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The Wisdom of the Biblical Accounts of Creation (Part Two) – Exploring Pope Francis’ Spiritual Vision of Creation in Laudato Si’

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As we continue to reflect on the hidden gems of Laudato Si’, we begin this week by exploring Pope Francis’ overarching view of the heart of Scripture’s story of salvation. It may seem incredibly simplistic, but the heart of Scripture is essentially a love story: God creates in love, we reject God’s love, and God seeks to restore that love. The creation accounts in the book of Genesis contain, in their own symbolic and narrative language, profound teachings about human existence and its historical reality. They suggest that human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with the earth itself. According to the Bible, these three vital relationships have been broken, both outwardly and within us. This rupture is sin. The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations. (Laudato Si’ … Continue reading →

The Wisdom of the Biblical Accounts of Creation (Part One) – Exploring Pope Francis’ Spiritual Vision of Creation in Laudato Si’

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This week, I would like to continue a brief re-visit of some of the hidden gems of Pope Francis’ most recent encyclical, Laudato Si’. Again, I am offering this as a refresh before Pope Francis introduces his newest encyclical on October 3rd. Nevertheless, since Sacred Space Astronomy has also embraced reflections on Care for Creation, it never hurts to reacquaint ourselves with core principals as to why Catholicism has elevated the care of our common home to one of the core themes of Catholic Social Teaching. In that spirit, let’s get into it! 65. Without repeating the entire theology of creation, we can ask what the great biblical narratives say about the relationship of human beings with the world. In the first creation account in the Book of Genesis, God’s plan includes creating humanity. After the creation of man and woman, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good” (Gen 1:31). The reason I highlighted … Continue reading →

The Mystery of the Universe – Exploring Pope Francis’ Spiritual Vision of Creation in Laudato Si’

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It has been announced that Pope Francis will sign a new encyclical on human fraternity on October 3rd of this year. I cannot speak for other countries, but, as a United States citizen, I couldn’t think of a more timely theme to reflect upon. The hyper polarized nature of the United States has become rather worrisome. The co-mingling of an international pandemic and political aspirations has placed my beloved home atop a powder keg that feels ready to explode. I hope and pray that our Holy Father will provide insight and guidance during these difficult times. And if there is anything I think would be a good fit for Sacred Space Astronomy, I’ll be happy to comment on it! As we await the words of our Pontiff, the announcement drew me back to the Pope’s last encyclical, Laudato Si’. It seems like eons ago since Laudato Si’ was a hot topic. Though seldom mentioned now, it’s safe to say that … Continue reading →

Laudato Si’ Week and the passing of a good friend

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This entry is part 54 of 64 in the series Diary

I had meant to put up posts about two important events but yesterday I was trapped in a Zoom meeting all day so these are now a bit late; still, better late than never. The first is that this week is the fifth anniversary of the landmark encyclical on our relationship with nature, Laudato Si’, and as a part of its commemoration there are a number of events planned (alas, some already past) for Laudato Si’ Week – click on the link to follow up on them. Of course the message of this encyclical has been covered many times in the Sacred Space Astronomy site, and the document itself can be found (along with other relevant articles) on our Faith and Astronomy Resource site. This is in fact the inauguration of a Laudato Si’ year… The other event this week was the passing of the retired Father General of the Jesuits, Fr. Adolfo Nicolàs. Though he was originally from Spain, … Continue reading →

The Ratzinger Foundation and Ecology: Moving Toward a New Ecological Index Based on Laudato Si’.

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This entry is part of 27 in the series Integral Ecology

Recently, I gave a presentation on Pope Francis’ vision of Integral Ecology. At the end of the presentation, a person asked what new technologies we should be embracing as Catholics to take the first steps toward caring for our common home in light of Laudato Si’? I could tell I shocked the room a little when I simply said, “None of them.” Sensing that many thought this answer contradicted everything I presented on, I explained that a core problem with embracing our call to care for creation is our inability to detach from a consumption mentality and embrace a conservation mentality. When consumption is chosen over conservation, the question about care for creation becomes primarily one of economics: What is the most cost effective way to provide more energy for more people who consume more and more on a yearly basis without doing to much harm to creation? When looking at Laudato Si’, we don’t find a document who’s starting point is developing new eco-friendly … Continue reading →

COP21: Understanding the Paris Climate Change Conference in Light of Laudato Si’.

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This entry is part of 27 in the series Integral Ecology

It’s no secret that one of Pope Francis’ goals with his Encyclical Laudato Si’ was to influence the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21).  So, how much influence is Laudato Si’ having upon COP21?  Since I am the pastor of a parish and not a member of the media, I’ll leave that question for others to answer.  However, by analyzing what is coming out of the meetings through the media, I feel confident in saying that COP21 is definitely adapting the same mentality Pope Francis encouraged the fathers (and mothers) of the Synod on Marriage and Family Life to have: Speak boldly and hold nothing back.  My proof of this is that, on the first day of the gathering, a coalition of close to 40 countries and a myriad of business leaders have called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies; France is investing two billion Euros to help Africa develop renewable energy sources; and a coalition of 11 countries, including the United States, has given 248 million … Continue reading →

Laudato Si’: Final Post – Chapter Six: Broadening Our Language of Reverence.

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This entry is part of 27 in the series Integral Ecology

The last chapter of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’ can be boiled down to one, central idea: What is our understanding of reverence?  A basic understandings of reverence that I still find sturdy is “to treat holy things in a holy manner.”  In my youth, the common application of this was paying attention to how we treated the Bible as God’s Word, the vessels used for Mass, and showing love for the Eucharist.  As I grew in my faith, this call to reverence began an awareness of things that are sacred and things that are profane. When exploring the sacred and profane, there is a dangerous trap we can fall into: thinking of profane and sacred in dualistic terms.  One of the best books to help understand this distinction is Louis Bouyer’s text, Rite and Man.  Bouyer broadens the language of sacred and profane to remind us that just because something is profane doesn’t mean it is bad or evil.  Rather, profane things common to human experience, distinct … Continue reading →

Laudato Si’ – Post #5: Chapter 5 – Politics, Religion, and Science at the Dinner Table? Yes, When Dinning With Pope Francis!

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This entry is part 27 of 27 in the series Integral Ecology

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that American politics and the Catholic Church have a “love/hate” relationship.  At one level, we can see this tension as a positive, affirming the relevance of the Church, making politicians feel a need to address statements made by Popes, Cardinals, and Bishops.  At another level, the constant struggle between Church and State has lead many households to establish an unwritten rule of “dinner table etiquette”: Don’t talk about politics and religion. In recent days, this “spaghetti ethic” has been revisited by politicians in regard to Laudato Si’.  Under the rubric of “the Church shouldn’t comment on science,” certain politicians have insinuated that, since the Church got it wrong with Galileo, we should stay out of the science (and politics) of global warming.   Two thoughts come to mind when hearing these protests.  First, there is much evidence that the mistake we made with Galileo was that his trial was driven by political motives, not the best science of the day … Continue reading →

Laudato Si’ – Post #4: Chapters Three and Four – Unmasking Radical Anthropocentrism.

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This entry is part of 27 in the series Integral Ecology

After today’s post, we will have passed the half way point of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’, exploring the main scientific, social, and theological issues concerning ecology.  Just as a refresher of where we have been, in chapter one, Pope Francis drew our attention to specific ecological problems that are in need of being addressed.  In chapter two, Pope Francis provided a theological framework to interpret our ecological decisions, drawing heavily upon Scripture, the theological vision of Romano Guardini, and the Sacramental Ecology of Eastern Christianity.  This post will reflect upon chapters three and four of Laudato Si’, in which Pope Francis addresses technology’s impact on nature and, lastly, explores a vision of “integral ecology” to move us away from radical anthropocentrism, developing a solidarity with all of creation.  Therefore, let’s dig into the meat of these chapters! Chapter Three: Developing a “Tech Ethic” At the beginning of chapter three of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis lays out the positives and negatives of what our technological world has produced.  This balanced presentation of … Continue reading →

Laudato Si’ – Post #3: Chapter Two – Pope Francis and the Last March of the Ents

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This entry is part of 27 in the series Integral Ecology

Having identified the ecological crisis at the beginning of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis then explores the Church’s theological vision of creation in chapter two.  As rich as this chapters is, there are many directions one can take in analyzing the theological vision of Pope Francis.  For the sake of brevity, I will focus upon connections identified by others in the writings of Romano Guardini (which is also consistent with the writings of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien).  In addition to Guardini, I will also point to an author who was seen as one of the most important “bridge figures” between Eastern and Western Christianity in the late patristic era, that being Maximus the Confessor.  From there, we will identify key passage of Laudato Si’ to get our theological bearings. In his short article, Laudato Si’ and Romano Guardini, Fr. Robert Barron argues that, in order to properly understand our latest Encyclical, we must familiarize ourselves with the writing of Romano Guardini, specifically his Letters from Lake Como.  I have … Continue reading →

Laudato Si’ – Post #2: Introduction and Chapter One: A Plea for Action.

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This entry is part of 27 in the series Integral Ecology

In my previous post on Laudato Si’ (Post #1: Let’s All Take A Deep Breath), I encouraged you to take some time to familiarize yourself with the basic themes of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and how the seven themes of CST create a consistent ethic of upholding human dignity at every stage of life.  In this post, we will wade into the document, looking at the Introduction and Chapter One.  We will identify the vision Pope Francis gives for this Encyclical and then look at the practical, easy to identify problems our world faces in regard to ecology and how these poor choices adversely impact human dignity. The Authority of this Encyclical: Opinion or Church Teaching? Now that Laudato Si’ has been with us for a couple of weeks, I have been watching the American media’s reception of the document.  Of the many critiques I could offer, there is one, big issue we need to clarify: What level of authority does … Continue reading →

Laudato Si’ – Encyclical on Ecology: Post #1: Let’s All Take a Deep Breath

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This entry is part of 27 in the series Integral Ecology

Pope Francis’ new Encyclical is now one day old and, as feared, the spin doctors are hard at work praising or vilifying the text based on presumptions instead of actually reading what is in the document.  Amid migraine provoking drum beats accusing the Pope of Socialism, Communism, population “control-ism,” and superficial rants about “Pope Francis’ letter sharing his opinions on climate change,” what we actually have is arguably the most significant contribution in the modern era to Catholic Social Teaching as it pertains to stewardship of creation. So, how do we wade through the sea of ideological screams to get to the heart of this Encyclical?  In the weeks to come, I will be offering a series of posts on Laudato Si’ to explore the meat of the Encyclical.  To be upfront, I am not an expert on Ecology nor would I consider myself a student of Eco-theology.  What I am is a Catholic Priest, a Parish Pastor, a former High School religion … Continue reading →