Laudato Si’ Dialogues Newsletter - Sixth IssueDecember 14, 2020
“Advent is an incessant call to hope: it reminds us that God is present in history to lead it to its ultimate end, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.” Pope Francis, Nov 29, 2020 Advent is also the season of anticipation and preparation. We at GCCM Canada are filled with all of these feelings this year! But the strongest of these is hope, and that comes directly from you! Read the newsletter |
The Pope Video – Respect for the Planet’s Resources - Infographic
September 2, 2020 - Pope Video
Important information to consider during this Season of Creation
Important information to consider during this Season of Creation
Reflections on Laudato Si’ 5th Anniversary
August 9, 2020 - by Andrew Conradi, ofs, Little Portion Fraternity, Victoria, BC, Canada
an editor of Franciscan Voice Canada
When re-reading Laudato Si’ (LS) I always find something new or rediscover how rich and comprehensive it is in covering a wide range of Catholic Christianity especially Catholic Social Teaching and specific points emphasised by Franciscans. Let me mention just a few.
A link to Catholic Social Teaching is the recognition that LS was structured on the See, Judge, Act method (though the phrase is not explicitly used in the encyclical): See – Chapter 1; Judge – Chapters 2-4; & Act – Chapters 5-6. This method developed by Cardinal Cardijn and used by the Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne (Young Christian Workers) movement in Belgium was accepted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and affirmed as Catholic Social Teaching by Pope St John XXIII in Mater et Magistra in 1961). I am reminded that the Canadian Bishops in their 2017 Living Out Laudato Si': A Commentary and Practical Resource for Canadian Catholics referred to it as See, Learn, Pray, Act. Most of us have so much to learn and I find it is not always easy to stay well-informed and up-to-date.
I wrote in Understanding JPIC at 3.2.83: “As the Bishops of Ontario (1998) stated:
“Our first concern is to remind all Roman Catholics of their duty to become informed, to vote and to be involved politically, … Pope Pius XI spoke of "political charity" as one of the highest forms of the virtue of charity. … "a merely individualistic morality" will not suffice, and that Christians must "give an example by their sense of responsibility and their service of the common good." (The Church in the Modern World, No. 30, 75 and 72).” (emphasis added)
LS 10: “I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. … how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.” LS 91: “Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society.”
LS 235: “The Sacraments are a privileged way in which nature is taken up by God to become a means of mediating supernatural life. Through our worship of God, we are invited to embrace the world on a different plane. Water, oil, fire and colours are taken up in all their symbolic power and incorporated in our act of praise.” [and of course bread and wine!]. This also reminds me that: “The Canadian bishops rightly pointed out that no creature is excluded from this manifestation of God: “From panoramic vistas to the tiniest living form, nature is a constant source of wonder and awe. It is also a continuing revelation of the divine.” (LS 85)
This “revelation of the divine” and to “embrace the world on a different plane” is to me one fine definition of spirituality i.e. to see beyond the obvious that can be seen with our eyes and to see with our heart and mind which then leads me to think of St Bonaventure and The Soul’s Journey into God.
And then there is the linking of the Eucharist with what the Secular Franciscan Order Rule 18 calls the “Franciscan concept of the universal kinship” of creation, or as expressed in LS 236: “It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave himself as food for his creatures. The Lord, in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter. He comes not from above, but from within, he comes that we might find him in this world of ours.”
We Franciscans do not separate spirit and matter and emphasise their connection just as we see the essential link between contemplation and action. To me this invokes thoughts of participation, fraternity and solidarity and it evokes the eucharist’s Jewish roots in their Bread of the Presence and Christ saying “Do this in memory of me.” I am reminded that Christ was a Jew and that the Torah is very concerned with justice and peace. Peace to the Jews was and is a very comprehensive concept of well-being or as the Spanish say: buen vivir y convivir (living well and together) or to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8) and go from Gospel to Life (OFS Rule).
“Do this in memory of me.” So what do I remember? As I wrote in Understanding JPIC (at 3.4.4.) Yvonne Bergeron, CND (2008, Québec) asked us at the 49th Eucharistic Congress, in The Testament of Jesus, when Jesus said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” what did He want us to remember? She pointed out that His entire life of ministry was marked by: profound solidarity with the marginalized; denunciation of the unjust social, economic, political and religious conditions; refusal to accept injustice that created divisions in society; human relationships based on love, liberty and dignity; preaching of authentic worship; and willingness to confront the powerful.
LS 114: “All of this shows the urgent need for us to move forward in a bold cultural revolution.” and LS 179: “…Society… must put pressure on governments to develop more rigorous regulations, procedures and controls. Unless citizens control political power – national, regional and municipal – it will not be possible to control damage to the environment.” And as we all know Pope Francis told young people: “I want people to go out! I want the Church to go out to the street! ... The parishes, the schools, the institutions, exist to go out!” (25 July 2013) That surely would include raising our voice boldly through advocacy.
Advocacy reminds me of St Bonaventure again: “… for Bonaventure, humans have an intimate relationship with creation and “are to be advocates for other creatures, giving them a voice before God and the world.” (Nothwehr, Dawn, OSF: The Franciscan View of the Human Person: Some Central Elements, 2005, 42)
Speaking in and to the world, requires speaking boldly but first making the effort to become aware and then just doing what we can, i.e. talking to family, friends, co-workers, anybody who will listen and signing petitions to corporations and governments for justice, peace and the integrity of creation and even, if called, to participate in peaceful public action and demonstrations.
Sadly it seems that not only governments but some catholic bishops’ conferences or dioceses need nudging to do this (and some do not). After all they have a lot on their plates but that is no longer an acceptable excuse for weak responses & action regarding “the cry of the earth and cry of the poor” and “an unwavering commitment” mentioned previously. LS 49: “Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
Just as see, judge, act was not specifically attributed to its originator in LS, sadly neither was cry of the earth, cry of the poor, which comes from the Bible via the title of a book published in 1993 by an OFM friar - now laicized - Leonardo Boff, about the Amazon.
And that reminds me of a 12 year old Canadian girl, Severn Suzuki, who addressed the UN Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and of Craig Kielburger, a Canadian 12 year old boy,
who in 1995 addressed the matter of exploited child labour and founded Free The Children (since rebranded as WE Charity). Now there is a 16 year old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, who addressed both the World Economic Forum in Davos: “Our house is on fire!” and UN Climate Action Summit in New York City: “How dare you!” in 2019.
God bless them! There is hope! From time to time I have and will continue to support Fridays For Future school strikes inspired by Greta who was encouraged by the Holy Father when she met him 16 April 2019. Now because of covid-19 I have to do it virtually via internet. Just think how effective, encouraging, empowering (and evangelizing – oh yes!) it would be if a few bishops were to be seen to publicly march with the students once in a while even if only virtually!
To me LS is a renewal of the call to action stemming from our Jewish roots and Catholic Social Teaching. As Pope Francis said 16 Sept 2013: “Politics, according to the Social Doctrine of the Church, is one of the highest forms of charity, because it serves the common good. I cannot wash my hands, eh? We all have to give something!” and as St Francis of Assisi said: “ For up to now we have done little or nothing.”
My thoughts turn to what has come to be known as the Franciscan Blessing (actually it was originally written by an American Benedictine: Sr Ruth Fox, OSB in 1985) that we should have discontent, anger, tears, and foolishness to believe we can make a difference and finally to St Teresa of Calcutta: “I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.”
I pray that all who read this will be blessed with discontent, anger, tears, and foolishness to believe we can make a difference and actively and boldly try to change things for the common good for future generations.
Peace & joy!
https://www.franciscanvoicecanada.com
an editor of Franciscan Voice Canada
When re-reading Laudato Si’ (LS) I always find something new or rediscover how rich and comprehensive it is in covering a wide range of Catholic Christianity especially Catholic Social Teaching and specific points emphasised by Franciscans. Let me mention just a few.
A link to Catholic Social Teaching is the recognition that LS was structured on the See, Judge, Act method (though the phrase is not explicitly used in the encyclical): See – Chapter 1; Judge – Chapters 2-4; & Act – Chapters 5-6. This method developed by Cardinal Cardijn and used by the Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne (Young Christian Workers) movement in Belgium was accepted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and affirmed as Catholic Social Teaching by Pope St John XXIII in Mater et Magistra in 1961). I am reminded that the Canadian Bishops in their 2017 Living Out Laudato Si': A Commentary and Practical Resource for Canadian Catholics referred to it as See, Learn, Pray, Act. Most of us have so much to learn and I find it is not always easy to stay well-informed and up-to-date.
I wrote in Understanding JPIC at 3.2.83: “As the Bishops of Ontario (1998) stated:
“Our first concern is to remind all Roman Catholics of their duty to become informed, to vote and to be involved politically, … Pope Pius XI spoke of "political charity" as one of the highest forms of the virtue of charity. … "a merely individualistic morality" will not suffice, and that Christians must "give an example by their sense of responsibility and their service of the common good." (The Church in the Modern World, No. 30, 75 and 72).” (emphasis added)
LS 10: “I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. … how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.” LS 91: “Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society.”
LS 235: “The Sacraments are a privileged way in which nature is taken up by God to become a means of mediating supernatural life. Through our worship of God, we are invited to embrace the world on a different plane. Water, oil, fire and colours are taken up in all their symbolic power and incorporated in our act of praise.” [and of course bread and wine!]. This also reminds me that: “The Canadian bishops rightly pointed out that no creature is excluded from this manifestation of God: “From panoramic vistas to the tiniest living form, nature is a constant source of wonder and awe. It is also a continuing revelation of the divine.” (LS 85)
This “revelation of the divine” and to “embrace the world on a different plane” is to me one fine definition of spirituality i.e. to see beyond the obvious that can be seen with our eyes and to see with our heart and mind which then leads me to think of St Bonaventure and The Soul’s Journey into God.
And then there is the linking of the Eucharist with what the Secular Franciscan Order Rule 18 calls the “Franciscan concept of the universal kinship” of creation, or as expressed in LS 236: “It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave himself as food for his creatures. The Lord, in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter. He comes not from above, but from within, he comes that we might find him in this world of ours.”
We Franciscans do not separate spirit and matter and emphasise their connection just as we see the essential link between contemplation and action. To me this invokes thoughts of participation, fraternity and solidarity and it evokes the eucharist’s Jewish roots in their Bread of the Presence and Christ saying “Do this in memory of me.” I am reminded that Christ was a Jew and that the Torah is very concerned with justice and peace. Peace to the Jews was and is a very comprehensive concept of well-being or as the Spanish say: buen vivir y convivir (living well and together) or to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8) and go from Gospel to Life (OFS Rule).
“Do this in memory of me.” So what do I remember? As I wrote in Understanding JPIC (at 3.4.4.) Yvonne Bergeron, CND (2008, Québec) asked us at the 49th Eucharistic Congress, in The Testament of Jesus, when Jesus said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” what did He want us to remember? She pointed out that His entire life of ministry was marked by: profound solidarity with the marginalized; denunciation of the unjust social, economic, political and religious conditions; refusal to accept injustice that created divisions in society; human relationships based on love, liberty and dignity; preaching of authentic worship; and willingness to confront the powerful.
LS 114: “All of this shows the urgent need for us to move forward in a bold cultural revolution.” and LS 179: “…Society… must put pressure on governments to develop more rigorous regulations, procedures and controls. Unless citizens control political power – national, regional and municipal – it will not be possible to control damage to the environment.” And as we all know Pope Francis told young people: “I want people to go out! I want the Church to go out to the street! ... The parishes, the schools, the institutions, exist to go out!” (25 July 2013) That surely would include raising our voice boldly through advocacy.
Advocacy reminds me of St Bonaventure again: “… for Bonaventure, humans have an intimate relationship with creation and “are to be advocates for other creatures, giving them a voice before God and the world.” (Nothwehr, Dawn, OSF: The Franciscan View of the Human Person: Some Central Elements, 2005, 42)
Speaking in and to the world, requires speaking boldly but first making the effort to become aware and then just doing what we can, i.e. talking to family, friends, co-workers, anybody who will listen and signing petitions to corporations and governments for justice, peace and the integrity of creation and even, if called, to participate in peaceful public action and demonstrations.
Sadly it seems that not only governments but some catholic bishops’ conferences or dioceses need nudging to do this (and some do not). After all they have a lot on their plates but that is no longer an acceptable excuse for weak responses & action regarding “the cry of the earth and cry of the poor” and “an unwavering commitment” mentioned previously. LS 49: “Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
Just as see, judge, act was not specifically attributed to its originator in LS, sadly neither was cry of the earth, cry of the poor, which comes from the Bible via the title of a book published in 1993 by an OFM friar - now laicized - Leonardo Boff, about the Amazon.
And that reminds me of a 12 year old Canadian girl, Severn Suzuki, who addressed the UN Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and of Craig Kielburger, a Canadian 12 year old boy,
who in 1995 addressed the matter of exploited child labour and founded Free The Children (since rebranded as WE Charity). Now there is a 16 year old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, who addressed both the World Economic Forum in Davos: “Our house is on fire!” and UN Climate Action Summit in New York City: “How dare you!” in 2019.
God bless them! There is hope! From time to time I have and will continue to support Fridays For Future school strikes inspired by Greta who was encouraged by the Holy Father when she met him 16 April 2019. Now because of covid-19 I have to do it virtually via internet. Just think how effective, encouraging, empowering (and evangelizing – oh yes!) it would be if a few bishops were to be seen to publicly march with the students once in a while even if only virtually!
To me LS is a renewal of the call to action stemming from our Jewish roots and Catholic Social Teaching. As Pope Francis said 16 Sept 2013: “Politics, according to the Social Doctrine of the Church, is one of the highest forms of charity, because it serves the common good. I cannot wash my hands, eh? We all have to give something!” and as St Francis of Assisi said: “ For up to now we have done little or nothing.”
My thoughts turn to what has come to be known as the Franciscan Blessing (actually it was originally written by an American Benedictine: Sr Ruth Fox, OSB in 1985) that we should have discontent, anger, tears, and foolishness to believe we can make a difference and finally to St Teresa of Calcutta: “I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.”
I pray that all who read this will be blessed with discontent, anger, tears, and foolishness to believe we can make a difference and actively and boldly try to change things for the common good for future generations.
Peace & joy!
https://www.franciscanvoicecanada.com
The Catholic community in Canada is mobilizing to protect the planet by establishing a Canadian chapter of the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM Canada). Their newsletter, Laudato Si' Dialogues can be found here.
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