I have a few friends who write regularly. Some write books; some write blogs. And a few of my friends seem to write all the time because so much stuff comes from their pens. One of these friends is Franciscan Dan Horan. Compared to me, he is still a relatively young guy. He has not only signed up to live life as a Franciscan, but also managed to do his doctorate in theology. He teaches in a seminary and bops around the country giving lectures, retreats, etc. He wears me out simply reading about him!
I count myself a friend of Dan, so I think I have a sense of how the thinks about things. I also consider Franciscan spirituality to be akin to Quaker spirituality, so we share some sentiments when it comes to this area of life. And yet, Dan is an ordained Catholic priest, so he clearly has been trained in ways I can only imagine. He obviously has a relationship with the sacraments in a way I will never have, even though I have studied sacramental theology and have come to appreciate the role of sacraments in the Christian community.
One of the things I appreciate about Dan is how closely he follows Pope Francis and his teaching. Dan can offer me insights into things that I might not otherwise have. In a recent piece Dan looks at the recent teaching of Pope Francis contained in his “Querida Amazonia,” published in 2020 following the Catholic synod held in the Amazon region to address local issues of Catholic life. I doubt many Catholics will read this document. And I am sure very few non-Catholics will bother. But I will read it and digest what the Pope offers. I see it to be more than simply an address to fellow Catholics. Some issues addressed are really global issues.
I would like to begin by quoting the Pope from that the first pages of the document. Pope Francis says, “The Amazon region is a multinational and interconnected whole, a great biome shared by nine countries…Yet I am addressing the present Exhortation to the whole world. I am doing so to help awaken their affection and concern for that land which is also ‘ours’, and to invite them to value it and acknowledge it as a sacred mystery.” The Pope continues to note that the concerns for this geographical area are the concerns of others areas and, indeed, our entire globe.
My Franciscan brother, Dan, has been reflecting on this and earlier papal writings. Especially Dan has focused quite a bit on Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si, a Care for our Common Home,” where Dan introduced the theme, “integral ecology.” In those earlier reflections, Dan said “the theme of ‘everything is connected’ appears.” He aims to show us this same theme is present in the new document, Querida Amazonia. I think Dan is absolutely correct when he claims, “that the rising global climate catastrophe is the most important life issue because it is uniquely threatening to every kind of life on the planet.” This issue supersedes any other because of the universal threat.
At the heart of the notion of integral ecology is interconnectedness. If we accept interconnectedness is an appropriate way of seeing all the things in the world, then Dan (and the Pope’s) ideas make sense. I accept this. As Dan suggests, this affects the way we deal with ethics. We cannot isolate our own pet ethical theme and claim it is the most important. Dan particularly has in mind those Catholics who want to spend their energies talking about pro-life. But I could add my own list of things I hear people wanting to see as the most important aspect of life.
I am sure I am not as ardently involved in the abortion-pro-life debate as some folks, I agree with Dan that the climate crisis takes precedent over any other single issue. If the world as we know it is headed to some catastrophe, then abortion or any other single issue becomes irrelevant. I am sure Dan offers his insight not as judgment against any person who carries concerns for abortion or pro-life. But he rightly insists there is an even more alarming issue which presses for our attention.
One of the things I want to assume is that interconnectedness not only is true for our own day, but it includes all those who come after us. Future generations of unborn children are also at stake. We are responsible for more than ourselves. I think, for example, of my own grandkids. With a little good fortune, they all should live to 2100! And there are their kids and grandkids. This stretches far into the twenty-second century!! I want them to find planet earth a great place to live, work and prosper.
I appreciate Dan raising this concern. I like his language of integral ecology. Simply put, it means we are all in this together! I deeply believe this to be true. We are all teammates in this serious game of life and death. It is hard to feel the weight of it because on the surface, nothing seems much different. And yet the two poles of our planet are melting, temperatures are rising and early signs of trouble are visible. If we have eyes, let us see.
Life is a gift and this place we call earth is a wonderful home for living. Let’s take care of ourselves and our home.
I count myself a friend of Dan, so I think I have a sense of how the thinks about things. I also consider Franciscan spirituality to be akin to Quaker spirituality, so we share some sentiments when it comes to this area of life. And yet, Dan is an ordained Catholic priest, so he clearly has been trained in ways I can only imagine. He obviously has a relationship with the sacraments in a way I will never have, even though I have studied sacramental theology and have come to appreciate the role of sacraments in the Christian community.
One of the things I appreciate about Dan is how closely he follows Pope Francis and his teaching. Dan can offer me insights into things that I might not otherwise have. In a recent piece Dan looks at the recent teaching of Pope Francis contained in his “Querida Amazonia,” published in 2020 following the Catholic synod held in the Amazon region to address local issues of Catholic life. I doubt many Catholics will read this document. And I am sure very few non-Catholics will bother. But I will read it and digest what the Pope offers. I see it to be more than simply an address to fellow Catholics. Some issues addressed are really global issues.
I would like to begin by quoting the Pope from that the first pages of the document. Pope Francis says, “The Amazon region is a multinational and interconnected whole, a great biome shared by nine countries…Yet I am addressing the present Exhortation to the whole world. I am doing so to help awaken their affection and concern for that land which is also ‘ours’, and to invite them to value it and acknowledge it as a sacred mystery.” The Pope continues to note that the concerns for this geographical area are the concerns of others areas and, indeed, our entire globe.
My Franciscan brother, Dan, has been reflecting on this and earlier papal writings. Especially Dan has focused quite a bit on Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si, a Care for our Common Home,” where Dan introduced the theme, “integral ecology.” In those earlier reflections, Dan said “the theme of ‘everything is connected’ appears.” He aims to show us this same theme is present in the new document, Querida Amazonia. I think Dan is absolutely correct when he claims, “that the rising global climate catastrophe is the most important life issue because it is uniquely threatening to every kind of life on the planet.” This issue supersedes any other because of the universal threat.
At the heart of the notion of integral ecology is interconnectedness. If we accept interconnectedness is an appropriate way of seeing all the things in the world, then Dan (and the Pope’s) ideas make sense. I accept this. As Dan suggests, this affects the way we deal with ethics. We cannot isolate our own pet ethical theme and claim it is the most important. Dan particularly has in mind those Catholics who want to spend their energies talking about pro-life. But I could add my own list of things I hear people wanting to see as the most important aspect of life.
I am sure I am not as ardently involved in the abortion-pro-life debate as some folks, I agree with Dan that the climate crisis takes precedent over any other single issue. If the world as we know it is headed to some catastrophe, then abortion or any other single issue becomes irrelevant. I am sure Dan offers his insight not as judgment against any person who carries concerns for abortion or pro-life. But he rightly insists there is an even more alarming issue which presses for our attention.
One of the things I want to assume is that interconnectedness not only is true for our own day, but it includes all those who come after us. Future generations of unborn children are also at stake. We are responsible for more than ourselves. I think, for example, of my own grandkids. With a little good fortune, they all should live to 2100! And there are their kids and grandkids. This stretches far into the twenty-second century!! I want them to find planet earth a great place to live, work and prosper.
I appreciate Dan raising this concern. I like his language of integral ecology. Simply put, it means we are all in this together! I deeply believe this to be true. We are all teammates in this serious game of life and death. It is hard to feel the weight of it because on the surface, nothing seems much different. And yet the two poles of our planet are melting, temperatures are rising and early signs of trouble are visible. If we have eyes, let us see.
Life is a gift and this place we call earth is a wonderful home for living. Let’s take care of ourselves and our home.
Comments
Post a Comment