar initiatives promoting environmental justice, concern for the poor and responsible social commitment have been bringing together people, especially young people, from diverse religious backgrounds. Christians or not, as people of faith and goodwill, we should be united in showing mercy to the earth as our common home and cherishing the world in which we live as a place for sharing and communion.
1. The earth cries out …
With this Message, I renew my dialogue with “every person living on this planet” ( Laudato Si’ , 3) about the sufferings of the poor and the devastation of the environment. God gave us a bountiful garden, but we have turned it into a polluted wasteland of “debris, desolation and filth” (ibid., 161). We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behaviour. “Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right” (ibid., 33).
Global warming continues, due in part to human activity: 2015 was the warmest year on record, and 2016 will likely be warmer still. This is leading to ever more severe droughts, floods, fires and extreme weather events. Climate change is also contributing to the heart-rending refugee crisis. The world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most vulnerable and already suffering its impact.
As an integral ecology emphasizes, human beings are deeply connected with all of creation. When we mistreat nature, we also mistreat human beings. At the same time, each creature has its own intrinsic value that must be respected. Let us hear “ both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” ( Laudato Si’ , 49), and do our best to ensure an appropriate and timely response.
2. … for we have sinned
God gave us the earth “to till and to keep” ( Gen 2:15) in a balanced and respectful way. To till too much, to keep too little, is to sin.
My brother, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has courageously and prophetically continued to point out our sins against creation. “For human beings… to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins.” Further, “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God.” [2]
In the light of what is happening to our common home, may the present Jubilee of Mercy summon the Christian faithful “to profound interior conversion” ( Laudato Si’ , 217), sustained particularly by the sacrament of Penance. During this Jubilee Year, let us learn to implore God’s mercy for those sins against creation that we have not hitherto acknowledged and confessed. Let us likewise commit ourselves to taking concrete steps towards ecological conversion, which requires a clear recognition of our responsibility to ourselves, our neighbours, creation and the Creator (ibid., 10 and 229).
3. An examination of conscience and repentance
The first step in this process is always an examination of conscience, which involves “gratitude and gratuitousness, a recognition that the world is God’s loving gift, and that we are called quietly to imitate his generosity in self-sacrifice and good works… It also entails a loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion. As believers, we do not look at the world from without but from within, conscious of the bonds with which the Father has linked us to all beings” ( Laudato Si’ , 220).
Turning to this bountiful and merciful Father who awaits the return of each of his children, we can acknowledge our sins against creation, the poor and future generations. “Inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage,” we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation.” [3] This is the first step on the path of conversion.
In 2000, also a Jubilee Year, my predecessor Saint John Paul II asked Catholics to make amends for past and present religious intolerance, as well as for injustice towards Jews, women, indigenous peoples, immigrants, the poor and the unborn. In this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, I invite everyone to do likewise. As individuals, we have grown comfortable with certain lifestyles shaped by a distorted culture of prosperity and a “disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary” ( Laudato Si’ , 123), and we are participants in a system that “has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature.” [4] Let us repent of the harm we are doing to our common home.
After a serious examination of conscience and moved by sincere repentance, we can confess our sins against the Creator, against creation, and against our brothers and sisters. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church presents the confessional as the place where the truth makes us free.” [5] We know that “God is greater than our sin,” [6] than all our sins, including those against the environment. We confess them because we are penitent and desire to change. The merciful grace of God received in the sacrament will help us to do so.
4. Changing course
Examining our consciences, repentance and confession to our Father who is rich in mercy lead to a firm purpose of amendment . This in turn must translate into concrete ways of thinking and acting that are more respectful of creation. For example: “avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices” ( Laudato Si’ , 211). We must not think that these efforts are too small to improve our world. They “call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread” and encourage “a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption” (ibid., 212, 222).
In the same way, the resolve to live differently should affect our various contributions to shaping the culture and society in which we live. Indeed, “care for nature is part of a lifestyle which includes the capacity for living together and communion” ( Laudato Si’ , 228). Economics and politics, society and culture cannot be dominated by thinking only of the short-term and immediate financial or electoral gains. Instead, they urgently need to be redirected to the common good, which includes sustainability and care for creation.
One concrete case is the “ecological debt” between the global north and south (cf. Laudato Si’ , 51-2). Repaying it would require treating the environments of poorer nations with care and providing the financial resources and technical assistance needed to help them deal with climate change and promote sustainable development.
The protection of our common home requires a growing global political consensus. Along these lines, I am gratified that in September 2015 the nations of the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, and that, in December 2015, they approved the Paris Agreement on climate change, which set the demanding yet fundamental goal of halting the rise of the global temperature. Now governments are obliged to honour the commitments they made, while businesses must also responsibly do their part. It is up to citizens to insist that this happen, and indeed to advocate for even more ambitious goals.
Changing course thus means “keeping the original commandment to preserve creation from all harm, both for our sake and for the sake of our fellow human beings.” [7] A single question can keep our eyes fixed on the goal: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” ( Laudato Si’ , 160).
5. A new work of mercy
“Nothing unites us to God more than an act of mercy, for it is by mercy that the Lord forgives our sins and gives us the grace to practise acts of mercy in his name.” [8]
To paraphrase Saint James, “we can say that mercy without works is dead … In our rapidly changing and increasingly globalized world, many new forms of poverty are appearing. In response to them, we need to be creative in developing new and practical forms of charitable outreach as concrete expressions of the way of mercy.” [9]
The Christian life involves the practice of the traditional seven corporal and seven spiritual works of mercy. [10] “We usually think of the works of mercy individually and in relation to a specific initiative: hospitals for the sick, soup kitchens for the hungry, shelters for the homeless, schools for those to be educated, the confessional and spiritual direction for those needing counsel and forgiveness… But if we look at the works of mercy as a whole, we see that the object of mercy is human life itself and everything it embraces.” [11]
Obviously “human life itself and everything it embraces” includes care for our common home. So let me propose a complement to the two traditional sets of seven: may the works of mercy also include care for our common home .
As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our common home calls for a “grateful contemplation of God’s world” ( Laudato Si , 214) which “allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us” (ibid., 85). As a corporal work of mercy, care for our common home requires “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness” and “makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world” (ibid., 230-31).
6. In conclusion, let us pray
Despite our sins and the daunting challenges before us, we never lose heart. “The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us… for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love constantly impels us to find new ways forward” ( Laudato Si , 13; 245). In a particular way, let us pray on 1 September, and indeed throughout the year:
“O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
who are so precious in your eyes…
God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth” (ibid., 246),
God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness
and convey your mercy throughout our common home.
Praise be to you!
Amen.
[1] Letter for the Establishment of the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” (6 August 2015).
[2] Address in Santa Barbara, California (8 November 1997).
[3] Bartholomew I, Message for the Day of Prayer for the Protection of Creation (1 September 2012).
[4] Address to the Second World Meeting of Popular Movements, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (9 July 2015).
[5] Third Meditation , Retreat during the Jubilee for Priests, Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome (2 June 2016).
[6] General Audience of 30 March 2016.
[7] Bartholomew I, Message for the Day of Prayer for the Protection of Creation , 1.9.1997.
[8] First Meditation , Retreat during the Jubilee for Priests, Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome (2 June 2016).
[9] General Audience of 30 June 2016.
[10] The corporal works of mercy are feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, burying the dead. The spiritual works of mercy are counselling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing sinners, consoling the afflicted, forgiving offenses, bearing patiently those who do us ill, praying for the living and the dead.
[11] Third Meditation , Retreat for the Jubilee for Priests, Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome (2 June 2016).
(from Vatican Radio)…