Faithful stewards of God’s creation

CARE FOR THE EARTH  Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli delivers one of his two presentations for Advent about Catholics’ call to be stewards of God’s creation in St. Joseph Church in Mendham, which he gave on Dec. 1 and Dec. 15. The faithful could either listen to the talks by the Bishop live in the church or livestreamed on the parish’s YouTube page.

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on ways the Diocese is responding to Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato si’.

MENDHAM  It began with Adam and Eve.

When the first man and woman disobeyed God’s command not to eat the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, it touched off a cycle of environmental devastation of earth, our common home, by the human race that continues to this day. It started when they “decided to do things their way, not God’s way,” which disturbed forever God’s perfect order for the world, Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli said in two talks he gave during Advent about our duty to be faithful stewards of God’s creation at St. Joseph Church here.

Bishop Serratelli his delivered a message about ecology over two presentations by exploring the stories of creation and the fall of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis and also Laudato si’: on Care of our Common Home, an encyclical by Pope Francis. The Bishop said we must take up our responsibility for the earth and all living things, including people, remembering first, “we are not the Creators.” God made us in his image for a special purpose: “to share in his lordship over the world,” so we must carry that out by modeling good values and his goodness, especially his compassion, he said.

“[God’s casting of Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden] … was the beginning of our environmental crisis. According to Scripture, pollution flows from our corrupted hearts. Jesus said that out of the heart comes evil thoughts, such as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. This is what makes man unclean. This is what makes our world unclean,” said Bishop Serratelli, who noted that God also punished Adam and Eve by making childbearing painful and work difficult — among the many burdens that we have inherited through Original Sin. “By being stewards, God is not giving us permission to run rough-shod over any part of his Creation. We are to act with the same love that God has for all his creatures … and use our resources for the common good,” he said.

Listening to Bishop Serratelli’s presentation was an audience that attended his talks live in a limited capacity in St. Joseph Church while wearing face masks and following safety protocols for COVID-19. Other faithful watched at home on a livestream on the parish’s YouTube page, where viewers can find a video archive of the presentations.

Bishop Serratelli said that we should consider God’s command to Adam and Eve to “till and tend” the Garden of Eden as our cue to “do all we can to repair the damage [to the environment] as not to destroy what God has given us.” This means “repairing social injustices in our world” and “emphasizing basic human rights given to us by the Creator.” He said Pope Francis writes that economic systems should be at the service of people — not the other way around, in Laudato si’, which highlights the interconnectedness of social, economic, and environmental justice in building and protecting the earth.

“No one should be cut off from the produce of the soil — rich and poor countries alike. Because of our increasing population, we must marshall all our resources for the good of one another, not for selfishness,” Bishop Serratelli said. “We are to mirror God’s compassion for the earth, its creatures, and most of all for one another — for the vulnerable, the weak, the sinner, the sick, the dying, and the unborn. This means not allowing self-interest or self-aggrandizement to give us license to use others for our own personal gain,” he said.

Then Bishop Serratelli added, “Because of our Original Sin, we have disagreements over policies, but as Christians, we must put aside our differences to use our gifts in service of others generously and without complaint.”

In Laudato si’, Pope Francis says our role as stewards of creation requires that we “act in relationship to others” as the Lord did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and he does with us today. The pontiff also urges us to adopt the attitude of St. Francis of Assisi, renowned for his love of nature and animals, who considered all the creatures of the earth his “brothers,” Bishop Serratelli said.

“If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs,” said Bishop Serratelli, quoting Pope Francis.

In “acting in relationship to others,” we also must recognize our complementary roles as male and female as we work together to care for creation, Bishop Serratelli said.

Ultimately, mankind’s work as stewards of creation is both physical and spiritual, the Bishop told the audience.

“Whatever work that you do, whether at home, in business, or in service to the community, is always an act of worship to God. That is why our manual labor, our intellectual work, our business affairs, and even our political environment must be a pure, unblemished oblation to the Lord,” Bishop Serratelli said.

At the end of Bishop Serratelli’s second talk, Father Joseph Anginoli, St. Joseph’s pastor, thanked him for sharing his and Pope Francis’ insights, which “talk about justice, compassion, equality, building up God’s kingdom here on earth, and sharing God’s love with one another.

“They offer us a blueprint for the upcoming year of 2021. Hopefully, we can put 2020 behind us and look to a good year, a blessed year,” Msgr. Anginoli said after the Advent presentations.