(20th Sunday in Ordinary Time-Year B; This homily was given on August 15 & 16, 2015 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Central Falls, R.I.; See Proverbs 9:1-6 and John 6:51-58)
It is with joyful expectation that we await our Holy
Father’s arrival in the United States in just a few short weeks. Pope Francis is frequently in the news, and
still being received in a favorable light from so many in the media and in popular
opinion. His most recent encyclical
letter, Laudato Si, continues to
generate many different responses and a great deal of attention.
Laudato Si, On Care
For Our Common Home, is unique among papal teachings in that it is the
first encyclical letter to be devoted to ecology, the environment and our care
for the natural world. It is concerned
with such vital situations as climate change, pollution and the appropriate
manner in which individuals and nations manage the earth’s natural
resources. These subjects are frequently featured already
in the news and have been debated and discussed for years. Our Holy Father reminds us how central these
concerns are to the Christian Gospel.
While it may be true that there are dimensions of these
important topics that require some level of professional competency, Pope
Francis has also highlighted that some of the underlying causes for the
problems we encounter today are actually quite common and basic. At the root of so many of the ecological
challenges we are facing is the age-old problem of human selfishness, sin and a
blatant disregard for the Creator who made us and the world we live in:
The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected
in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and
in all forms of life.
—Pope Francis, Laudato Si, # 2
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With an insatiable greed we turn to the earth’s
natural resources without regard for the due measure or appropriate balance
necessary to sustain new life.
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We pour out our garbage into the world however
and wherever we please, so long as we do not get caught.
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We treat creation and our fellow creatures as if
there were no Creator before whom we will one day render an account.
There is actually nothing really new here. It is
the age-old drama of our fallen world that stands in desperate need of redemption. St. Augustine, in his amazing treatise City of God, contrasts two very
different scenarios and ways of life.
The City of God, he insists, is one predicated and founded upon the love
and mercy of God. It is a city that
recognizes and exalts in the dominion of God.
The City of God embraces the
virtues God instills in hearts that are open to Divine grace. It is a city that begins here in this world
but will be fulfilled ultimately in eternal life.
The City of Man, however, is quite different:
Therefore I cannot refrain from speaking about the city of this world,
a city which aims at dominion, which holds nations in enslavement, but is
itself dominated by that very lust of domination.
—St. Augustine, City of God, Book I
The actual phrase St. Augustine uses in the original Latin
is quite striking. He says that this
earthly city is dominated by the libido dominandi, the lust for
power, the lust for rule. This is the lust that drives the human heart to
seek more control over others and over every outside circumstance. Unchecked, it will demand dominion even over
God Himself. This is one dangerous city,
not only in the time of St. Augustine but perhaps even more so in our own day!
“Never has humanity had such power over itself,” writes Pope
Francis, reflecting on the current state of affairs, “yet nothing ensures that it
will be used wisely, particularly when we consider how it is currently being
used.” (Laudato Si, #104).
There is nothing wrong with power in and of itself; in fact,
power is a gift that can be used for the glory of God and the building of the
City of God. But when that same power is
divorced from wisdom, the earth and those who inhabit it suffer. Pope Francis names several circumstances
where this libido dominandi can be
found in contemporary society.
Firstly, Pope Francis mentions the power of technology, which can be a tremendous source for good
in the world. There is nothing wrong
with owning an iPad, or a smartphone, and being able to text someone to say, “Running
late for dinner. Love you.” To be able to send someone we care about an
encouraging email halfway around the world or to post a homily online (even a
relatively poor one) to proclaim the Gospel are all ways that technology can be
used for good and for God. Technology
has been invaluable for individuals, corporations and nations in advancing
society and culture in ways never before imaginable. Thank God for that!
But Pope Francis also talks about the technological calamities
of the twentieth century, from the nuclear bombs dropped in Japan to “the
array of technology which Nazism, Communism and other totalitarian regimes have
employed to kill millions of people” (Laudato Si, #104), as a clear sign that technology can be used for
great evil. The libido dominandi is still in full force today in the manufacturing
of chemical and biological weapons that destroy both human life and the
environment future generations will depend on for survival (Laudato Si, #57).
Secondly, our Holy Father reflects on genetic modifications.
Scientists are able to develop crops of wheat and corn, for instance,
which yield a more abundant harvest and can be used to feed a much greater
population than ever before. Those are
great achievements! Nonetheless, Pope
Francis reminds us “we need constantly to rethink the goals, effects, overall context and ethical
limits of this human activity, which is a form of power involving considerable
risks” (Laudato Si, #131).
A clear example would be the genetic manipulation and
modification of human beings for the purpose of “enhancement.” In other words, seeking to modify or alter
the gene pool so that future generations will be of our own liking and specifications: taller rather than short; more agile
or stronger instead of “just average.”
But human beings are not wheat. Children
are not corn. The libido dominandi, that lust for rule and power, can cause great
harm through scientific means in the name of “progress.”
Finally, Pope Francis also writes about animal experimentation.
Animals can teach us a great deal about the body, about diseases and the
therapies that can address them. To
experiment on such animals as monkeys or mice, for instance, could be quite
valuable and productive for society.
Yet, Pope Francis also points out, “The Catechism firmly states that human
power has limits and that ‘it is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to
suffer or die needlessly’” (Laudato
Si, #130, quoting CCC, #2418).
Furthermore, the Pope also highlights the inconsistency of
those who would argue vehemently against this kind of experimentation on
animals while at the same time having no problem at all with experimentation on
human beings!
He writes, “it is troubling that, when some ecological
movements defend the integrity of the environment, rightly demanding that certain
limits be imposed on scientific research, they sometime fail to apply those
same principles to human life. There is
a tendency to justify transgressing all boundaries when experimentation is
carried out on living human embryos” (Laudato Si, #136).
Adult stem cell research—which is ethically sound and makes use of cells from
tissues donated freely by adults—has already yielded significant results and
still remains the most viable and hopeful source for the healing of disease and
illness. Embryonic stem cell research,
on the other hand, has yet to result in any such healing. In fact, when stem cells are removed from a
living human embryo, the human life is destroyed in every individual case. Much more than monkeys and mice, as a culture
we must learn to appreciate the overwhelming value and dignity of every human
life.
While it is entirely possible that we may be ethically free
from these negative realities that Pope Francis describes in Laudato Si, can we truly concede that
the same “lust for power” is absent from our lives entirely? If we search our consciences and look at our
own experiences, is it not the case that we have sometimes insisted on having
dominion and rule over the circumstances and people in our own lives?
The libido dominandi
is not only applicable to the Roman Empire in the time of St. Augustine or to Pope
Francis’ cautions regarding ecology in 2015.
It can often wreak havoc in the family, in the workplace, and even in
the Church! It is not the way that God
directs us to build up the City of God.
So what does God ask us to consider when it comes to building up that eternal
Kingdom?
In the place of the lust for power and the thirst for rule
and domination, the Scriptures this weekend direct us to hunger and thirst for
God. In our first reading, from the Book
of Proverbs, Lady Wisdom, the very personification of that great divine
attribute, invites us to her feast where we can drink deeply and be completely
satisfied in the things of God. We hear
about how Wisdom “has built her house, she
has set up her seven columns,” and she cries out to all who will listen:
Let whoever is simple
turn in here…Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed!
—Proverbs 9:4-5
Drinking deeply from the wisdom of God and growing in a
personal relationship with Him is the greatest antidote to the libido dominandi. Jesus Christ, in the Gospel this weekend,
invites us into that personal relationship by revealing Himself as the food
that alone sustains us for all eternity.
He proclaims:
I am the living bread
that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the
bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.
—John 6:51
Do we truly hunger for Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life,
above all other earthly things? Are we
able to admit that the lust for power, however “invigorating” or seductive it
may be, is ultimately insatiable and never completely satisfying? Do we dare to take God up on His offer this
weekend and to seek the one necessary thing—indeed, the one Person, Jesus
Christ—that alone satisfies and sustains us?
May the Bread of Life and the Blood of Christ strengthen us
this week to work with passion and joy as we cooperate in building up the City
of God, a city that begins here in this beautiful world, and that will
culminate in an eternal life with God.
