16th – 24th May, 2020

Some Reflections
In the first week of March Pope Francis announced “Laudato Si week May 2020” to mark the fifth anniversary of the document’s publication. Also in that first week an Italian conference called “The Economy of Francis,” to be held later in March was postponed until November, due to the Coronavirus. This was about an invitation to put in place a new economic model that would take account of the cry of the earth and of the poor. Concern was expressed for the inconvenience the postponement was going to cause to the 2,000 young people from 115 countries set to attend.

An article at that time on Crux [the online Vatican news source] noted that “to date, 34 people in Italy have died due to the outbreak of coronavirus, though 84 are also reported to have recovered, and the cumulative number of cases is close to 1,700.”

On April 5th as I began to write this article and exactly one month later – the death toll in Italy had surpassed the 15,000 mark and the number of confirmed cases was heading towards 125,000.

While there was some global awareness of, and concern about, a viral outbreak in China, little did anyone think at the beginning of March that the whole human world would be plunged into a kind of darkness that has grown exponentially, and with pockets of intensity and loss of a kind never before experienced.

In recent years public discourse has tended, in many quarters, to be defined by 9/11; now it is safe to say that marker has been surpassed by COVID-19, the newly named disease caused by the spread of the latest strain of Coronavirus. In such a reality where large numbers of our species are threatened we might be tempted to ask how we can talk about climate change and the myriad ecological issues of our time.

But of course we can and we must because if there was ever a truth it is this – the world is interconnected and the answers to all of our most pressing issues are to be found in that very truth. This is our starting and ending point.

And so Pope Francis’ invitation is needed more than ever now. As the human community recovers from Covid-19 a choice faces us: a return to business as usual, the world of inequality, climate catastrophe and market economics or the creation of a new and fairer world, built on the wider context of an ecological and cosmic vision for this time.

Francis points out that this latter course demands an ‘ecological conversion’ aptly described by Elizabeth Johnson as ‘falling in love with the Earth as an inherently valuable, living community in which we participate’ where all our efforts are towards its wellbeing. As people of faith we do this ‘in tune with the living God who brought the world into being and who cherishes it with unconditional love.’

These days we hear a lot about the need to listen to the science in relation to COVID-19. But for years now we have been asked to listen to the science in relation to climate change. In fact contrary to much opinion both science and the best of religion agree on many things

For instance it is interesting to note that both science and religion agree that the human vocation is twofold:

• Science tells us that through our capacity for conscious self-awareness we can appreciate the world as an expression of wonder. But also our capacity for empathy – something inherited from our mammalian forebears – helps us to reshape the world for our benefit in a sensitive, respectful and empathetic way.
• Down the centuries religion has spoken of the need for human beings to make both a contemplative and active response to the world. The apt phrase used by the mystics long ago captures this very well: we are called ‘to wonder and to work’ – to wonder at the mystery of existence, to work for a just and equitable world.

We will be called and challenged to look at this double vocation in new ways – taking it very seriously indeed – as we continue to work through this dark time and face a post COVID-19 world.

The messages at the heart of Laudato Si speak of the need for fundamental changes to how humans are living as part of a shared common home. These messages must be taken on board as we face that new world. COVID-19 and the profound changes it has brought to the human community, changes we could never have imagined a few short months ago, is an opportunity and invitation to live differently.

Here I offer 9 random reflections on citations from Laudato Si one for each day of this possible 9 day special period. They reflect an Ecological Spirituality for our time, with a tentative eye on the impact COVID-19 may have. Such a spirituality is the fruit of an ‘ecological conversion’ – the lynchpin of Laudato Si – and also reflects our double vocation.

 

Sr. Margaret Twomey

Please Note: For each day of Laudato Si Week Sr. Margaret Twomey, Southern Province,  offers a reflection to support our Ecological Spirituality and our work together for ecological conversion.  The Reflection for each day will be available on the website, beginning tomorrow Saturday 16th May.