Franciscan Foundations 

Another time when blessed Francis was at that same place, a certain spiritual brother, an elder in religion, was there. He was very sick and weak. Considering him, blessed Francis was moved to piety toward him. The brothers back then, sick and healthy, with great cheerfulness took poverty for abundance. They did not use nor ask for medicines in their illnesses, but rather willingly chose what was contrary to the body. Blessed Francis said to himself: “If that brother would eat some ripe grapes early in the morning, I believe it would help him.”

And he did what he had been thinking. One day he secretly got up early in the morning, and called that brother and took him into the vineyard which was close by the place. He chose one vine with good grapes to eat. Sitting down with that brother next to the vine, he began to eat some grapes so that the brother would not be ashamed to eat alone, and while they were eating them, that brother was cured and together they praised the Lord God. As long as he lived, he very often recalled among the brothers, with great devotion and flowing tears, the mercy and piety the holy father had shown to him. (Brother Leo, The Mirror of Perfection, Sabatier edition, p. 280)

As exemplified in this story, St. Francis’ approach to life was essentially relational. The etymology of the word “relation” has to do with establishing or restoring a connection, or feeling connected to something or someone. Whether he was reaching out to a brother in need and eating with him, as in the story recounted here, or caring for the lepers with his brothers – or whether he was relating to non-human creatures like the wolf of Gubbio, or preaching to the birds, or listening to the song of the cricket – Francis of Assisi sought to be connected with others. His life was an example of the theological truth in Laudato Si’ §66, that our lives our grounded in three fundamental relationships – with God, with one another, and with the earth. The lessons in these educational modules flow from this truth and are oriented toward the goal of establishing connections and building relationships with God and with one another, through experiences with nature. Since humans are prone to sin, and sin is the breaking or damaging of one of these prime relationships, the theme of relationship also relates to the restoration or repair of broken relationships with God, with others, or with the earth, through working with others in various outdoor settings on the land of a community of women religious. 

Interconnectedness

Relationships exist on a number of different levels. On a foundational level, there is the awareness and experience of interconnectedness. The interconnectedness of the universe and ecosystems, with their “countless forms of relationship and participation” (LS §79), is a manifestation of the interconnectedness that is at the heart of reality. One ecological notion that exemplifies the idea of ecological interconnectedness is that of keystone species. Keystone species function like the keystone in an arch, with such strong interconnections with other species in the system that if they are removed the whole ecosystem collapses. Starfish in tidal pools, sea otters in kelp forests, and wolves in Yellowstone are examples of keystone species.

Human awareness of the interconnectedness of the natural world, and the respect or even reverence that it engenders, can be a first step or awakening to a desire for relationship. For persons who struggle for various reasons with human relationships, getting to know, respect, and appreciate the interconnectedness of the natural world can be an entrance point and basic training in establishing relational connections. Facilitating the experience of interconnectedness is one of the objectives of these educational modules. 

Fraternal Relationships

Another level of relationship is that of fraternity, in which we recognize others as brothers or sisters, as related to us like members of the same family. St. Francis’ gesture of eating grapes with his brother was a reaching out in fraternity to a brother in need. Small gestures of kindness like this are important for building the fraternal dimensions of relationship, not only on local but also on global scales. St. Francis also exemplified this level of fraternal relationship with creation when he called different elements of creation “Brother” and “Sister” in his Canticle of the Creatures. Most of the educational experiences in these modules include an element of community or working together with others in collaboration that can facilitate the building of fraternal relationships with others and with the earth. 

Complement Relationship

An even deeper level of relationship is the experience of complement relationship. St. Francis’ deep friendship with St. Clare could be seen in this light. This level of relationship requires two persons or entities with distinct, integral identities who come together and complete each other in some way; they fill out what is lacking in the other and together become more than they were individually. This coming together to make themselves more is oriented toward fruitfulness, i.e., something new is borne out of the union. Spousal relationship thus necessarily requires difference and diversity in order to come to a higher level of union and fertility. The goal of these educational modules is to facilitate experiences of interconnectedness and fraternity in order to prepare others for complement relationships, or to mediate concrete experiences that can become a “creative third” for strengthening the complement bond. 

Trinitarian Dynamic

Ultimately, the relational nature of reality and human beings is grounded in the relational nature of the Trinity. Laudato Si’ expresses this beautifully: 

The divine Persons are subsistent relations, and the world, created according to the divine model, is a web of relationships. Creatures tend towards God, and in turn it is proper to every living being to tend towards other things, so that throughout the universe we can find any number of constant and secretly interwoven relationships. This leads us not only to marvel at the manifold connections existing among creatures, but also to discover a key to our own fulfilment. 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. In this way, they make their own that Trinitarian dynamism which God imprinted in them when they were created. 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).

Laudato Si’ Connections

Unfortunately, many persons today suffer from brokenness in their three prime relationships with God, with others, and with the earth. The environmental crisis is itself a “relational crisis,” as Pope Francis indicates in his Instrumentum Laboris for the Global Compact on Education that he launched in 2020. Some important points he makes in relation to this are: 

• Lack of relationship causes us to see nature as separate from us, but we need to realize that we are part of nature and in constant interaction with it. Human beings and nature are interdependent, and this means that human and natural environments degrade together. 

• The interconnections are not just exterior ones; they are also interior. Connecting/relating with the natural world has a connection with the interior aspects of the person, such that lack of care for our inner being is reflected in a lack of care for the exterior world. Therefore, the environmental degradation we see in the world reflects an interior degradation within the human person; it speaks of broken connections and a fundamental lack of relationship. 

• The human person is the creature with the highest capacity for realizing and reverencing the relational nature of reality. This is why Pope Francis states so strongly in the Compact, quoting Laudato Si’ (§118): “There can be no ecology without an adequate anthropology.”

The lack of attention in contemporary culture to the proper relationship between ecology and anthropology is evident in the crises of pollution, waste, and the throwaway culture (LS §20-22), climate change (LS §23-26), water quality and quantity (LS §27-31), and the distressing worldwide loss of biodiversity (LS §32-42). These ecological crises lay bare what happens when humans do not understand and respect who they are as relational creatures created in the image and likeness of God, with special responsibilities for their relationships with God, with others, and with the earth. 

Ultimately, the crises of relationship exposed by ecological degradation point to a deeper interior crisis whose roots lie in a loss of respect for our embodied nature as human beings and for the integrality of that nature as male and female. Often, this crisis of “human ecology” is not seen as being connected to the ecological crisis, but it is an important aspect that needs to be introduced sensitively into ecological education and Catholic catechesis. As Pope Francis writes in Laudato Si’ (§155):

Human ecology also implies another profound reality: the relationship between human life and the moral law, which is inscribed in our nature and is necessary for the creation of a more dignified environment. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of an “ecology of man”, based on the fact that “man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will.” It is enough to recognize that our body itself establishes us in a direct relationship with the environment and with other living beings. The acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home, whereas thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation. Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning, is an essential element of any genuine human ecology. Also, valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different.

Relationship as Basic to Human Nature

The importance of relationship has always been central in the Catholic intellectual tradition. Recent popes have emphasized the nature of the humans as being persons in relationship. Pope John Paul II’s theology of the body is essentially a treatise on the nature of humans as embodied, relational persons. The fact that there is a contemporary crisis with regard to relationship is evidenced in Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s call in Caritas in Veritate for “a deeper critical evaluation of the category of relation” (CV §53) and his exhortation for “covenantal” relations at every level (CV §§50, 69), from the micro or personal to the macro or societal. Pope Francis grounds his approach to relationship in the notion of interconnectedness, as he writes: “It cannot be emphasized enough how everything is interconnected. . . When we speak of the “environment”, what we really mean is a relationship existing between nature and the society which lives in it” (LS §139). The Pope emphasizes in Laudato Si’ that disregarding interconnections can lead to degraded relationships, while establishing relationships with others and with the natural world is essential to the practice of integral ecology and ultimately to the flourishing of human persons and society, as well as to practicing our faith as Christians. “Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience (LS §217).” 

Further, developing relationships with the natural world can help Christians grow in their awareness and love of the Trinitarian God, for, as the Franciscan Saint Bonaventure teaches us: 

[T]he Trinity has left its mark on all creation. . . The Franciscan saint teaches us that each creature bears in itself a specifically Trinitarian structure, so real that it could be readily contemplated if only the human gaze were not so partial, dark and fragile. In this way, he points out to us the challenge of trying to read reality in a Trinitarian key (LS §239). 

Ultimately, growing in the capacity for relationship is sanctifying, says Pope Francis: 

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. In this way, they make their own that trinitarian dynamism which God imprinted in them when they were created. 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).

Particular Accent of FSE Spirituality

The spirituality of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist is grounded in relationship, and work done of the lands of the community always has a relational focus. The objective is not only to complete the work project, but more importantly, to build or restore relationships in the process. Depending upon the situation, working on the land in the ways shown in these educational modules is a means for strengthening relationships and bringing about healing on multiple levels, in relation to God, others, and/or the natural world. 

Creative Process

Relationships do not develop or heal overnight but require time in which persons move through different stages in their processes of growth in relationship. The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist often put their relational work with others in the context of a four-phase model of creative process (Graham Wallas, The Art of Thought, 1926). The first stage is a preparation phase, which is an initial learning phase. The second is one of incubation such as occurs in winter, when the effect of the experience or relationship is given time to “sink in,” or when we step back and allow a new idea or experience to incubate unconsciously within us. The third is an illumination or “lightbulb” phase in which a new insight or increment of growth in relationship is experienced. The fourth phase is a verification phase in which the veracity of the insight or relationship is evaluated and confirmed. Depending upon the situation, cycles of relationship can occur within experiences of interconnectedness, fraternity, or complementarity; or in some cases relationships can progress from interconnectedness to fraternity to complementarity; or, they could progress as do these educational models, from a Portiuncula or little portion experience, to reverence, to relationship, and finally to sacramental ecology.

Complementarity

A second theme that undergirds the relational focus of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist is that of complement relationship. Complementarity and difference are essential for true relationship, and St. Francis and St. Clare are the prime Franciscan models for this level of relationship. A complement relationship highlights the differences between two persons, the response of love and respect they share for one another, and the common third to which both persons are dedicated. This serves to bond the complements so that their unique gifts motivate each them to go beyond what they could do alone. The synergy of a true complement relationship brings life to others. The call to relationship thus involves co-laboring, but also embracing diversity and otherness in order to grow and make complete the particular mission. The work of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist on the land is thus a co-laboring with the lay faithful of all ages, with other religious communities, and with seminarians and priests. 

Supplemental References

1. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ (2015). Additional paragraphs on relationship, broken relationship, and interconnectedness: §§6, 11, 16, 47, 67-69, 70-71, 81, 86-88, 92, 96, 98, 100, 106, 110-111, 116, 119, 125-126, 138, 140-155, 215, 218, 221, 231-232, 237-238.
2. St. Francis of Assisi, the Canticle of the Creatures
3. Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (2009)
4. Global Compact on Education, Instrumentum Laboris (2020)
5. St. Francis of Assisi, The Mirror of Perfection (The Sabatier Edition, 1928)
6. Graham Wallas, The Art of Thought (1926).
7. Film: “The Serengeti Rules,” from the PBS Nature Series, an excellent film on the ecological notion of keystone species.