In December 2022 many sisters and communities from the 2 African entities participated together in the webinar on the Journey to Integral Ecology (JIE).
Sr. Begoña presented the point we have reached on this Journey, inviting us to go further.
She proposed elements of Ignatian spirituality and of African tradition that can help us to include the ecological aspect in our apostolic Ignatian spirituality. We continued with the new ecological vision, the sacredness of all created beings and our human responsibility to care for the Earth, our common home.
The process of ecological conversion demands of us to transform all our relationships and our lifestyle, doing without what is superfluous, “living simply so that others can simply live”.
The ecological spirituality makes us aware of our communion with nature and the spiritual connection between humans and all beings of the Earth. It opens us to contemplate nature and to marvel at its beauty, aware of our oneness with all the living and all the elements of the Earth.
From there springs an attitude of gratitude for the gift of life, of others and of nature, as well as a feeling of sorrow and pain for their destruction.
From this holistic/ecological spirituality emerges the desire to act to transform our societies and the world. Our first step in that direction is to plan some transformative actions for 2023.
The 7 “Laudato Si” GOALS are, in fact, just 2 GOALS:
- Our response to the CRY OF THE EARTH.
- Our response to the CRY OF THE POOR.
The fire, the engine that moves us is GOAL no.6: Foster and deepen our ECOLOGICAL SPIRITUALITY. All the other goals are MEANS to reach those 2 goals.
So, anything new that you will do to transform the reality of the Earth and of the Poor around you, should be part of your Action Plan. A very simple methodology for making an Action Plan was then presented. The dialogue with the sisters was very interesting… and there was mutual encouragement to commit ourselves to finalize our Action Plan as we journey towards Integral Ecology.
