It was the day of Preparation, and the Jews did not want to have the bodies remain on the cross on the Sabbath, especially since that Sabbath day was a great solemnity. Therefore, they requested Pilate to order that their legs be broken and the bodies taken down.
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other who had been crucified with him.33 However, when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs,34 but one of the soldiers thrust a lance into his side, and immediately a flow of blood and water came forth.
Meditation
From his article,"Laudato Si´ and Saint Francis"byFr. Siniša Balajić, OFM
Francis lived a cosmic fraternity, assuming a relationship with the characteristics of brother and
minor towards the whole cosmos; he insists on the attributes of brotherhood and minority towards the whole of creation. Therefore, concluding one of his prayers, the Salutation of the virtues, he speaks of obedience that places us in a relationship of submission not only to each person but even to animals. Thus, the fraternal and minor relationship, which characterises Francis, becomes a universal attitude which extends to every creature. As the Encyclical (Laudato si'by Pope Francis) says, “He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace”. (LS, 10). “Everything is interconnected, and this invites us to develop a spirituality of that global solidarity which flows from the mystery of the Trinity”. (LS, 240).
It follows then that creation can never be treated as an object, which is only used, consumed and discarded. God’s creation, like man and woman, cannot be scrap, because scrap degrades the quality of life in general, human relationships and world fraternity. In fact, according to the Encyclical, Saint Francis “opposes” the style of discarding, with a different kind, that of welcoming. He has a style that welcomes everyone as brother and sister in a single fraternity or an undivided family. Remember that Pope Francis, during the lock-down for the pandemic, indeserted St Peter’s Square, said that we are all “in the same boat” and that, to save the boat, we must all commit ourselves or we will all die).
Therefore, the harmony that St Francis lived with all creatures is also interpreted as a healing of the original harmonious relationship between God, human beings and nature that was ruptured from the beginning, according to the first pages of Genesis (cf. Gen 3:17-19). The Encyclical states: “The human person grows more, matures more and is sanctified more to the extent that he or she enters into relationships, going out from themselves to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures”. Therefore, “a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach”. (LS, 49).
This relationship between God, man and creation creates the true sense of integral ecology. Integral means that it is a fundamental but also complex relationship. Because of this necessity and complexity, the Pope calls for the creation of an interdisciplinary network to address the current ecological problem in the right way. It cannot be limited to a single level, perhaps only the technical-scientific one. The perspective of integral ecology concerns all levels, from the
theoretical to the social, organisational, relational and design levels. Ecology is integral because it involves not only the natural environment but also human society, the economy and politics, which are closely connected.
This is precisely what Francis perceived in his Canticle. Francis of Assisi had well understood this interweaving of different levels that Pope Francis expresses with the term integral ecology.
Musical Selection
Soul of my Savior, sanctify my breast; Body of Christ, be thou my saving guest; Blood of my Savior, bathe me in thy tide; Wash me with water flowing from his side.
Strength and protection may thy Passion be; O Blessed Jesus, hear and answer me; Deep in thy wounds, Lord, hide and shelter me; So shall I never, never part from thee.
Hear me, Lord Jesus, listen as I pray; "Lead me from night to never ending day. Fill all the world with love and grace divine, And glory, laud, and praise be ever thine."
Prayer
Open the heavens, O God,
and pour out your Spirit upon us,
that all who have been raised to new life with Christ in baptism
may, by word and deed,
show forth the risen life of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.(BCW)
