Notes on Redemptorist spirituality from an ecological perspective
In the first creation, God gave me my own being, as the image and likeness of his own Being. But in his New Creation accomplished in Jesus the Redeemer, God gave me his very Being, thus restoring my being that had been lost because of sin. I have been created and I have been restored. Thus, I am doubly indebted to my Creator and Redeemer. What can I offer in return for these gifts, if everything I have and am I have received from Him? Jesus Christ the Redeemer has already done it for me.
(Inspired by the thoughts of St. Bernard).
September 1 marks the tenth World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, with the theme “Seeds of Peace and Hope,” a theme that resonates with the image of “pilgrims of hope” in this jubilee year. It also echoes the theme of the sexennium: “missionaries of hope in the footsteps of the Redeemer” within the Redemptorist Family. This day also marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, an ecumenical initiative that is celebrated from Sept 1 until the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, on October 4. All of this takes place within the year of the mission, which calls us to develop and discover new approaches and perspectives in the living of our apostolic life.
In his message for this day, Pope Leo reminds us that, in Christ, we have all been created and redeemed, and that we are called to be seeds of peace and hope. He also reminds us that environmental justice is a theological requirement; it is a matter that is not optional or secondary to the Christian experience (cf. LS 217). With scientific evidence and the real facts of environmental degradation, our responsibility towards the earth is becoming increasingly clear. The Pope also reminds us that, in a world where the most vulnerable are the first to suffer the devastating effects of climate change, deforestation, and pollution, caring for creation becomes a matter of faith and humanity.
This season offers us the opportunity to explore the ecological dimension of the Redemptorist charism. Environmental concerns have become a sign of our times and, therefore, a topic of discernment in reimagining our following of the Redeemer as missionaries of hope. In this context it is worth asking ourselves whether our proclamation of the Copiosa Redemptio today addresses the reality of current environmental degradation. The mercantilist exploitation of the environment challenges us and moves us not to remain indifferent, or silent in the face of what we have already identified as an ecological sin. In preparing these reflections, we recognize not only the complexity of the ecological issue, but also the unfathomable mystery of redemption that reaches all of creation; therefore, the best we can formulate at this moment are some clues for reflection and reimagining our mission.
The Secretariat for Evangelization had already pointed out that, since Laudato si’, Redemptorists have felt increasingly challenged to find new nuances and emphases in the formulation and experience of the redemptive work of creation. Hence the desire to deepen our assumptions of faith and our values as Redemptorists, because the way we interpret them will determine our actions and our vita apostolica. Recognizing how redemption has effects that extend beyond the human person will help us restore our relationships with the created world and show the relevance of our message and mission today.
Emerging problems such as the environmental crisis seem to have caught us off guard, leaving us unable to offer adequate responses. It is precisely because of the social significance and urgency of the ecological problem that we must shake off our indifferent lethargy and explore the possibilities that these challenges offer to the Redemptorist mission in today’s world. As we walk as missionaries of hope, we believe that the contours and scope of Redemption continue to expand before us.
Plentiful Redemption and Abundant Life in Christ
Most Redemptorists can easily establish a fundamental connection between redemption and the demands of social and ecological justice and respect for the integrity of creation. However, the Redemptorists is also aware of the need to find new languages and images that help them express how redemption operates throughout the created world. Being missionaries of hope who walk in the footsteps of the Redeemer means, as Pope Francis said, recognizing that not only man but all creation is involved in the work of Redemption (June 25, 2024). As missionaries of hope, we want to restore to humanity a sense of its existence in the world (Cf. RH 10) but also restore to the world its sense of communion with God and with humanity. It is a matter of recovering a sense of participation in the redemption of all creation, of which human beings are a part. Redemption comes after creation, precisely so that God’s purpose in creation may be fulfilled. Therefore, our preaching of abundant redemption also aims to restore the Earth to its original purpose.
Firstly, we must establish that the redemption of the created world is always God’s initiative. God creates out of love, and redeems us out of love, making us participants in the dynamic of his intra-Trinitarian love. By creating, God commits himself in advance to the redemption of the world. The mystery of redemption does not lie in us becoming worthy of God; rather, it lies in God making us worthy of him through the incarnation (cf. Col 1:12-14; Eph 1:3-14). For St Alphonsus, the whole of Christian life centres on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and his love for us.
The Redeemer reveals the true essence of God in all its fullness and the plan of love for creation. Christ the Redeemer of man is the center of the cosmos and of history, as John Paul II affirmed (RH 1). According to the Alphonsian vision, it is God who desires to transform everything through love. This is a vision that helps us understand nature as a gift from God and an expression of his overflowing love. Hence, the concept of redemption should not necessarily be anthropocentric, but rather Christocentric; that is to say, a redemption that encompasses not only humans, but through the Incarnation, also encompasses all creation of which human beings are a part. (Cf. Communicanda 2, June 4, 2006). By playing with words a little, we could say that, since Christ reveals himself as life (Jn 14:4; 11:25), we could also argue that the mystery of redemption is biocentric. This approach helps us to overcome anthropocentrism, a mindset that fails to recognize the sacred value of life in all its forms, instead exploiting and degrading it. We are all part of a biotic community of interdependent subjects. Our inability to see ourselves as part of this community has led us to assault other species, ecosystems, rivers, and so on, and to cut off the flow of abundant life that is freely offered to us. This blindness has prevented us from appreciating the natural world as another recipient of plentiful redemption.
This perspective leads us to recognize that our way of being in the world as creatures is relational, because God is relational. Mutuality and interdependence are characteristics of the created world, as well as the redeemed world. Redemption happens not for isolated individuals, but for individuals as part of a community, an ecosystem. This makes us realize that our origin and destiny as a human species are closely intertwined with those of other species, both biotic and abiotic, and are in many ways no different.
Cultivating a contemplative view of the world
The created world not only participates in the work of Redemption in Christ but also reveals to us the intra-Trinitarian love that overflows in every creature. Love is the primary reason and the force that gives rise to the created world and through which redemption is accomplished. God creates (ex amore), and in creating, he establishes a fundamental relationship of love with his created work. It is a world that does not arise from chaos or chance, but as a manifestation of the superabundant love of God the Creator. The recognition that every creature in the universe is an expression of that intra-trinitarian love that creates and recreates (redeems) helps us to glimpse the value and dignity of each creature. Creation and redemption are not one-off events from the past; rather, they are a continuous act of love that influences our present and continues to unfold into the future.
We need to adopt a more contemplative view of the world in order to discover “the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying” (Francis, 4 October 2021). In one of his books, St Alphonsus encourages those who pray to find God’s love by contemplating the created world: ‘When you see water flowing, when you contemplate the calm sea, when you look at the countryside, the riverbanks, the flowers and the fruits that delight your senses with their scent and colour, exclaim: What beautiful creatures God has made for me, to captivate my love! Heaven and earth are telling me to love you, my God’, exclaims St. Augustine.” The God of life and abundant redemption is a God who surprises us with his love and closeness.
The mystery of Christ — his incarnation, life, death and resurrection — is God’s irrevocable ‘yes’ to creation, which has delighted him from the beginning (Gen. 1:2). This presence, which hovered over the waters and was manifested in creation, is now definitively revealed to human beings in Jesus Christ. As Teilhard de Chardin would say, this is the Christification of the world because the perfection to which all creation is called to participate is manifested in the Redeemer. He reveals to us the definitive truth of creation. Furthermore, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus are a Trinitarian act of cosmic proportions, based on the work of the Father who creates and calls into existence; the work of the Son who redeems out of love; and the work of the Spirit who gives life (Frank Macchia). The entire Bible is the testimony of a redeemed creation that is oriented towards fulfilment and abundant life in Christ. In Jesus Christ the Redeemer, the created world is ‘re-created’, death and evil are assumed in him, and life finds fulfilment. The work of redemption, accomplished through the flesh and humanity of Jesus, primarily benefits humanity, but also all other creatures whose flesh Christ assumed. However, in order to recognize this, we need to cultivate a contemplative gaze. This will then become a way of being in the world.
Called to ecological conversion
It is our faith in the Redeemer that enables us to appreciate the “cosmic reach” of the Redemptorist charism. Exploring the ecological dimension of our charism and articulating the notion of an integral ecology in our life and apostolate is part of the call to ‘reimagine’ our apostolic life today. Since care for creation is not only about what we do, but also about who we are as missionaries, we must recover a contemplative view of the world. This view must move us to conversion. For us, being the presence of the Redeemer means promoting life in all its forms — a life that is, by its very nature, abundant and overflowing in our Common Home.
In this way, the Redemptorists’ mission involves sharing the abundant redemption found in Christ with the world. Since the task of evangelization primarily involves the evangelization of those who evangelize, we must ask ourselves within our communities whether our adherence to Christ the Redeemer generates ecological conversion in ourselves and in others. The call to ecological conversion implies understanding that our mission is not just a task but is primarily manifested in our relationship with the Redeemer and our spirituality. While there are many ways to approach the current environmental issue, perhaps the most effective approach is to start from the most basic level: how we understand and establish the relationship between the Redeemer, creation and ourselves. Our ministry seeks to restore what T. Berry called ‘mutually beneficial relationships’ between these parties.
It is a call to an interior conversion that involves allowing the consequences of our encounter with Jesus Christ to blossom in our relationships with the world around us (LS 217) and being attentive to God’s presence in the natural world. It is an invitation to build our spirituality on the “loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion.” (ibid., 220).
Reflection resource prepared by the General Secretariat for Evangelization
JPIC Commission
Some resources
1. Video “What is Creation Day” to share in your networks – available on:
o Facebook: https://facebook.com/reel/733190013088435
o YouTube: https://youtu.be/A0NdarXfRF4?list=PLI22eVXX9FYkZ-k_F8lB2rO8hOJE_fiOC
(Also available in other languages)
2. New ecumenical website with various resources
(including Monday’s online prayer meeting)
https://www.feastofcreation.com/en
3. Graphic resources to share on your social media
accompanied by the hashtag and website:
FeastOfCreation.com/it #FeastOfCreation #FestaCreazione
