杏MAP导航

By Msgr. Kevin W. Irwin 鈥� Washington, D.C.

The 鈥渕odest goal鈥� of the exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, 杏MAP导航 Francis asserts, 鈥渋s to re-propose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time, with all its risks, challenges and opportunities鈥� (GE 2).  In many of his writings and talks as well as in his teaching by personal example, he has already emphasized very practical aspects of holiness.

Here in GE (nn. 63-94), his striking discussion of the Beatitudes is in line with the Aparecida Concluding Document (2007) by the bishops of the Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano (CELAM), which document Francis edited as archbishop of Buenos Aires.  The Aparecida Document states boldly that 鈥渉oliness is not a flight toward self-absorption or toward religious individualism, nor does it mean abandoning the urgent reality of the enormous economic, social, and political problems of Latin America and the world, let alone a flight from reality toward an exclusively spiritual world鈥� (Aparecida n. 148).

And on a very positive note, in chapter four of Amoris Laetitia (nn. 89-120), Francis comments extensively on 鈥渢he lyrical passage鈥� about love that is St. Paul鈥檚 hymn (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). 

These texts reflect the self-transcending quality of holiness that we find in much of 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥檚 writing and in his concrete personal engagement in the pressing issues and problems of our day.

This kind of holiness, explored so richly in Gaudete et Exsultate, is entirely consistent with the great encyclical letter Laudato Si鈥�.  Holiness in its major themes was further concretized over a year later in the Holy Father鈥檚 message for the 2016 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Show Mercy to Our Common Home.  Both the encyclical and the message develop many important issues related to ecology today from the perspective of the Catholic faith and examine them through the lens of the Catholic theological and spiritual tradition.

The purpose of this article is to raise salient themes from Laudato Si鈥� and Show Mercy to Our Common Home in light of the 杏MAP导航鈥檚 call for a holiness that is practical for our own time.

Mercy and the Merciful

The Beatitudes that Jesus expounded in the Sermon on the Mount include 鈥淏lessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy鈥� (Matthew 5:7). Through mercy received and offered, we are one with the Father. 鈥淣othing unites us to God more than an act of mercy, for it is by mercy that the Lord forgives our sins and gives us grace to practice mercy in his name鈥� (Show Mercy n. 5).

In Gaudete et Exsultate 杏MAP导航 Francis shows how Jesus expands on this Beatitude in his later discourse on the time of judgment (Matt 25:31-46, GE n. 95). The exercise of mercy is one criterion by which we will be judged, specifically in caring for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked and the imprisoned (Matt 25:35-36). On this same topic, the 杏MAP导航 paraphrases Saint James 鈥渢hat mercy without works is dead.鈥�  He then expands on the works cited in Matthew 25, asserting that 鈥渋n our rapidly changing and increasingly globalized world, many new forms of poverty are appearing. In response to them, we need to be creative in developing new and practical forms of charitable outreach as concrete expressions of the way of mercy.鈥�

As for the new concrete expressions of mercy that are needed nowadays, 杏MAP导航 Francis provides a clear, firm and broad guide. It focuses on our common home. In a 2016 retreat for the Jubilee of Priests, he pointed out that:

鈥淲e usually think of the works of mercy individually and in relation to a specific initiative: hospitals for the sick, soup kitchens for the hungry, shelters for the homeless, schools for those to be educated, the confessional and spiritual direction for those needing counsel and forgiveness鈥� But if we look at the works of mercy as a whole, we see that the object of mercy is human life itself and everything it embraces.鈥�

Human life itself and all that it embraces: this is the scope of Laudato Si鈥�. There the Holy Father calls us to regard all of creation as fellow creatures (not just as things or objects), and to take definitive action lest any be lost, abused or forsaken.

The 杏MAP导航鈥檚 next step, in Show Mercy to Our Common Home, is to add care for our common home as an eighth work of mercy to the traditional seven spiritual and seven corporal works of mercy. This eighth work of mercy is both corporal and spiritual.

As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our common home calls for a 鈥済rateful contemplation of God鈥檚 world鈥� (LS n. 214) that 鈥渁llows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us鈥� (LS n. 85). We are called to appreciate all that lives in our common home both now and in the future.

As a corporal work of mercy, care for our common home requires 鈥渟imple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness鈥�. And because we know that the conditions of our common home contribute to our sister鈥檚 hunger, our brother鈥檚 frightened isolation, our children鈥檚 anxiety 鈥� because of 鈥渢he urgent reality of the enormous economic, social, and political problems鈥� throughout the world, as the CELAM bishops noted 鈥� this care also 鈥渕akes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world鈥� (LS nn. 230-231). So must we respond to the brother who is thirsty, the sister who is in prison. We must also care for, we must seek to repair and improve, the conditions in the world that is our common home 鈥� and 鈥渙ur鈥� includes the future generations, too.

See, Judge, Act

Early in their Aparecida Document, the bishops of CELAM assert that 鈥渋n continuity with the previous general conferences of Latin American Bishops, this document utilizes the see-judge-act method鈥� (Aparecida n. 19) formally recognized by St. John XXIII in Mater et Magistra in 1961.

Laudato Si鈥� itself is structured according to this methodology: see in chapters one and two on 鈥淲hat is Happening to Our Common Home?鈥� and 鈥淭he Gospel of Creation,鈥� judge in chapters three and four on 鈥淭he Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis鈥� and 鈥淚ntegral Ecology,鈥� and act in chapters five and six on 鈥淟ines of Approach and Action鈥� and 鈥淓cological Education and Spirituality.鈥�

This same triad can be used in our communal and individual search for holiness. Gaudete et Exsultate proposes 鈥渢he call to holiness in a practical way for our own time鈥� (GE n. 2), and in practice this includes the 鈥渞isks, challenges and opportunities鈥� of ecology for the sake of all who share our common home.

The see-judge-act method invites us to see and view where we are 鈥� that is, to perceive that all creation is interconnected and reflects the glory of God. The Psalms are a great help in reminding us of the beauty of creation and the grandeur of God the creator. For example, Psalm 148 invites other creatures to join us in praising God as St Francis of Assisi does in his Canticle of Creation whose third verse begins with the words Laudato si鈥�: 鈥淧raise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created鈥� (148:3-5, see LS n. 72).

The see-judge-act method invites us to judge what we have done and what we are failing to do in exercising responsibility for the planet and all who dwell upon it. The second, third and fourth chapters of Laudato Si鈥� can serve as material for a retreat and for spiritual reading so that we can take up and live out a Catholic stance, indeed a Catholic commitment, toward our common home. This will help guide our acts of judging.

Laudato Si鈥� builds upon the powerful call of St. John Paul II to focus on the moral as well as natural conditions of life in a truly 鈥渉uman ecology鈥�.  杏MAP导航 Francis broadens and deepens his predecessor鈥檚 teaching from human ecology to 鈥渋ntegral ecology鈥� in LS chapter four.

Integral ecology means that any sort of 鈥渢yrannical anthropocentrism unconcerned for other creatures鈥� must give way to using a wide angle lens through which to view the world 鈥� a view in which all is interconnected (LS 68). 杏MAP导航 Francis also looks to our spiritual heritage to nourish holiness today. 鈥淎ncient [biblical] stories, full of symbolism, bear witness to a conviction which we today share, that everything is interconnected, and that genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature is inseparable from fraternity, justice and faithfulness to others鈥� (LS n. 70).

The see-judge-act method invites us to act both individually and in groups. Personal actions on behalf of ecological issues stand up to, or challenge, 鈥渢he flawed logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness鈥� (LS n. 230). But action also means speaking out on behalf of the earth; advocating for the preservation of diminishing resources; and giving voice to the voiceless in the corridors of political, economic, social and cultural power. To take a counter-cultural stance toward an unregulated  market-driven economy is a moral obligation in light of 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥檚 teaching. It is also a spiritual imperative if we are to show mercy to our common home.

To link holiness with care for our common home is a tall order. It requires constant conversion. 鈥淲e are challenged to show our commitment in such a way that everything we do has evangelical meaning and identifies us all the more with Jesus Christ鈥� (GE 28). So in Laudato Si鈥�, 杏MAP导航 Francis concludes by speaking of an ecological spirituality which is indeed a compact name for becoming holy while caring for our common home.

If this seems a bit difficult at first, the Holy Father reminds us, 鈥淕od asks everything of us, yet he also gives everything to us鈥� (GE n. 175). To build and protect our common home is to become holy as well as help others towards holiness.