Christina Leaño '97, Associate Director of the Catholic Global Movement, gave the second annual Jeanie Graustein Lecture at STM on November 5, 2017. Leaño’s lecture examined the spiritual and theological aspects of Pope Francis’s Laudato si’, noting that a contemplative and prophetic lifestyle can help individuals reconnect to the environment. A portion of her talk is excerpted below. To see the whole lecture, visit https://goo.gl/DZXd6y.
“…[I] want to talk about what it means [to live] a contemplative lifestyle and what does that have to do with the ecological crisis? This is one of my favorite lines from Laudato si’, where Pope Francis is saying, ‘Nature is giving us love letters all the time, but how do we receive it when we’re so busy?’ His first message is the fact that creation is a gift, but often we’re so busy. And does this look familiar…? That we just don’t have the time to receive this gift? The first movement of a contemplative lifestyle is actually one of stopping and being aware.
Then the next movement is one of receiving. Pope Francis talks about in Laudato si’ that, ‘An integral ecology includes taking time to recover a serene harmony with creation, reflecting on our lifestyle and our ideals, and contemplating the Creator who lives among us and surrounds us, whose presence must not be contrived but found and covered.’ God’s presence in creation is already there. We just have to uncover it The second movement of the contemplative spirituality is of receiving, of savoring…How many times do we just stop and savor? This is the invitation of Laudato si’. It is one of receiving the gift.
Then a third movement of a contemplative spirituality of Laudato si’ is actually one of gratitude. [Pope Francis] talks a lot about gratitude, of giving thanks. This is a great quote by Meister Eckhart: ‘If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.’ Pope Francis invites us, he mentions one very simple habit—‘to cultivate gratitude is just saying thanks before and after meals.’
The importance of slowing down, of savoring and giving thanks, is so that we can slow down that impulse to consume, to move from that place of scarcity, feeling that we don’t have enough, to abundance, recognizing that we do have enough. What Pope Francis is saying in Laudato si’ is that this movement of over-consumption is rooted in trying to feed this internal hunger externally, which can only be fed by God and by recognizing that what we have is actually enough. From Laudato si’: Christian spirituality proposes a growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little. It is a return to that simplicity, which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the opportunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess and not to succumb to the sadness for what we lack. This implies avoiding the dynamic of dominion and the mere accumulation of pleasure.’ That's the challenge. How do we stop those inner impulses to consume? The antidote is to stop, savor and give thanks.”
Transcription section has been edited. Thank you to Hank S. at Rev.com for his exceptional and timely work in typing the transcript from the original audio.
