Evangelical Life Today: Living in the Ecological Christ

475 Franciscan Studies 64 (2006) EVANGELICAL LIFE TODAY: LIVING IN THE ECOLOGICAL CHRIST Introduction The term “evangelical life” is one used frequently today in Franciscan circles, especially among third order groups trying to define their way of life. It basically refers to a Gospel way of life or, rather, a way of living the Gospel that makes Christ a living presence in the world. Its development in the Middle Ages signified a literal understanding of the Gospels and a renewed emphasis on living the Gospel in the world, following the example of the poor and humble Christ. The path of Francis of Assisi was one of evangelical life, and he used the metaphor of “footprint” to describe the following of Christ. He encouraged his followers to see the footprints of Christ through the light of the Spirit and make their way to the Most High, the source of all creation and the fountain of overflowing goodness. Although Francis emphasized the centrality of Christ in his path to God, he did not focus on the humanity of Christ in his writings but on the humility of God. It is the humility of God, I believe, that undergirds evangelical life for Francis. The theologian, Bonaventure, highlighted the importance of divine humility in the life of Francis by describing Francis’s life as a growth in the mystery of Christ. In the Incarnation, God bends low in love, Bonaventure indicated, and the more Francis was conformed to Christ, the more he came to see God present in the created world. From the Christ on the cross to the Christ at the heart of creation, Francis contemplated the humility of God incarnate as one continuous thread binding together the whole creation in love. It is in view of Francis’s cosmic Christ mysticism, as Bonaventure describes it, that I use the term “ecological Christ” to speak of the mystery of God’s humble love in creation. Ecology is the study of the rules governing the relationships in the household (oikos) 476 ILIA DELIO of creation.1 While it generally refers to relationships in the natural world, it also includes, on a broader level, relationships between humans, between humans and nature, as well as within nature itself. To speak of God’s love in creation is to consider the Christ mystery in view of ecology or the household of creation. The term “ecological Christ” helps us consider the meaning of Christ today in a world that is interrelated on every level. As a unitive term that points to God incarnate in creation, it impels us to consider the meaning of evangelical life as following the interrelated footprints of Christ. Those who desire to live evangelical life today must ask, who exactly is the Christ we follow, what are the footprints of Christ, and what does it mean to make Christ alive, as witnesses to the Gospel? The purpose of this paper is to explore Franciscan evangelical life as one rooted in the humility of God and committed to the following of the “ecological Christ.” My thesis is that evangelical life today must move beyond separation between Christ and creation or Christ and world religions. Rather, the “ecological Christ,” who is the risen Word Incarnate, includes all of creation, indeed, the diversity of its members. To follow Christ in the twenty-first century is to live in relationships of love as brother and sister, to recognize that Christ includes the whole of creation and not particular parts or people, to make Christ alive by seeing God’s humble presence in the other, and to know God through relationship with the other. Following the lead of Francis himself, Gospel life in the present age is to make known God’s goodness in fragile reality, recognizing the sacredness of all that exists. The basis of this idea is not simply a postmodern approach to Franciscan evangelical life but emerges out of Francis’s understanding of the humility of God and Bonaventure’s reflections on Francis’s life, especially his life in Christ. To examine this thesis, I will briefly describe evangelical life as it developed in the Middle Ages. Then I will look at the writings of 1...