Day 16: We Belong to Creation

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Readings for Today

"Moronera woods - Destroying a forest" Photo Credit: Maurizio Pucci//flickr

“Moronera woods – Destroying a forest” Photo Credit: Maurizio Pucci//flickr

Today’s parable of Lazarus and the rich man reads like a dream.

We hear the words “My child, remember you received what was good during your lifetime” and we recall the blessings of creation which so often feel limitless, yet our planet is finite. The blessings in the rich man’s life were indeed sumptuous. Yet today’s reality is not a dream, we are aware of the Earth’s crisis due to sumptuous living. Because we have been conditioned to think of ourselves as separate from rather than derivative of creation it is difficult for us to see our impact. We do not realize we belong to creation; just as the rich man never experienced belonging to his brother at the gate. Today, creation can no longer sustain the dichotomies of rich versus poor, spirit versus matter or ecology versus spirituality, it is up to us to reconcile these historical ‘opposites’ for the life of the world.

Reflection Questions:

  • What does sumptuous living look like in my life?
  • Where in creation do I find a sense of belonging? Where do I find myself most alienated?

Fr. Joseph Carver, SJ completed an STL in Ecology and Ignatian Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara.  Born and raised on a farm in rural New York, his interest in our relationship with creation has deep roots.  Inspired, by both the poetry of Jane Kenyon, Mary Oliver as well as the writings of Teilhard de Chardin, Carver regards Ignatian Spirituality as a path into the breadth and depth of instruction unfolding in creation.  Carver, SJ sees the Incarnate Christ, as not only the spiritual but also the physical center of the universe.  He is currently the pastor of St. Francis Xavier in Missoula, MT and recently returned from presenting on this topic in Manresa, Spain at an Association of Jesuit Schools gathering.

 

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