BRIEF RATIONALE :

CELEBRATING GOD, THE CREATOR, AND GOD'S CREATION

By Fr. Georg Ziselsberger, SVD

May 2003

THE AUTHOR of the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes observes that "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven ..." (Eccl 3:1).

And the CBCP's Pastoral Letter on Ecology "What Is Happening To Our Beautiful Land?" was a very timely document when it was issued fifteen years ago. It did, indeed, capture and convey a sense of urgency about the ecological crisis. And the Catholic bishops of the Philippines must be commended for being among the first Catholic church leaders in the world to address this growing problem

Even today, the letter has not lost its urgency! Yet one does have the impression that the enthusiasm "to respond to the ecological crisis" has faded considerably! This seems to be the case from a general human point of view, and also from an ecclesial and pastoral point of view. Have we Christians been able within the last 15 to 20 years to engage the necessary conversion process towards a faith that understands the world as God's beloved creation, and us Christians as having been called to respond to God's compassionate and loving care for all creation through our own individual and communal praxis of a care for all creation - human and extra human? The crucial issue at stake is whether or not our Christian and ecclesial lifestyles, individually and communally, reflect our faith expressions about the goodness of God's creation and our responsibility to care for it based on our Christian faith!

This decrease in enthusiasm to go beyond beautiful words and to really practice a creation faith is a growing phenomenon in the Churches and among many Christians and Christian groups around the globe. And so, too, it has been felt in Europe during the last two decades of the 20th century. There, in Europe, two major ecumenical assemblies have tried to keep the "Conciliar Process for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation" alive and moving forward. The first one in Basel, Switzerland, in 1989 and the second one in Graz, Austria, in 1997.

It was in connection with the First European Ecumenical Assembly in Basel that the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I of Constantinople invited "the entire Christian world" to offer ... every year on 1 September "prayers and supplications to the Maker of all, both as thanksgiving for the great gift of creation and as petitions for its protection and salvation." Outside the Orthodox Christian world there was a very slow response to this invitation in the first few years. Only few individual Christian groups and organisations began to observe 1 September as "Creation Day."

This has changed, however, with the Second European Ecumenical Assembly in Graz, in 1997. In its "Final Document #3" called "Recommendations For Action" that was received both by the delegates of the ecumenical 'Conference of European Churches' (CEC) and the Catholic counterpart, the 'Council of European Bishops' Conferences' (CCEE), with a large majority, only a few votes against and a few abstentions, the Churches in Europe, in Section 5, call for a new practice of ecological responsibility, now and with regard to coming generations

5.1. We recommend that the churches consider and promote the preservation of creation as part of church life at all levels. One way would be to observe a common Creation Day, such as the Ecumenical Patriarchate celebrates each year.

Rationale: The seriousness of the ecological dilemma for the future of the human race means that the churches' consciousness of it must be raised. Commitment to preservation of the creation is not a side issue among many others, but an essential dimension of all church work.

This first recommendation for a new practice of ecological responsibility resembles the spirit that is reflected in the 1988 Pastoral Letter on Ecology "What Is Happening To Our Beautiful Land?" The important additional feature here is the link with the liturgical year of the Church. This link between creation and liturgy is not yet considered in the documents of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) of 1991. This being so, should the catholicity of the Church not also imply a mutual learning of the Churches around the planet? Could not the fifteenth anniversary of the Pastoral Letter on Ecology "What Is Happening To Our Beautiful Land?"  be an opportune time, a kairos, to begin observing a "Creation Day" and a "Time of Creation" in the Philippine Church(es)?

After recommending to the Churches in Europe to observe Creation Day, the "European Christian Environmental Network" (ECEN), also a fruit of the Second European Ecumenical Assembly in Graz in 1997, has taken the initiative to additionally observe a so called "Time of Creation." This would be a period following immediately after "Creation Day" and lasting until the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, 4 October, or up to the second Sunday of October, respectively. In Europe during the last several years, the observance of such a "Creation Day" and a "Time of Creation" has been growing. More and more Church leaders have been recommending such observance. Such is true also for the Catholic Church in Europe. Starting in 1999, the CCEE has held annual consultations of its environmental commissioners. The consultation in the year 2000 made a very clear statement in favor of observing a "Creation Day" within the period of "September 1 and the Harvest Festival in accordance with the Second European Ecumenical Assembly in Graz."

Last year the World Council of Churches has adopted a recommendation to its member Churches to observe 1 September as Creation Day and to consider the possibility to celebrate a special time of creation.

Theologically, the observance of a "Creation Day" and a "Time of Creation" would provide a good opportunity to align in a more complete manner our Christian creed with our Christian cult. The Apostolic creed, recited during every Sunday Eucharist, begins with the profession of our belief in the first person of the Trinity, the "creator of heaven and earth." However, this faith statement does not find a more extensive liturgical expression in the cycle of the liturgical year. The major cycles of the liturgical year are dedicated to the second person, and one major feast to the third person of the Holy Trinity. As it is, the current practice of the liturgical year does not really contribute to fostering a deeper and ecologically meaningful and environmentally beneficial Christian creation faith that is so urgently needed as the 1988 Pastoral Letter on Ecology "What Is Happening To Our Beautiful Land?" rightly recognizes!

The traditional theological dictum "lex orandi lex credendi" expresses the mutuality between our faith and our worship. Our worship impacts on our faith and on our faith praxis. The way we worship articulates what we really believe. Judging from the current worship practice, one can rightly ask whether Christians sincerely believe in God the Creator, and that the world is God's beloved creation and, consequently, creation is good and Christians, together with all human beings of good will are being tasked with a responsibility towards the integrity of creation.

From a theologically historical point of view, the liturgical year has been developing in a long and complex way. It has been a framework in the making, until today. The latest major reordering was done during the Second Vatican Council. The liturgical year is a reflection of and witness to the Church as "incarnation in the cosmos and cultures" and that "at every critical moment in the life of the Christian people, the church instituted feasts to accompany them during the period of transition." (Fr. Ansgar Chupungco, OSB) The 1988 Pastoral Letter on Ecology "What Is Happening To Our Beautiful Land?" makes it very clear that we are at an ecologically critical moment and a period of transition in the life of the Christian people and their fellow human beings, in fact of all the life support systems, of all the planetary ecosystems.

A "Creation Day" and a "Time of Creation" would be an opportunity to provide an urgently needed Christian understanding and praxis of a creation faith and spirituality as a most important contribution to overcoming our planetary ecological crisis. A common observance, during a particular period of the year, would also contribute to achieving a much needed religious synergy effect.

Neither Earth Day (April) nor World Environment Day (June) do provide the proper occasion to bring out and give space to exercise the Christian creation faith dimension. Earth Day and World Environment Day are secular institutions in their own rights to which the Church can contribute as one among many organisations and concerned parties. However, the best contribution of the Church is based on a faith supported by an ecologically sound creation theology and the praxis of a creation spirituality. A "Creation Day" and "Time of Creation" offers an appropriate space-time to exercise and practice such a creation spirituality and ethics through specially prepared liturgical, pastoral, and educational programs. There is a wide range of programs and projects available for such purposes!

Celebrating God the Creator and God's Creation during a "Creation Day" and "Time of Creation" is a good "season" for an urgent "purpose under the heaven ..." (Eccl. 3:1), i.e. the conversion toward a faith-inspired sustainable lifestyle of the Church as institution as well as of the personal lives of its faithful! The fifteenth anniversary of "What Is Happening To Our Beautiful Land?" is a very good time to introduce and even begin to institutionalise a "Creation Day" and a "Time of Creation".

*A new practice of ecological responsibility, now and with regard to coming generations

5.1. We recommend that the churches consider and promote the preservation of creation as part of church life at all levels. One way would be to observe a common Creation Day, such as the Ecumenical Patriarchate celebrates each year.

Rationale: The seriousness of the ecological dilemma for the future of the human race means that the churches' consciousness of it must be raised. Commitment to preservation of the creation is not a side issue among many others, but an essential dimension of all church work.

5.2. We recommend that the churches encourage the development of lifestyles guided by the principles of sustainability and social justice, and that they support all efforts towards an economy which meets the same criteria.

Rationale: Ecological responsibility must guide personal as well as political and economic actions. The criterion of sustainability gives continued weight to saving energy and to discovery and use of renewable forms of energy. Christians, supported by their congregations and their church, should strive for a lifestyle which sets an example of freeing oneself from the pressure to consume and of valuing a true quality of life.

5.3. We recommend that the churches join the Agenda 21 Process and connect it to the ecumenical or conciliar process for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation.

Rationale: Agenda 21 offers an internationally agreed basis for action which has important aspects in common with the conciliar process for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation. It can be especially helpful in stimulating and organising cooperation with those holding social and political power at the local level.

5.4. We recommend that CEC and CCEE create a network of persons with environmental responsibilities and recognise them as partners in church activities.

Rationale: If the preservation of creation is to be anchored within church life in a politically effective way, it needs to be substantiated by professional competence. The CEC member churches and the CCEE Bishops' Conferences should appoint their own officers for environmental issues, and create a network for them in the form of a suitable organisation with which they cooperate as a partner.