Responsibility for God’s creation

by Letters Editor · September 26, 2013

By Sr Angelika Laub OP, Pretoria

Many people see the new pope as being guided by the Holy Spirit. Our time is marked by an increasing number of poor people and the collapse of ecosystems that are home to many plants and animals.

“We need to move towards a life-centred approach. Such an approach acknowledges the uniqueness of the human created in the image of God. (Photo: WorldVision)

Pope Francis has chosen Francis of Assisi as his patron. What can we learn from St Francis?�Francis, whose feast day we observe on October 4, looked on and experienced God�s creatures as interconnected, as part of one family, as sisters and brothers to us.

This is not na�ve piety but an attempt by Francis to stress that we are kin to each other and to all forms of life.

Later, St Bonaventure, also a Franciscan, saw the variety and the beauty of all forms of life in creation as an expression of the beauty and abundance of the life of the Trinity.

Pope John Paul II taught that humans must respect the integrity of other creatures and of ecological systems. All forms of life have their intrinsic value and their God-given value.

The present domination of nature is a sign of an anthropocentric approach. This has brought endless suffering, death and extinction to many life forms and the destruction of ecosystems. It might well lead to our own extinction.

We need to move towards a life-centred approach. Such an approach acknowledges the uniqueness of the human created in the image of God.

God equipped us to be caretakers of creation. Just as we have used our intelligence to destroy the earth, we can use our ingenuity to heal the earth and her many beings, human and not human. We have to restore the integrity of air, water and soil to protect life.

There is a link between the increasing poverty and the destruction of our natural spaces and of life.

We need to analyse these structures, undo them and then courageously begin to develop a personal, indeed a �truly human�, lifestyle that makes survival of all life on our planet possible and worthwhile.

No doubt, God�s Spirit will guide and accompany us in this effort.