SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 7 - N. 8 - 2001 - February - IV
From: Koinonia, 2000, N. 3
Fr. Valentin Redondo, OFMConv.
(Part IV)
Certain biblical texts speak about man as the "image of God" and
make him the lord of the universe and the agent of history (cf. Gen
2; Ps 8:4-9; Sap 9:1-3). But the History of Salvation tells us of a
distinct agent, God, always in favour of men and at the same time
the absolute patron of nature. God entrusts man with the "care" and
the "cultivation of the earth", not to exploit it, nor to destroy
it, rather to give it the possibility of continuing His creation.
In the Liturgy of Hours there is a hymn that indicates this
continuation of God’s work in the work of man very
well:
"Your power multiplies
the efficiency of man,
and grows each day, through Your hands,
the work of Your hands".
Man is called to live in "communion" with nature, that is, he is requested to respect the rhythms that regulate the order of human beings, in which dependence upon the Creator and solidarity with other beings and with the universe are harmonized. These requisites help the birth of the Fraternity with nature, in which according to Saint Francis’ style, elevated to the heights of the heavens to praise "the Most High Omnipotent Good Lord" in a sublime hymn, and then descend to encounter all beings, until "sister, natural death", the door to the encounter between man with God who transforms us into Him".
Hugh Montefiore underlines the creative and redeeming duty of man in the work of God: "Man acts, not only as a co-creator with God within nature, but also as co-redeemer in the sense that he favours and encourages God’s plan in the natural world". He bases the positive role that man is called upon to achieve in the world in the doctrine of the Incarnation: "The Gospel says that man is not an error of nature, rather, he is its crowning achievement; that God is not the God of the past, but of the future; and that redemption, in virtue of the incarnation of God into man, bets on man and in virtue of man’s divinely inspired work, bets on nature" [1 .
Peace, justice and ecology are three aspects of a single challenge. Human domination over nature is not in direct relation with progress, as it would seem in today’s scientific and technical civilization, rather it presupposes a regression, because this dominion that begins in nature, ends up by imposing itself upon the most disfavoured human groups, the poor. Therefore, nature and underdeveloped peoples loose their condition as subjects to become objects at the service of the interests of the powerful; they loose their condition as an end to become easily manipulated means. This attitude of dominion is manifested in the resources benefiting the few, which in turn is an attack against the less favoured, while the abusive exploitation of natural resources gives proof of the lack of human solidarity.
John Paul II insists upon "respect for the natural cosmic order" and warns against the "limitations of natural resources": the moral characteristic of development cannot even ignore respect for the beings that make up the visible nature..."The dominion granted to man by the Creator is not an absolute power, nor can one speak of a freedom to 'use and misuse’ or to dispose of things as one pleases" [2 . And in Centesimus annus, he recalls the ability of man to transform, but also the meaning of the gift that lies within man himself: "Man, who discovers his capacity to transform and in a certain sense create the world through his own work, forgets that this is always based on God’s prior and original gift... Man too is God’s gift to man. He must therefore respect the natural and moral structure with which he has been endowed" [3 . In speaking about Francis, when he makes him the patron of ecologists, he states that he "venerated nature as a wonderful gift given to humanity by God" [4 .
In the Basel Document (1989), the Christian Churches of Europe profess their common faith, make public the recognition of the sins of the European Christians, and express the desire to convert in favour of "justice, peace, and integrity of Creation".. All of this is recalled in the Seoul Document (1990), where not only ecological, physical and biological degrading is mentioned, but also the social, economic, political and cultural types and where the word "integrity" should always be placed in relation to justice and peace.
To drink the fraternal relationship with nature from the same source as Francis of Assisi, the Secular Franciscan must be a collaborator on the personal and the fraternity level "with efforts to fight pollution and to conserve all that is valuable in nature" [5 , thus sowing the bases of the civilization of love even in this land. Gerrad Winstanley’s words when he speaks about Jesus’ sepulchre fill us with hope: "Christ’s body is where the Father is: in the earth, purifying it; and His Spirit has entered all of Creation, which is the heavenly glory where the Father resides" [6 .
We can live the civilization of love in our harmonious relationship with nature, because, as Teilhard de Chardin says: "the universe is physically impregnated, into its most intimate nucleus, by the influence of the supernatural nature of Christ" [7 .
So that Secular Franciscans may collaborate in a constructive way in the vast and at the same time delicate field of justice, of peace and of integrity of creation, and that they may achieve their mission in a way that is adapted to this field, one must insist strenuously upon formation and "better use their spiritual and cultural patrimony for a more creative and productive service in the field they live in" [8 .
Along with formation, collaboration and commitment must also be worked on, recalling the strenuous solicitations in the Rule and in the Constitutions, so that Secular Franciscans may be present, in this field, with the testimonial of their life and with their own apostolic and social initiatives. When these cannot be promoted, they should be united to other initiatives, which however are close to the Franciscan charism. And in a particular way, the Fraternity should help and encourage the most committed members with prayer, counsel and brotherly affection, feeling committed through its members.
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