"It follows that our indifference or cruelty towards fellow creatures of this world sooner or later affects the treatment we mete out to other human beings." (Laudato Si 92)
This is a section that is so crucial for Christians to read, but it's also a section in which Francis holds no punches. The language is powerful, perhaps hard to read, but incredibly meaningful and pertinent to how we proceed with regards to our relationship to creation. To help us reflect on it, a man who is a dear friend and a son of Ignatius who has chosen a different path in life but will always remain close to Ignatian Spirituality (he can certainly speak more eleoquently about it than I ever could!) and has much wisdom to offer, Santiago Rodriguez (Santi). Enjoy Reading, and being challenged! - Br. Dan
Santiago is a husband and father. He is the Youth Minister at Historic Christ Church in Alexandria, VA. Through a background in Ignatian spirituality, he specializes in the relationship between social media and prayer. When he is not geeking out about spirituality, politics, or sports, Santiago enjoys hiking with his family or watching stand up comedy. You can follow Santiago on Twitter, @sayochia, or Instagram, @owlourhearts.
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| Santi in communion with the mountains in Banff, Alberta |
Let men, who cannot be brothers to themselves, be brothers to mulleins and daisies that have learned to live on the earth... let them know that the foxes and the owls are joyous in their lives. - Wendell Berry
As a Jesuit novice, I made the
Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola – a
30-day silent retreat to contemplate and be transformed by the life of Christ.
During the Second Week of the Exercises, my novice master invited me to
meditate on my call to be a Jesuit. To discern my unique way to follow Christ, I left my cozy room in the retreat house and spent two days in a sparsely furnished shack serving
as a hermitage. The small cabin had all I needed: a squeaky bed, a dusty reading chair, a wood stove, and the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. This shack afforded me the seclusion I craved to pray alone in the presence of God. On my final morning in the hermitage,30-day silent retreat to contemplate and be transformed by the life of Christ.
During the Second Week of the Exercises, my novice master invited me to
meditate on my call to be a Jesuit. To discern my unique way to follow Christ, I left my cozy room in the retreat house and spent two days in a sparsely furnished shack serving
I rose early to build a fire. The fiery stove served three purposes: warmth for the cabin, flames to contemplate, and heat to make coffee. The coffee brewed. The sun rose. I sat looking out the window to take it all in. As dawn light flooded the room, the birds began to sing. Suddenly, I felt grateful for this moment of solitude with God. Gratitude led to joy. In that moment, I experienced a communion with God I had never known before. I looked around me and everything
proclaimed the glory of God. The black oaks and the white cedars seemed to shout, “God is here.” The birds in their singing praised God. The sun greeted the day and the sky praised God with a colorful shroud. Even the stones embraced the road and yelled 'Hosannas'.
This sense of interdependence and connection is what Pope Francis conveys in Laudato Si when speaks of our spirit of brotherhood with all living beings and inanimate things. “This is the basis of our conviction that, as part of the universe, called into being by one Father, all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect” (LS 89).
This all-inclusive connection – our universal communion with all of God's creation – is borne out of a deep sense of gratitude for the gift of creation. If you’ve ever felt a bond with someone or something – your beloved or your child, a trail in the woods, a pet, a
mighty river, a beautiful place – then you’ve experienced the deeply connected nature of who we are. We are all God's creatures. This experience leads us to awe and thanksgiving. Awe for the beauty of God's creation. Gratitude for our connection with that creation.
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| Nature's interconnectedness capture by Santi |
Awe and gratitude are at the heart of
the final contemplation during the Spiritual Exercises – the Contemplatio ad Amorem. The Contemplation to Gain Love is not an exercise to attain the love of God, but to help us love God more deeply. For St. Ignatius, gratitude is the first step in the spiritual journey, and it is quintessential in our path to love – and to a universal communion with all creation.The Contemplatio invites us “to recall to mind the blessings of
creation and redemption, and all other particular gifts” we have received (Sp. Ex. 234), “to reflect how God dwells in all creatures” (Sp. Ex 235), “to consider how God works and labours for me in all creatures upon the face of the earth” (Sp. Ex. 236), and “to consider all blessings and gifts as descending from above” (Sp. Ex. 237). Our contemplation of God's love for us leads us to greater love for him – and for all his creatures. This begins with gratitude for the way God dwells and labours in all creation. Gratitude for the way God warms the earth with the sun, how he pours rain on the fields, and makes the ground put forth grass. For how God guides the bear with its cubs, and provides the raven its prey.For the way he gives the horse its might and clothes its neck with a mane. For how God gives wisdom to the eagle to fly and to the trout to swim. Gratitude with God for 'clothing' the lilies of the field and giving roses their splendour. Thankfulness for technicolour maple trees and cherry trees in bloom.[1]
When we give thanks for the way God
dwells and labours in all creation, we are healed and transformed. We are
restored to the ancient biblical understanding that the earth is holy. All of
God's creatures are holy. The whole created world is lit up with the power and
presence of God. As Gerald Manley Hopkins, the great Jesuit poet, would put it,
the world is charged with the grandeur of God.Our contemplation of the grandeur of God leads us to gratitude. Gratitude leads us to generosity, joy and greater communion with the world around us. A universal communion helps us develop a more holistic understanding of God's creation – avoiding destructive dualisms (humanity vs. nature). The entire world is a gift of God and the human being is part of God's creation. We are all creatures of God.
A universal communion is a bond with all of God's creation and the understanding that everything is related. “We human beings are united as brothersand sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth” (LS 92).
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