In Search Of A Discalced Carmelite Response To The Current Global Ecological Crises
©2009 Sr. Elizabeth Therese of the Blessed Trinity
Introduction:
I present my thoughts and insights for dialogue. There is nothing fundamentally new here, whatever may appear new comes from asking particular ( and new?) questions of Scripture and Tradition and endeavouring to take the answers to the logical consequences for a comprehensive consistency in our theology and integrity in our spirituality.
Objective & Method:
My objective was to seek the unique response(s) we can make as Discalced Carmelites to our current multi-faceted global ecological crises1.
As union with God is at the heart of our tradition - understood as living as one with Jesus Christ (i.e.: taking on the mind, vision, heart, behaviours and relationships of Christ, while drawing life from Him) , it made sense to ask Scripture and Tradition “How does God relate with all of creation – collectively and individually?”
Limits: Though no commentaries were used in the review of Scripture, three translations (The New King James Version; Jerusalem Bible and The Christian Community Bible – Catholic Pastoral Edition) were utilized to present some level of proximate2 objectivity. Also Scripture was read in the light of the contributions of Carmelite (particularly St John of the Cross; St Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy face; Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity) to our knowing of God.
The Prayers of the Liturgy of the Eucharist were reviewed as being a succinct and reliable representation of Tradition.
Findings:
Scriptures:
Genesis:
1:1- 2:3 2nd Creation Story.
End of each day God saw each new aspect of creation as good (except humans who are created in God’s image – special co-creative role means in some ways human ongoing, not complete?).
God blessed both animals and human (both to increase; humans to master rest of creation – however, keep in mind God cannot/would not ask a creature to master in a way that would oppose God’s ways of being).
God gave food for both animals and humans (foliage animals, fruit humans)
At the end, God saw everything God made as very good (contrast good of each days work)
NB: If we agree that the essence of loving is to see good in the being(s) loved and to nurture and sustain and relate in such a way as to allow said being(s) to flourish in the way particular to it/them, is not what God does in relation to humans, animals and all creation individually and collectively loving?.
2:4 - 4: 26 1st Creation Story
2:5 Humans are to: cultivate and take care of the Garden of Eden; tend and keep it; till and take care of it.
Animals created to be helpmate of Adam because God saw Adam was lonely.
God responds to human’s disobedience by passing a sentence of discord between woman and snake; man and woman; man and soil. Or does God merely explain the consequences of Adam and Eve’s choice to them? Either way the end result affects all of creation’s relationships - the inter relationships and the one with God, bringing a swath of disharmony which projects into the future.
4: 12 – Ground no longer yield (“give” translation used by Magnificent) its produce to Cain after his lack of repentance for killing his brother; even with “yield” shows ground having some level of freewill.
Noah’s Story
6:7, 12 God wants to get rid of humans and animals, all flesh on earth corrupt.
9:9-17- After flood covenant made with humans and animals (and all creation?) mentioned 5 times.
Psalms
36:7 to Man and beast you give protection.
97: Creatures able to appreciate and praise and recognize and respond with joy at God’s goodness and justice.
102: The great gap between humanity and God – humanity like short lived grass.
104: God’s goodness and power and might in creating the universe and his loving, just provision for all in sustaining it; non-human creation’s awareness of God’ goodness and benevolence towards it; humanity’s call to worship God and give God the correct homage.
113: Creation aware of God’s presence.
150: everything that lives and that breathes called upon to praise God.
Daniel
3:52-88: Call for all creation to praise God.
Isaiah
11:1-9 Messianic reign bring peace to all creatures, all partake in knowledge of God and exist harmoniously – reconciliation touches all of creation. All assume role as in pre-fall.
Wisdom
9:1-11 “O God... by your wisdom you have formed man to have dominion over the creatures you have made and rule the world in holiness and righteousness and pureness judgment in uprightness of soul…”
11:22-12:2 God loves all he created and his spirit is in all and he corrects all. To me, inherent unity of creation and God‘s love for creation as a whole stressed as well as our dependence on God.
Gospels:
Mt 6:26 -30 – God feeds birds and clothes flowers extravagantly.
Lk 12:24 – 28 – As above.
Mk 16: 15- “Then he told them, ’Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.’”
Jesus often outdoors ministering and praying, utilizes parables using nature and harmonious inter-creation relationships as key images (sower, vine and branches, mustard seed, rain, sheep and shepherd).
Pauline Epistles:
Romans 8:19-22 - Creation’s much desired fulfillment subjected to humanity’s
Ephesians 1:3-10 – All things in heaven and earth to be united in Christ.
Colossians 1:12-20 – cosmological theme throughout. Christ first born of creation, I cannot not read head of Church (the body) as head of creation.
James:
1:18 – humans as first fruit of creation.
1 John
4:16 – “God is love. The one who lives in love, lives in God and God in him.”
Revelations:
5: 11-14 - Animals, angels and humans praising God.
Prayers from the Liturgy of the Eucharist (Tradition):
Preparation of the Gifts
“Blessed are you , Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and humans hands have made.
It will become for us the bread of life,…
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become our spiritual drink.”
This speaks to me of cooperation between humanity, non-human creation and God in the work of salvation.
Prefaces of Easter II, III, IV, V
“…The joy of the resurrection renews the whole world,
While the choirs of heaven sing for every to your glory:
“Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory…”
Eucharistic Prayer III
“Father you are holy indeed,
And all creation rightly gives you praise.
All life all holiness come from you
Through your Son , Jesus Christ our Lord,
By the workings of the Holy Spirit. …”
Eucharistic Prayer IV
Father in Heaven
Source of life and goodness, you have created all things,
To fill your creatures with every blessings
And lead all men to the joyful vision of your light.
Countless hosts of angels stand before you to do your will;
They look upon your splendor
And praise you ,night and day.
United with them
And in the name of every creature under heaven,
We too praise your glory as we say: Holy…
Father ,we acknowledge your greatness:
All your actions how your wisdom and love.
You formed man in your likeness
And set him over the whole world
To serve you, his creator,
And to rule over all creatures. …
Father, we now celebrate this memorial of our redemption.
We recall Christ’s death, his descent among the dead,
his resurrection and his ascension to your right hand;
and, looking forward to his coming in glory,
we offer you his body and blood,
the acceptable sacrifice
which brings salvation to the whole world…
Then in your kingdom, freed from the corruption of sin and death,
we shall sing your glory with every creature through Christ our Lord,
through whom you give us everything that is good.
Through him,
with him,
in him,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honour is yours, almighty Father , for ever and ever. Amen. …”
Conclusion:
General:
In love God chose to bring all of creation into being to be in relationship with Godself and each other. God continues to love all of creation individually and as a whole. Each is able to appreciate God and longs for God’s presence and expresses aspects of Godself in ways appropriate to each. Humanity has a special role of loving service to the rest of creation and to each other; this is part of our worship, praise, obedience and love of God.
Salvation ( reconciliation with self, each other and God as well as participation in God’s fullness of being in Christ) pertains to all of creation, not just to humans. All of creation has been renewed by Christ’s incarnation, passion, resurrection and ascension. To me this means the Church – body of Christ, is not just humans but all creation.
Of course, this leads to questions:
- Is this not just the next step after recognizing that Gentiles are called just as Jews to God’s love, all races are called equally to God’s love, both genders are called equally to God’s love? Are not all of God’s creatures called to God’s love equally – read as appropriate to the particular creature and not as all creatures uniformly; just as each person is called to love God within a particular state, charism and unique personal vocation within a particular cultural and historical period or just as humans parents love each child equally but as particular to the specific needs of the child or just as humans love animals and friends and colleagues and family members each in an appropriately equal way?
- Are Christians being called to recognize that not only humans have intrinsic worth and dignity and are not merely means to an end, but that all creatures as the Lord’s beloved are to be so valued?
- Are we being called to see creations’ need to consume each other for survival as a manifestation of God’ self-donating love inscribed in the heart of creation? And are we thus being asked to interact with the rest of creation with reverent gratitude and consume in a way that meets our needs, respects the inherent value of all of creation and the common good – current and future humans and as well current and future non-human creation – just as we seek to balance our needs with those of our fellow humans who we depend on to help meet our needs but respect and value as ends in themselves not just a means to our ends? Further, are we to acknowledge that all of creation is made in the image of God for relationship with God as appropriate for each creature?
- Bottom line: Are we not being asked to see the rest as creation as “equal and different” just as we are learning to accept other races and both genders as being “equal and different”?
I am seeing God as having radically opened the relationship within the Trinity to all of creation and asking creation to relate with e each other and Gods way God relates within Godself – each a unique person, each totally given over to the well-being of all such that it is one-in-three and three-in-one: at once unique persons and at the same time totally united. Thus as Christians are we not being called stage-by-stage to recognize that this aspect of God’s image (unity amidst individual uniqueness) is inherent to creation and to learn to relate as such: spirit and material, male and female, Jew and Gentile, Christian and non-Christian, human and non-human creation, my race and your race, your ethnicity and my ethnicity, science/reason and faith, failure and success, pain and joy - all to be valued individually without devaluing the other and yet at the same time to recognize the inherent unity of the supposedly opposing entities as beings/ states that are created and sustained/ permitted in the Trinity’s love. A call to make Jesus’ prayer a reality “May they all be one as you Father are in me and I am in you. May they be one in us; so the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). As I see it, what is being challenged here and invited to grow is the Christian’s very way of beholding: to learn to consistently look deep enough to see God’s constant, affirming, life-giving, uniting presence pervading everything3 in an often fragmented ,competitive, self interest driven culture .This is so necessary for as we all know, the tone and details of our stance to life and of our living flow from our beholding.
Possible Unique OCD Response:
For me I see our particular response as an expansion of the conscious intent behind our usual business – just as St Teresa, our founder, twice expanded her reason for living our way of life as faithfully as possible ( first from for The Church, particularly priests and theologians, to include the situation in France with the Lutherans, then secondly to include the Indians in South America). So too we could respond by living our life as faithfully as possible for all of creation – extra terrestrial as well: the entire universe. And as Teresa sought integration to the level where all of her life was a prayer and saw the love given to human beings as the means of growing in union with Jesus Christ/the Word , so we, too, could use our intergalactic love – behaviours, prayer request, attitudes and disposition, choices for the entire universe and humanity’s continued maturity into Jesus Christ/the Word – as the bench markers/indicators that our contemplative gaze and being are more and more taking on that of Jesus who knew that the Father had entrusted all things to him (John 13:3 ): the loving responsibility and trust echoed by St John of the Cross’ “Mine are the heavens and mine is the earth. Mine are the nations, the just are mine, and mine the sinners. The angels are mine, and the Mother of God, and all things are mine; and God himself is mine and for me, because Christ is mine and all for me.”4
I think it necessary to single out two things:
1. The importance of being. As I understand it, while the prayer and good works of loving our sisters and neighbours are both the means and expression of union with God, they are not the complete picture. A unique benefit for the world of our life flow from the desire and will to will with God , for God and only with the help of God5; as we become prayer we are caught up in the spirations of the Trinity6 and with Jesus we become living bread , sources of life, living water helping to sustain, heal and renew the universe (John 7: 37-39 ) just by our presence.
2.The long view. I think it is important that it is acknowledged that though each prayer request, each individual’s salvation is of immense importance to God, all has to be seen also in the larger picture of salvation history as pertains to the entire universe growing into the fullness of Christ. Thus, it is not just about my growth in holiness or saving that person’s soul or that one’s illness or tough situation, but it is also equally about humanity growing more and more into Christ and about humanity’s ever increasing holiness cooperating with God to bring all of creation to fullness of being and also, quite possibly the rest of creation also [consciously or unconsciously?] cooperating with God to facilitate humanity’s maturity into Christ. Thus I am understanding the Carmelite nun’s union with Christ also as a pioneering expedition wherein she joins Christ in pointing the way, making the way and becoming the very way for humanity and creation’s fulfillment. And of course, the way is inseparable from The life, the truth and the resurrection.
The two preceding points have helped to shed new light for me on St Teresa’ statement that each sister must think of herself as a founder. This now means not just the level of commitment and zeal, but also the need to continually reinterpret and expanding the images7 of one’s life, to more and more conform to and make present the richness of Jesus Christ/The Word as ever new and complex situations make themselves known in an ever expanding universe. And I am thinking that nurturing and living form this dynamic life-filled understanding of our vocation may very well be our unique contribution to help our planet resurrect from our current ecological crises.
Sr. Elizabeth Therese of the Blessed Trinity - Roxbury Carmel
Shared the month of Earth Day 2008 (April 22) and St Mark’s Feast Day 2008 (April 25) and St Catherine of Sienna’s Memorial Day 2008 ( April 29).
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1 Ecological crises taken to include everything: global warming, violence, pollution of physical and spiritual environment as well as the unjust distribution of world’s resources – material and spiritual – among the world’s peoples.
2 Previous studies including Theology of Creation and Scripture were drawn up.
3 I cannot help think of Jesus statement about seeing the Father at work and working with Him ( John 5:19-21) and John of the Cross’ statement about God’s look of love implanting grace within him; only in this case it would be our recognizing the presence of this grace in everything.
John 5:19-21: “Jesus said to them, “ Truly I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father do. And whatever, he does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed. As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he wills.” For me this speaks of Jesus’ ability to see God’s actions in the ordinary of everyday life; hence, his response to the question why the man was born blind.
4 Sayings of Light and Love, 26 & 27.
5I think, the following quotation from Within the Castle with St Teresa of Avila explains it more fully: “Yet they [consecrated souls/contemplatives] have a more essential duty than that of furnishing ‘prayers’; they must ‘be prayer’. They are this in the measure in which hey are spiritual virgins, that is spouses of Christ on the level of the 7th Mansions. At this degree the virgin is truly virgin. She is a creature without earthy support, without human goal, without any other craving than Christ. She is wholly an appeal to the Lord which is of great value in his eyes.” (p.221-222)
6John of the Cross.
7 I may be wrong, but my understanding of the evolution of the images of our life: traditional -mediator/intercessor ; Therese highlighted/introduced that of Lover and Love, founded on being the Beloved but she did not , to my understanding, give this last one as much explicit attention in its own right ; Elizabeth focused on the Beloved and I recall one author referring to her as a source of calm but did not fully develop the idea of Good Presence, specified in Bread of Life or Living Waters, etc.
© 2009 Sr. Elizabeth Therese of the Blessed Trinity
