PROTECTORS OF God’s handiwork

A special meeting of Jesuits and coworkers at St Beuno’s this summer was a response to Pope Francis’ call to ecological conversion. Kensy Joseph SJ tells us about a fruitful week.

[The] ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion... an ‘ecological conversion’, whereby the effects of [Christians’] encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience. (Pope Francis, Laudato si’, § 217)

Social problems must be addressed by community networks and not simply by the sum of individual good deeds… The ecological conversion needed to bring about lasting change is also a community conversion. (Laudato si’, § 219)

Pope Francis’ call to ecological conversion in Laudato si’ was taken up by the Society of Jesus as part of its discernment process leading to the formulation of the four Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs), particularly the fourth one, ‘caring for our common home’. Reception of the UAPs, and so ecological conversion, is an ongoing process for each province.

From 5-14 July 2023, fifty Jesuits and coworkers gathered at St Beuno’s for a special province retreat at the invitation of then-provincial, Fr Damian Howard SJ. The aim of the retreat was to discern how the Lord was calling us, as the apostolic body of the Jesuits in Britain, to move forward on the path of ecological conversion. The retreat was preached by Fr Dushan Croos SJ, inspired by the book Parcours spirituel pour une conversion écologique by Br Jérôme Gué SJ and Fr Éric Charmetant SJ. As well as having individual spiritual direction, retreatants were also divided into groups where we shared the fruits of our prayer following the ‘spiritual conversation’ methodology for communal discernment. Summaries of group discussions then fed into the continuing prayer and discernment for the whole body the following day. The retreat proceeded in two phases: the first five days roughly corresponded to the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola up to the Second Week; the last three days paralleled the Third and Fourth Weeks. Those who could not commit to eight days were, therefore, able to leave on the fifth day. of mushrooms, with their mycelial (root) networks interconnected and constantly communicating with each other, deeply meaningful. Many found the ‘ecological examination of conscience’, helping them ‘acknowledge [their] sins against creation’ (Laudato si’, §8), eye-opening. Almost everyone who participated grew in their awareness of the presence of God in creation and trust in God’s providential action: ‘And for all this, nature is never spent’ (Gerard Manley Hopkins, ‘God’s Grandeur’).

Fr Dushan’s talks were rich with images and facts about the wonderful world we live in. I was struck, in particular, by the fragility of life on earth. The atmosphere that insulates and protects us, for instance, is only about as thick as the skin of an orange, in relative terms. Another participant found the image

The retreat did not produce a programme or strategy for the province. Like the ongoing Synod in Rome, that is not the main goal of discernment. Rather, the fruits of the province retreat will be seen in the sensitivity to ecological concerns that continues to permeate our community and apostolic lives. They will also be seen in the friendships that were made and built up over these days spent contemplating creation, and our role in it. The main grace is the one for which Pope Francis prays at the end of Laudato si’ (§246):

God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth, for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.