Our Franciscan values are to Live Lovingly, Care for Creation, Proclaim Joy and Hope, and Be Living Instruments of Peace! My recent visit to the Irish Franciscan Brothers (friends of the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn and St. Francis College) missions in Kenya and Uganda inspired me to write this reflection based on the great work they do in their two agricultural colleges and in sustainable farming. They provide a holistic education that is responsive to the needs of the people and their communities. Nelson Mandela Madiba has told us “education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change our world”. But it must be a wholistic education for it to be an instrument of social, economic and ecological transformation. When educators enable instruction to develop these human, social, spiritual, natural, physical, and financial abilities, then such individuals will be able to live up to their core values and, in this case, care for creation. As Franciscans we are mandated to nurture peoples’ capacities and capabilities to use available resources to develop substantial livelihoods. Their goal is to form rural communities in which people live dignified and sustainable lives in harmony with the environment. Their mission is to provide practical education and training for sustainable agricultural and rural development for individuals and communities from the catechist areas of their two colleges.
Their core values include:
Equality for all
Respect and Care for the Earth
Stewardship
Spirit of Excellence
Hospitality
As Franciscans we are called to
share the Gospel and to be a prophetic vision in a chaotic world.
Ravishing climate change is
obviously allowing the future sustainability of our Mother Earth. Floods,
famine. earthquakes, tornados and desertification are rampant signs of the need
to change our destructive practices. When we look back at these disasters we
can clearly see that an impoverished sister and brother directly experience and
feel the most profound and devastating effects. Their simple shacks disappear
in floods and earthquakes, they watch their crops dry up on the vine with no
irrigation and their family farm and food supply is essentially the first to be
destroyed by the dry heat and the wind. The Irish Franciscan Brothers’ Agricultural
Colleges are educating all to care for creation.
As Franciscans, we are called to
educate the world in caring for creation and the poor. Take the time during this
month to read Pope Francis encyclicals ”Laudato Si” and “Rejoice and be Glad”.
We need to take action by performing simple things like recycling, planting
trees, going green, etc. Do a personal and a fraternal evaluation of our use of
natural resources and what we can do to avoid participating in the “throwaway”
culture.
If you need more specific ideas and ways to care for creation simply google “52 Ways to Care for Creation- 'Laudato Si' movement”. Just by doing some of them you will clearly make a difference. Another great resource can be found by googling “10 Practical Ways You Can Care for Creation We are Salt and Light.”
God gave you the gift of creation
out of love and asks us to help him care for it and protect it. As Franciscans
we are called to show others how to care for creation. Will you follow that
calling Now???
May the blessings of our patron St. Francis be with you always.
Brother Leonard Conway, O.S.F. SFC '71
St. Francis College Board of Trustees
President of St. Francis Prep
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