The Passionist Charism and Care of Creation by Kyle Kramer, Passionist Earth and Spirit Center5/2/2019 Vowed and lay Passionists can find encouragement and guidance for ecological awareness and action not only from our pontiffs and other Church teachings, but also from the unique Passionist charism itself. In 2015, Pope Francis released his landmark encyclical, Laudato Si’. Widely ,(mis)categorized as “just” an environmental encyclical, Laudato Si’ is actually a bold statement about the deep interwoveness of spiritual, social, and environmental realities. “Everything is interconnected,” writes the Pope who took the name of the patron saint of ecology, “and…genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature is inseparable from fraternity, justice and faithfulness to others.” Even before Pope Francis, Saint John Paul II wrote in 1990 that “the ecological crisis is a moral issue.” Pope Benedict stressed that “[p]reservation of the environment, promotion of sustainable development and particular attention to climate change are matters of grave concern for the entire human family”, inseparable from “…the protection of human life, including the life of the unborn….”
0 Comments
A BIT OF HISTORY
Our current globalized world began to come into being in the 19th and 20th centuries. Christians and the Churches struggled to adapt to this new world, no longer primarily rural and agricultural, but increasingly a mass, urban and industrial society. A key aspect of this was integrating the struggle for social justice into our understanding, celebration and practice of our faith, of what it means to love our neighbour, oppose sin and co-operate with God’s grace. We now face an environmental crisis brought on by that urban industrial society. Again, Christians and the Churches have struggled to adapt to and understand God’s call to us in this new moment in history. Pope Francis Encyclical Laudato Si has marked a key moment in that process among not just Catholics but the wider Christian community, at a critical time in human history, which for Christians is also salvation history. The June 2018 Newsletter of Passio, St. Joseph's Passionist Province (UK) included a feature on Fr. Martin Newell. Fr. Martin became a Passionist in 2001. Early in his priesthood, he "was looking for a way of being more radically committed to the option for the poor, and I had this sudden realisation that justice and peace work was what being a Christian was all about." He has been involved with protests against the use of drones in warfare and directs much of his energy to reverse climate change. He is currently based in a house where he lives alongside asylum seekers and is part of the leadership team for Passionists in England and Wales. Read the article on Fr. Martin here Fr John Kearns, the Provincial leader of the Passionists in England, talks about God's call on his life, his background as a prison chaplain, the 'statement' that living with asylum seekers makes to others, and the growth of the Passionist family. Fr Joachim Rego CP, Superior Genera Holy Spirit Province offers this Easter message, an inspiration for lay and ordained. The greatest danger … is that we lose heart and hope, as a consequence of which we can become paralysed (indifferent?), choosing the maintenance of our presences at the expense of effective and Spirit-led mission. In other words, we can sometimes so easily get ‘caught-up’ in the comfortable daily routine that, in our prayer and ministry, we become de-sensitized and indifferent to the real issues unfolding on our doorsteps: injustice, disrespect for life, racism, prejudice, discrimination, corruption, migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers, religious intolerance." "Are these some of the 'signs of the times' – invitation of the Spirit? How will we draw meaning from the Passion of Jesus (our charism) to witness, to address, and to offer both basic human assistance and a spirituality of hope and life to these situations in our local reality?" Fr. Rego reflects on Pope Francis’ frequent reference to the “globalization of indifference” as a key for reflection on what he perceives as a root problem. He reminds us that "we are required to be 'islands of mercy in a world dominated by the globalization of indifference.' May we create our Passionist religious communities to be “beacons of hope”! Read the Easter Message here Photo: Pixabay |
Categories
All
|