The Animals were with Him

First Sunday of Lent—February 21st, 2021

Mark 2:13

Since, I’ve been a priest, every year we’ve had a Lenten program that dealt with one or another of the environmental issues facing us, such as the soil, water, air and so on.  Today’s first reading called me to a deeper reflection about animals. 

In today’s first reading, God makes, and promises to remember, the covenant being made between the Creator-of-All and every living creature—between God and the Earth.  Mark’s account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is shorter than the accounts given by Matthew and Luke.  Yet, Mark tells us something the other two accounts don’t, that is, Jesus was among wild beasts.  Why did the Evangelist think this was worth noting in his account of the gospel?  We can meditate on that. 

 

The first reading suggests that, in God’s eyes, the destiny of humans and the destiny every living creature are intertwined.  If we look earlier in the book of Genesis, we see that all of creation was affected by the actions of humans.  Adam and Eve were not expelled from the Garden of Eden alone, the animals were also ejected. Likewise, in the Noah’s Ark story, representative of every living creature as well as representatives of humanity (Noah and his family) were taken aboard the Ark.  And, so at the end of the Ark’s journey, God promises to never again destroy the inhabitants of Earth by flood.  Was the request for us not to destroy the Earth implicit in God’s covenantal promise?

 

Like with the expulsion from Eden, we again find ourselves in the situation where the actions of humans are having a negative effect on the other inhabitants of God’s Earth.  If God was asking us not to destroy our planet and its inhabitants, most of us don’t seem to have answered, “yes’.  Inaction makes us complicit.  It shows our, at best, tepid love for our home. 

 

Not all of us can go do great actions in defense of Earth.  None of us can fix all the wrongs inflicted upon people and the planet caused by the greed of a few—but we can all do something.  If enough of us do something, things will change.  The Lenten Season gives us the soothing remedy of prayer, almsgiving and fasting. By devoting more time to prayer, we enable our hearts to root out our secret lies and forms of self-deception, and then to find the consolation God offers.  Almsgiving sets us free from greed and helps us to regard our neighbour as family.  What I possess is never mine alone.  Fasting weakens our tendency to violence; it disarms us and becomes an important opportunity for growth. .[1]

 

We might ask, how can prayer, almsgiving and fasting help the environment or our non-human relatives.  Fr. Ken, the former pastor of the Downtown Eastside Parishes, used to say, “Prayer should not be our last resort, it should be our first resort.”  So, when we feel that we can’t do anything about the environment, we can offer our prayers. 

We can also pray for the awakening of those who exploit the Earth and her inhabitants—human and non-human.  St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for Yourself O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”[2].  I believe greed and addiction to acquisition are the tainted fruits of an un-awakened longing for God.

 

When it comes to almsgiving, we can support Indigenous groups who are trying to protect the land and waters from environmental degradation.    We can support animal rights groups and/or avoid buying meats, poultry, eggs and dairy items that are the product of factory farming or genetic modification.  If we have to decrease the amount of one or more of these items in our diet because it costs us more, this can be linked to fasting and abstinence from meat.  Some of us are excused from fasting for health reasons or because of age.  For those of us who are not vegan or vegetarian but excused from fasting, we can refrain from buying factory farmed products as well as reduce our consumption of animal products.    

These suggestions are just to give you an idea of things that can be done.  Be creative.  In the first reading, God said, “I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”  This Lent, let us not be another source of destruction of the Earth and begin to be the co-keepers and attendants of God’s covenant.

 

Please share your thoughts.


[1] Pope Francis. Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for Lent 2018. Vatican City. November 1, 2017

[2] Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

 

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