Justice, Peace, & Integrity of Creation - INTEGRITY OF CREATION

We arrive at the third leg of our JPIC discussion with our consideration of Integrity of Creation.  Pope Francis’ recent encyclical, Laudato Sí, covers this topic very thoroughly.  If you haven’t read it yet, you should.  A main point of the Pope’s explanation is the idea of integral ecology.  Of course, we Franciscans know this idea very well because of St. Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures.

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing,
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather,
through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night,
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.

So, what is our response as Secular Franciscans?  When we look at all the environmental problems, the injustice because of resource unbalance, and the breakdown of the social order, we understand that we have a solemn responsibility to help correct these issues affecting our “common home.”    Our action is to recycle, use water carefully and prudently, turn out lights not being used, lobby our energy companies to create clean energy, install solar panels on our homes, lobby our legislators to create protections for the environment and for the poor, dialogue with our city leaders to look at environmentally sound practices, e.g., elimination of plastic bags, help a food pantries and homeless shelters, and the list goes on.  We become advocates for our “common home” through our individual practices and our dialogue with others to make a difference in our own corner of the world.  No matter what our age or physical condition, we can do small things that will make a difference. 

As our Rule reminds us,

·         Let the Secular Franciscans seek a proper spirit of detachment from temporal goods by simplifying their own material needs. Let them be mindful that according to the gospel they are stewards of the goods received for the benefit of God’s children. (11)

·         A sense of community will make them joyful and ready to place themselves on an equal basis with all people, especially with the lowly for whom they shall strive to create conditions of life worthy of people redeemed by Christ. (13)

·         Moreover, they should respect all creatures, animate and inanimate, which “bear the imprint of the Most High,” and they should strive to move from the temptation of exploiting creation to the Franciscan concept of universal kinship. (18)

So, let us continue to promote a balance of our use of resources for all who share our “common home.”  Let us continue to advocate for intelligent use of our natural resources that leaves a world of promise for our children and grand children and their children.  Let us “…come together to take charge of this home which has been entrusted to us, knowing that all the good which exists here will be taken up into the heavenly feast. In union with all creatures, we journey through this land seeking God, for “if the world has a beginning and if it has been created, we must enquire who gave it this beginning, and who was its Creator”. (Basil the Great) Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope.” (Laudato Sí; 244)

Pace e Bene!