Well, yes and no. Our faith in Christ does not change. Our tradition and Gospel message is constant and unchanging. But our social and cultural reality does change and insofar as our faith needs to communicate to us within these social and cultural forces that is when our practices and moral development requires periodic updating. Lent is a time for us Christians to solemnly observe Jesus’ great sacrifice for us symbolized with the 40 days that he spent in the wilderness before beginning his own public ministry. Our Catholic tradition is to observe these days with prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The observance and the tradition are not subject to change. But if our observance of Jesus’ sacrifice is meant to build the community of faith and to empower us in our joint effort to bring about the “Kingdom of God” then this traditional practice must also relate to the social needs of our global family.

This year we observe the 120 anniversary of our Catholic Social Teachings where our Catholic Church expresses its concern over a number of evolving social issues. This tradition is marked by the encyclical “Rerum Novarum” but it continues with other encyclicals and a variety of messages that has been offered by the Popes and Conferences of Bishops. Last year, in his 2010 World Day of Peace Message, Pope Benedict XVI shared his concern regarding the ecological impact of our consumer choices:

“It is becoming more and more evident that the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our life-style and the prevailing models of consumption and production, which are often unsustainable from a social, environmental and even economic point of view. We can no longer do without a real change of outlook which will result in new life-styles, “in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments””.

In light of this message and our Catholic social principle of promoting “Care for God’s Creation” the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center have created an amazing Lenten program called Lent 4.5.

Lent 4.5 is a seven week parish program that has the parishioners’ journey as a community through a process of prayer, fasting and almsgiving that builds on the social concern that was addressed by Pope Benedict XVI. During the Lenten season parishioners will observe Christ’s own sacrifice for us by examining our own sacrifice for the sake of “common growth”. This journey will have us examine the following:

• Ash Wednesday Week – Christian Simplicity: Compassionate Living
• 1st Week of Lent – Food: Buying and Eating are Moral Acts 
• 2nd Week of Lent – Consumption: Buying Less, Wasting Less 
• 3rd Week of Lent – Water: Conserving and Protecting 
• 4th Week of Lent – Energy: Choosing Efficient and Clean 
• 5th Week of Lent – Transportation: Getting Around 
• Holy Week – Gratitude

Lent 4.5 has created its own blog to highlight each week of the process and to allow people to share with other their own comments or questions on that specific part of the process. This week the blog begins with a reflection on Christian simplicity and Compassionate Living. Visit the site and consider updating your Lenten observance with Lent 4.5.

He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Passionist spirituality is centered on the image and salvific purpose of the Cross throughout the development of humanity and creation. Beyond the vast letters and the diary that St. Paul of the Cross wrote the only booklet that we know he ever produced was an intense spiritual exercise based on the devotion to Christ’s passion which he called “Mystical Death”. In this work and in some of his letters St. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionist (not to be confused with St. Paul the Apostle), centers much of his spiritual direction on a mystical transformation that we are all privy to and from which we grow ever deeper into our relationship with Christ. This mystical transformation occurs to us within our life journey when moments of great suffering happen to us. For St. Paul of the Cross all suffering has the capacity to bring us closer to the redemptive suffering of the Cross, this is the part of the journey that he calls “Mystical death”. It is not an actual death but in a sense it is a part of us that is dying. We let go of something that we have been used to or comfortable with. When we can allow this suffering to transform us and to be redefined by our suffering in way that will change our actions, behaviors and way of thinking  then we begin to participate in a “Divine Rebirth”. In our life journey major events like suffering will give us mini passion and resurrection moments that can transform us towards God and Christ if we allow ourselves to be transformed into a greater existence.

But Fr. Thomas Berry, CP also suggested that the “Wisdom of the Cross” as defined in Colossians challenges us to see the wisdom of suffering as it impacts creation as well. Since humans have the gift of consciousness then we are called to reflect on “a certain coherence between the grandeur of the universe and the majesty of the cross of Christ”.  In the following passage from his article titled “The Wisdom of the Cross” Fr. Berry applies the Passionist spiritually of “mystical death” and “divine rebirth” to the evolving universe.

This coordination can be understood quite clearly when we consider the central role of sacrifice in the redemption process and then observe the central role of sacrifice in the unfolding of the emergent universe. We might even say that the redemptive suffering of Christ lies in the line of creative transformation moments revealed to us in the universe throughout the entire course of its history.

Fr. Thomas Berry integrated the Christian principle of redemptive suffering to the contemporary situation of environmental devastation. In doing this he challenged us to see how we can transform our own relationship with creation. Our world is in the midst of suffering and we bear some responsibility for this suffering. Catholic social teaching has called us to reflect on these environmental issues and to transform our relationship with the earth in order to respond to this level of suffering that will have an impact on us all.

We are called to address the issue of toxic chemical pollutions:

Nor can the moral character of development exclude respect for the beings which constitute the natural world…. We all know that the direct or indirect result of industrialization is, ever more frequently, the pollution of the environment, with serious consequences for the health of the population.-  Pope John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, #34

We are called to address the issues of global warming and climate change:

At its core, global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God’s creation and the one human family. It is about protecting both “the human environment” and the natural environment…. We seek to offer a word of caution and a plea for genuine dialogue as the United States and other nations face decisions about how best to respond to the challenges of global climate change. – USCCB, Global Climate Change, #3

We are called to halt environmental degradation like deforestation, desertification and mountaintop removal:

The way humanity treats the environment influences the way it treats itself, and vice versa…. Every violation of solidarity and civic friendship harms the environment, just as environmental deterioration in turn upsets relations in society. Nature, especially in our time, is so integrated into the dynamics of society and culture that by now it hardly constitutes an independent variable. –Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, #51

We are also called to address the situation of water scarcity, a situation that is of particular concern for our own basic existence:

Similar attention also needs to be paid to the world-wide problem of water and to the global water cycle system, which is of prime importance for life on earth and whose stability could be seriously jeopardized by climate change…. The ecological problem must be dealt with not only because of the chilling prospects of environmental degradation on the horizon; the real motivation must be the quest for authentic world-wide solidarity inspired by the values of charity, justice and the common good. – Pope Benedict XVI, January 2010

The Passionist JPIC Office has developed a retreat program based on the redemptive spirituality of the Cross to move us towards a transformed relationship with the earth and each other. The program is called “Living Simply so others may Simply Live.” Towards the end of this program we promote an action program adapted from the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center that will give individuals some practical ideas for adopting a Christian lifestyle that is attentive to these ecological issues and that pursues a right relationship with oneself, the human community, and the environment.  Visit our Passionist JPIC Resource page to see if this program or the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center program is something that you parish or retreat center may want to explore.

Calling Catholics to Care for Creation

I invite all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the all-powerful Creator and the Father of mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.”

– Pope Benedict XVI, 2010 World Day of Peace

Over 5000 people in five Catholic churches and a Catholic High School in Louisville, KY broadened their scope of sacrifice this past Lent. They took part in Lent 4.5 – Christian Simplicity, a program offered by the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center that asks participants to change the way they relate God’s creation.

One of the major causes of environmental degradation and social injustice is the pattern of human consumption. If the Earth were divided equally, each person now alive would be entitled to 4.5 acres. If all was equitable, from those 4.5 acres each person would be required to find everything needed to support their life – food, energy, home, transportation, clothing, appliances, and gadgets. But according to Global Footprint data, it takes a stag­gering 22.3 acres to support the average American lifestyle.

For a long time, many believed that justice would be accomplished by lifting others up to the American standard of living. We now know that is impossible, given the spatial restrictions and limited resources of the Earth. Es­timates suggest that it would take four or five planets to accomplish that elevation in lifestyles. And of course, there is only one.

We have a huge global problem. We Christians in the affluent United States have a faith problem. Anyone who follows in the footsteps of Jesus Christ cannot remain distant or indifferent to the consumption habits of our country. Our patterns of consuming must change if we are going to bring forth a world that is both sustainable and just. How can we share this planet with the other 6.5 billion human beings in a way that enables all of us to live with dignity?

Eight Segments

Lent 4.5: Christian Simplicity is an eight week program of conversion which educates Catholic communities on issues of sustainability and social justice, inspiring them to take prac­tical steps to live more simply and care for God’s creation by using only their fair share of the Earth’s resources. It is struc­tured around weekly themes which focus on various areas of consumption.

1. Week before Ash Wednesday – Introducing Lent 4.5: A New Way of Observing Lent

2. Ash Wednesday Week – Christian Simplicity: A Compassionate Life

3. 1st Week of Lent – Food: Buying and Eating are Moral Acts

4. 2nd Week of Lent – Consumption: Buying Less and Wasting Less

5. 3rd Week of Lent – Water: Conserving and Protecting

6. 4th Week of Lent – Energy: Efficient and Clean

7. 5th Week of Lent – Transportation: Getting Around

8. Holy Week – Getting Involved: Gratitude and Generosity

Six Components

1. Taking Action: Bulletin Inserts – Weekly bulletin inserts include: (1) an essay explaining the issue of consumption, (2) highlights of what the Church is saying about the subject, (3) a menu of practical suggestions for abstaining from over-consuming in that area, (4) a reflective prayer, and (5) links to additional online resources. The intention is to educate partici­pants and help them understand how to reduce their consumptive patterns and embrace values of simplicity.

2. Going Deeper: Online Resources and Blog – Information from the bulletin inserts and additional materials are available online at www.Lent45.org. There par­ticipants can find hot links connecting them to online video instructions and more resources on how to implement the lifestyle changes which interest them. The Lent 4.5 blog enables parishioners to form an online community supporting substantive change in lifestyles and sharing creative alternatives.

3. Learning More: Study Groups – Optional discussion courses offer an opportunity for those parishioners who want a more in depth experience. Lent 4.5 provides course books for small group faith-sharing. These self-facilitating discussion courses are de­signed for 8-12 people to meet weekly for 1½ hours to pray, reflect and discuss readings based on the weekly themes. The course books contain a diverse collection of short essays, articles, book excerpts, prayer services and discussion questions to create a lively interchange.

4. Exploring Together: Large Group Activities – Parishes are provided resources to organize group activities which bring parishioners together to support their intentions to simplify their lives. These events, which are structured around the weekly theme, can include inspi­rational speakers, pertinent movies and practical presentations on how to live more sustainably.

5. Catholic School Curriculum – The school component of the Lent 4.5 helps teachers and parents address consumerism through age-appropri­ate curriculum so young people can begin to understand the impact of their purchasing habits, the problem with the consumer mentality, and the perilous impact which consumerism has on the planet and our spiritual wellbe­ing.

6. Changing Systems: Church Procedures and Policies – The staff of the Earth & Spirit Center works with church leadership, parish staffs and parish councils to explore ways for the church to reduce consumption, become more energy efficient, purchase sustainable fair trade prod­ucts and set policies which will uphold values of sustainability and justice.

Consider Lent 4.5 for Your Parish in 2011

For more information go to www.lent45.org. To inquire about how your parish can participate in Lent 4.5 in 2011, contact the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center by calling 502.452.2749 or email earthandspirit@passionist.org.

Do more than give up chocolate for Lent. Try living simply, so that others may simply live.

Lent is a major event in the annual life of the Christian community. It is a time when many people want to do something “more.” Churches overflow on Ash Wednesday. Attendance at daily Mass increases. Parishioners are generally more inclined to participate in retreats or missions during the Lenten season. Restaurants often adapt their menus to accommodate the Catholic practice of abstinence. Church fish fries are a defining feature of Lent for many school kids and their parents.

Lent 4.5 is a program of conversion which educates Catholic communities on issues of sustainability and social justice from a faith perspective, inspiring them to take practical steps in caring for God’s creation by using only their fair share of the Earth’s resources. It offers a faith-based response to the injustice, inequity and devastation of creation caused by rampant consumerism. It honors the good intentions Christians have to do something extra during Lent and directs the focus toward a conversion of heart that is concerned about environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritually fulfillment. Caring for creation and living more simply are an essential part of faith for those who follow in the footsteps of Jesus today.

Why 4.5?

Through a measuring tool called Global Footprint, we are able to assess the impact of various lifestyles upon the Earth. It is a complex process, but a simple formula. At present, there are approximately 6.5 billion humans alive on the planet. If we divide the planet evenly so that each of us receives a fair-share, every person would be entitled to 4.5 acres.

From that 4.5 acres each of us would have to find the wherewithal to cultivate our food, the space and materials to construct our home, the energy to heat and cool it, the water for our lawn and toilets, a place to dispose of our wastes, the timber or plastic to put together our furniture, the fibers to produce our clothes, the metals to manufacture our appliances and cars, the petroleum for our transportation, and anything needed to make our gadgets and stuff. 4.5 acres would be each person’s fair-share.

The Global Footprint accounting tool enables us to measure how much the productive land and sea of the planet is used by any given segment of a population. We can use it to calculate how many acres it takes to support the lifestyle of an individual, an industry or a country. According to 2009 data (www.footprintnetwork.org), Africans living in Tanzania need 2.6 acres to support their average lifestyle, while the portion of the planet used by someone living in the Egypt is 3.5 acres. Iraq needs 3.3 acres; Saudi Arabia requires 8.6 acres. The average person in India only takes 1.9 acres, while those living in Columbia ask for 7.4 acres to sustain their lifestyle. The Japanese come in at 10.2 acres; France 11.4 acres; Italy 12.2 acres; Mexico calls for 8.0 acres; and Canada demands 14.2 acres. In the United States of America it takes a staggering 22.3 acres to support our average lifestyle.

Regardless of our personal habits of consumption, anyone who lives in the United States benefits from the infrastructures, food choices, travel options, medical advantages and conveniences of a standard of living that demands 22.3 acres of the Earth. If our fair share is 4.5 acres of the planet’s resources that means others must do with less so we can maintain our level of affluence. This disparity gives an entirely new meaning to the Biblical admonition: “Thou shalt not steal.”

For a long time, many wanted to believe that justice meant working to lift others up to our standard of living. We now know that is impossible, given the spatial restrictions and limited resources of the Earth. Estimates suggest that it would take four or five planets to accomplish that elevation in lifestyles. And of course, we only have one. There are not another four Earth-like planets anywhere in sight.

We have a huge global problem. We Catholics in the affluent United States have a faith problem. Anyone who follows in the footsteps of Jesus Christ cannot remain distant or indifferent to the consumption habits of our country. How can we share our planet with another 6.5 billion human beings in a way that enables all of us to live with dignity? Specifically, how can our observance of Lent 2010 make a direct response to global poverty and manifest our Catholic position on justice for all human beings? “If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation,” advised Pope Benedict in his 2010 World Day Peace message.

One reason the environment is in serious peril and many of the planet’s eco-systems are near collapse is due to the habitual and daily choices we humans make. For the most part, we think of the Earth not as a sacred endowment, but as pre-manufactured material. God’s creation is typically treated as a resource for our consumption or a place to toss our waste. This consumer mentality drives our economy and personal lives. Given the prevailing mindset in our country, we are seemingly willing to exhaust the Earth’s resources and deprive future generations in order to satisfy our ravenous desires.

In this materialistic culture everything is designed to make us consumers. Lent 4.5 tries to be honest with what Jesus said about simplicity. It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. Lent 4.5 offers Christians practical ways to be different from this greedy consumer society. Simplicity does not mean moving to a cave or eating berries. Living simply means setting limits that reflect our faith values by taking only what we need – not hoarding or taking in excess. Good stewardship of God’s creation results in a life that is outwardly simple and inwardly rich.

Lent 4.5 is a new program initiated and designed by the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center. You can learn more about Lent 4.5 and download the material by going to http://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/lent45/.

“I invite all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the all-powerful Creator and the Father of mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.” – Pope Benedict XVI, 2010 World Day of Peace

On December 11, 2009 the news was released that a U.N. draft agreement is now circulating with mixed reviews. So far the goals of the agreement are rather weak and they offer a standard for nations to apply voluntary (should) commitments in cutting emissions. It requests the following:

• Industrialized nations cut CO2 emissions by 25% by 2020.
• Developed countries provide “adequate, predictable, and sustainable financial resources, technology and capacity-building” to support the poorer nations in their struggle with climate change impact.
• Developing nations “may undertake autonomous mitigation actions,” rather then a specific binding commitment.

While the language in the draft is very weak it should also not come to the surprise of anyone who is aware of the international agreements. Whether the issue is climate change, human rights or global trade nations are almost always reluctant to cede their autonomy to international agreements and institutions.

The issue of climate change and its impact on the poor is of great concerns for the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI expressed this concern in his most recent encyclical:

“This responsibility is a global one, for it is concerned not just with energy but with the whole of creation, which must not be bequeathed to future generations depleted of its resources. … This means being committed to making joint decisions “after pondering responsibly the road to be taken, decisions aimed at strengthening that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying” Let us hope that the international community and individual governments will succeed in countering harmful ways of treating the environment.”

The Vatican is currently involved with the Copenhagen conference. Its position is to promote a strong standard for cutting carbon emissions and for financially supporting poorer nations that will suffer the most from climate change.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8LID2v7P2c

For faith-based communities like ourselves our concern with climate change is not based on science. Our concern is based on our experience of mission and ministry. Like Caritas the Passionists have missions throughout the world. Recently I was visiting the Asian communities in India. The conversation in that part of the world is not based on science, it is based on reality. Our communities in Indonesia, Philippians, Papua New Guinea and India are very much aware of the impact of climate change on the poor. Tsunamis, severe weather patterns, etc. are not debatable considerations. They are real phenomenons that are making a very real impact.

For those of us who are caught up with the scientific debate keep in mind the “Precautionary Principle.” During the scientific battle regarding the effects of tobacco this principle was used to suggest that in the face of a very real harm (lung cancer) even thought the scientific argument at the time was debatable, social policy should err on the side of addressing the social harm while the scientific debate continued. As a member of a Catholic Religious Community with missions throughout the world I can say that the harm is very much real.

The Catholic Church has three social principles that are relevant to our position with regards to climate change:

• Stewardship of Creation
• Promoting Solidarity and the Common Good
• Option for the Poor

Based on these principles and the real impact of suffering to the poorer members of the human community the Passionist JPIC office considers it a responsible moral position to act and support initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to promote social responsibility on issues related to climate change. The Passionist JPIC office prays that the Copenhagen conference produces an agreement that will have the international community working together on mitigating the effects of climate change and its effect on poor nations. However, no matter how strong or weak the agreement is, we also realize that the Catholic social principles are primarily applicable to all of us as individuals. Social policies are only as strong as the political will that comes from its citizenry. If we all adopt principles and practices on issues of social concerns then we will see our democratic institutions follow suit. The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change is a partnership of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. This coalition has some great resources on the spirituality and actions for promoting the Stewardship of Creation. One action that we can all take is the Catholic Climate Covenant.

Please also visit our Passionist Earth and Spirit Center which offers courses and further resources on the ecology based on the spirituality of Thomas Berry, CP Also click here for a pdf resource from the Earth and Spirit Center on Living in Harmony with Creation

The Passionist JPIC office would like to hear from our readers on the issues of social concerns that we share. Please feel free to offer your comments, thoughts or further resources regarding this issue.