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The Extinction Crisis, Transubstantiation and Praying for a Miracle<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Thomas Moritz<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since about 20 years, I have been deeply concerned with the crisis of our civilization in its multiple aspects. Over time I have come to see this crisis as a\u00a0comprehensive web of interacting problems, encompassing all aspects of our life, all levels from the planetary level with the climate crisis and the ongoing biological mass extinction, to the growth addiction of a debt-laden financial system and growing social injustice, down to the erosion of the family, the tragedy of mass abortion, psychological health issues and the deconstruction of human nature itself (as put forward, for example, by the philosophical movement known as \u201ctranshumanism\u201d). And, not to forget, the crisis of the Church.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A \u201cculture of death\u201di<\/sup> devours life at every level through a system of destruction that Pope Francis calls the \u201ctechno-economic paradigm\u201d in his encyclical Laudato si\u2019<\/em>. Contributing to stopping this destruction was and is the top priority in my life, and for many years I spent a lot of time and energy for this end. I tried many different things, I did projects and got involved in activism. My effort mostly aimed at some kind of transformation and was focused on ideas such as permaculture, ecovillages and the transition town movement. A few months ago however, I stopped nearly all of this and put all my effort into prayer that takes me to the streets of my region three times a week. In this article, I present the ideas that brought me to this decision, and since then have flown out of the prayer.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I still find the kind of initiatives I participated in precious, as well as many other efforts, in order to overcome the dominant \u201cculture of death\u201d, to unfold\u00a0a \u201cculture of life\u201d and to build an ecological civilization, based on integral ecology. However, I no longer believe that transformation can avert a\u00a0catastrophe. I guess it is just too late (and probably altogether beyond mere human capabilities, regardless of the available time).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A highly telling example illustrating our predicament is this diagram from the 2018 UNEP \u201cEmissions Gap Report\u201d:ii<\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Plus 1.5\u00b0C of global warming \u2013 the steeper one of the two curves \u2013 means less suffering and destruction than 2 degrees. I don’t see legitimacy in opting for the \u201ceasier\u201d target of 2 degrees, because who are we to accept avoidable suffering? Plus 1.5\u00b0C also means much better chances to avoid critical tipping points towards self-enforcing feedback loops leading to a\u00a0\u201chothouse Earth\u201d (which would be the end of human civilization).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Alarmingly, the reduction path for the 1.5\u00b0C target looks dauntingly steep. And its 66% probability seems to be irresponsibly risky \u2013 riskier than Russian roulette. However, a higher probability of not exceeding the target would need even more radical reduction. How\u00a0could this be done?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The obvious solution is to degrow the economy of the richeriii<\/span><\/sup> parts of the world population, because a very large part of those economical activities is not about essential needs. The cessation of those activities would immediately end a big part of emissions, and thus be quite a decisive change.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> A miracle<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It would take something completely out of the view of this mindset \u2013 it would take a true miracle. We are accustomed to say \u201cit would be a miracle\u201d when we want to express that something just won\u2019t happen. But I do believe in miracles, so I take this constellation seriously, and ask, if it takes a miracle \u2013 what would this be, then?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> As matter is necessary for Holy Mass, transubstantiation follows the paths that fruits of the Earth and of human labour take to the altar, radiating outwards. Everything touched by it changes from being an object or commodity to being personal \u2013 substantially becoming the body of Christ himself. Our task is to let ourselves be touched by the sacrament, and let ourselves become what we eat. The task is to expose ourselves to the grace that flows through the Eucharist and nourishes the organism which is the Church as the mystical body of Christ, cleanses it of sin, and heals it. The task is to allow the sacramental order to do its full work of grace on us, without us obstructing but serving as virtuously as we can.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n With the words \u201cIte, missa est\u201d we are sent into the world to order the temporal issues towards the spiritual, towards God. We are sent to spread Eucharistic reality, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of peace and justice. People consequently living the faith, living the sacramental order, grow the capability to do just this. Might it be in the small and hidden ways of a single person with very few resources, might it be a few families helping each other, or huge networks of communities, creating a sacramental culture and fulfilling Catholic social teaching on a civilizational level.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n But obviously we are not touched by the Eucharist to a degree necessary to avert a catastrophe. Obviously, the Eucharist is de facto<\/em> not \u201cfont and summit of the life of the Church\u201dv<\/span><\/span><\/sup><\/span> in the sense of including the economic life of the whole mystical body of Christ \u2013 clergy, religious, laity. We see the medieval cathedrals as awe-inspiring witnesses of the transubstantiation of the world. Yet the world seems to have become resistant to being transubstantiated. But if consecration is not credible anymore, how is it possible to keep the Catholic faith?vi<\/span><\/span><\/sup><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n For me, herein lies a valuable hint, that the crisis of the Church and the ecological crisis are deeply interconnected \u2013 as well as the solution to both. From the age of cathedrals it took many centuries until we arrived at a situation where it has become very hard to perceive and really experience the Eucharistic reality, and generally: anything outside of the nearly perfect isolation and assimilation of technocratic capitalism. Nearly everything around (and within) us tells us, that transubstantiation, especially of the world, is a foolish idea.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I guess we often also don’t want to see and hear Eucharistic reality, sensing the radical change coming with this and so we block it, in order to keep functioning in our everyday life. We are contumacious. Through my prayer I have come to realize that most of the time I am in some state of obdurateness, and I sometimes feel a nearly impenetrable wall. I just pray the Rosary and go to Mass, but no realization – whether of Christ, or of the catastrophe and the suffering I know is going on. So, we don’t get in touch with Eucharistic reality, the real presence, and end up in spiritual starvation. The crisis of the Church and the extinction crisis come together.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The spirituality of the extinction crisis<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n However, the extinction crisis also profoundly changes the situation. Not only does it refute the utopian tales of the dominant techno-capitalist culture very obviously (albeit in the process dystopian tales try to menace us more and more into amenability). There is also a distinct spirituality in the spiritual and temporal horror that comes with this crisis. This horror can extinguish our faith and silence us. But it can also lead to very strong spiritual experience.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Maybe this is the main point of how we can participate in the miracle I pray for, together with living the sacraments and the teaching of the Church, together with cultivating virtue: We can muster our courage, or at least pray for courage to confront the crisis and seek the truth of it \u2013 not only as rational knowledge, but also on a deep emotional, bodily level. We can bring ourselves into situations, where we can deeply feel the crisis, compassionately connect with the suffering and also face our own existential fears: what will become of me, of the people dearest to me, what will become of all that is dear to me? We can expose ourselves to situations, that have the potential to make us really, really depressed, because \u201ca broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise\u201d.vii<\/span><\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> I\u00a0guess, it is wise to go into such situations praying.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Here I list a few ideas for exercises, the possibilities are virtually limitless. For sure, this is dangerous ground, but now everything is dangerous and you can always go from easy to hard:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0– On a hot summer day, walk through parking space deserts in shopping landscapes, walk along big streets with a lot of traffic. Sneak into food waste containers of supermarkets and try to imagine what had to happen in order to produce all this food, and to transport it to this place, only to be thrown away. Observe the steel, glass and concrete palaces of the financial sector, or some big black uber-SUVs, and try to feel what message they exude and what they really want to tell you.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0–\u00a0Read sobering scientific reports like the study \u201cTrajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene\u201d also known as \u201cHothouse Earth\u201d,viii<\/span><\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> the IPBES report about the looming threat of one million species going extinct,ix<\/span><\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> or the study \u201cDeep adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy\u201dx<\/span><\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> by Jem Bendell. Watch scientifically sound documentaries or lectures that let you \u201cabandon all hope\u201d \u2013 meaning the hope, the world can give. Have a rosary, a\u00a0cross, an icon, or a miraculous medal with you.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0–\u00a0Take part in ecological religious exercises, where you seek the truth of the situation and pray in community.
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=“4px|0px|17px|0px|false|false“ _builder_version=“3.21″][et_pb_column type=“2_5″ _builder_version=“3.21″][et_pb_text _builder_version=“3.21″]An impossible task<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=“3_5″ _builder_version=“3.21″][et_pb_image src=“https:\/\/www.zitlaudatosi.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/EGR2018_Grafik.png“ _builder_version=“3.21″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=“2px|0px|2px|0px|false|false“ _builder_version=“3.21″][et_pb_column type=“2_5″ _builder_version=“3.21″][et_pb_image src=“https:\/\/www.zitlaudatosi.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Oxfam-Emissions.png“ _builder_version=“3.21″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=“3_5″ _builder_version=“3.21″][et_pb_text _builder_version=“3.21″]But how could this reduction be accomplished in time, and without an uncontrolled and total collapse of civilization, as it runs counter the growth dependent financial system? So the task at hand is actually: radical change, globally, against societal inertia and vested interests, without too much chaos, and all of this within a very few years, practically instantaneously. I came to the sobering conclusion that this task \u2013 necessary to avert a catastrophe \u2013 is very probably beyond human capabilities as seen from a modern, secularized mindset.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=“3.21″][et_pb_column type=“4_4″ _builder_version=“3.21″][et_pb_text _builder_version=“3.21″]The miracle, as I see it, is transubstantiation<\/em>, the substantialiv<\/span><\/span><\/sup><\/span> change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ \u2013 and through this, the substantial change of civilization as a whole, a change of its very being. This miracle uses what is already there, so nothing new has to be made<\/em> \u2013 which would take time, while we have no time. This miracle is already in the world and takes place at every Holy Mass instantaneously, when \u2013 according to St. Thomas Aquinas \u2013 the priest speaks, in persona Christi<\/em>, the last syllable of the words HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n