Three ecology workshops given in China in recent years by the Irish geologist and botanist, Dr John Feehan, placed an emphasis on combining personal experience with scientific learning and prayerful reflection. Personal experience involved going outdoors each day to observe nearby geological formations as well as looking at the marvels of wildflowers and other features of the natural world.
In looking at the wildflowers, we were asked to consider the marvellous interdependence of these flowers which require a moth or a bee to complete a pollination cycle so that the next generation of flowers can emerge a year later. Participants in the workshops got a further glimpse into this mystery through hand lenses and microscopes which enabled them to see into the depths of the flowers, and revealing its beauty and complexity. An experience of awe for those who were seeing with new eyes. Occasionally within the depths of a small flower, a tiny insect was seen moving around in its colourful home. During these experiences and in the lectures that were part of the workshops, John Feehan would also pose a crucial question: “what does this tell us about God?”
This same question is at the heart of Laudato Si’, the 2015 encyclical written by Pope Francis on care for our common home, this beautiful but fragile planet. In the early part of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis invites us “to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness” (LS 12). This understanding is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.
St. Francis understood that God created each form of life with loving care and attention, and all of these life forms have been assigned a unique place within an immense universe that was created with the same loving care, a universe that continues to unfold over the vast expanses of time and space. Pope Francis also reminds us that the inexhaustible richness of God is reflected in the vast diversity of the natural world, no one species being capable of fully representing divine goodness, the vast array of biodiversity therefore being an expression of the immense depths of God.
Following on from these workshops in China, the Columbans initiated a project to establish ecology spaces at retreat houses, pastoral centres and convents in China. During a recent visit to the pastoral centre in Xiantao, near Wuhan, Fr. Jospeh Li, Administrator of the Diocese of Hanyang, delighted in showing me the ecology space he has put in place. The top shelf is a space to hold fossils, shells and stones, each reflecting a unique aspect of God’s creation.
The ecology space at the pastoral centre in Xiantao also incudes books on astronomy, geology, botany and other life sciences. With the immense growth of scientific knowledge over recent decades, the scientific community provides the Church with a new perspective to understand in a deeper way the meaning of the creation story that is presented to us in the Book of Genesis. Scientific research provides us with insights into the mysteries of life that were not available to previous generations. This requires that our image of God will be broad enough to include all the insights that emerge from the scientific community. As scientific knowledge expands, the horizons of our understanding of God also need to grow.
According to Fr. Joseph young people in China are open to this approach of deepening their understanding of God because they are already studying science at school. If their scientific education is accompanied by faith formation, it encourages them to appreciate how our creative and loving God is involved in the shaping and unfolding of the universe, and they are able to integrate their education with their Christian faith.
In recent years the Columbans in China have sponsored six communities in setting up ecology spaces, each following a similar design so that items from the natural world are available with relevant books as well as hand lenses and a microscope. As retreats and days of faith formation take place in these areas of China, we hope that participants will deepen their appreciation of the delightful reference by Jesus to the beauty of wildflowers when he said, “not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these” (Mt. 6:29). Hopefully their opportunity to hold a small flower and peer into the depths of beauty bestowed on it by God will stir their hearts to appreciate how God delights in them and all of creation.
