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REFLECTION
ON CREATI0N
We are constantly hearing
about the environmental crisis that we are presently experiencing. I
will not speak to this. I think that you are well aware of this topic
and the need for change in regard to our attitude toward global
warming, etc.
It is easy to
become paralyzed by fear accompanied by a sense of helplessness. But
I believe that change can only come from respect and love.
Therefore, I am going to
share with you a sense of creation coming from a Franciscan
perspective.
We cannot really speak
about Franciscan spirituality without knowing something of St.
Francis, himself. The understanding of how creation permeates his
relationship with God is rooted in his conversion and in the
Incarnation.
Story of the San
Damiano crucifix speaking to him "Go rebuild my house".
Francis took these
words literally. The real meaning unfolded gradually. As he reflected
he came to a deeper meaning of house, its
relationship to creation and how all of creation is imbued with the
presence of the Word of God, namely, Christ.
"Jn.1:1
"All
things were make through the Word, and without Him
Not
one single thing came to be"
We might
also recall Colossians, which stated the absolute primacy of Christ,
the Incarnate Word.
Col.1:16
"Everything in heaven and everything on earth was
made
through Christ and for Christ: He is before all
else that is.
The
incredible mystery of the Incarnation was the source of Francis love
and deep respect for every living creature, inanimate things as well.
All of creation, the universe, the cosmos
became for him the house of God and he praised and reverenced
even the smallest of creatures.
Creation
was made in the first place not for us, but
for Christ. In his goodness Christ shares his creation with us. We
are all one in the Word of God, Christ. We human beings are the
consciousness of creation meant to care and respect all creatures in
their magnificent diversity.
If anyone
did not want to dominate and control, much less destroy, it was St.
Francis. It may seem that he even went to an extreme in his desire to
be a lesser brother
and subject to all creation, not only to people but to every beast
and wild animal as well. Francis used to call all creatures by the
name of ‘brother and sister' and, in a wonderful way, unknown to
others, he could discern the secrets of the hearts of creatures like
someone who has already passed into the freedom of the glory of the
children of God.
Francis has
much to teach us. Perhaps, first of all, to let the presence of
Christ touches us anew through all of God's creatures, through all
of nature. Each of us is called to be as much of a contemplative, a
mystic as was St. Francis. We may not be as radical as he was, but we
can be as loving and caring as filled with deep respect for the
sacredness of even the smallest of creatures (the worm?) Because they
reveal for us the face of God.
I close with
a quote from another mystic, who was a theologian, priest and
scientist: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
The
Word prolongs the unending act
of
God's own birth
And by
virtue
of
God's immersion in the world's womb,
The
great waters of the kingdom of
matter
has, without a ripple,
been
embued with life.
The
immense Host
Which
is the universe
Is made flesh
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