Caring for our common home
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
On October 4, we observed the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, a man whose love for all God’s creation has inspired millions of people from many different religions, cultures and walks of life for nearly 800 years. Francis is the namesake of our current pope because of the saint’s humility and love for the poor. He also inspired Pope Francis’s 2015 Encyclical Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home).
“Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs” (“Laudato Si’,” #1). In the words of this beautiful canticle, St. Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.
Laudato Si’ is not a political, economic or scientific treatise. It is an encyclical, a “profound letter” addressed by the pope to Church leaders, the faithful, and all women and men of good will on a matter of great importance to the Church and the world. In this case, the letter addressed by Pope Francis to the world community is about our responsibility to nurture and protect all that God has made.
This encyclical is deeply rooted in a hymn of praise whose final verse concerning Sister Death was composed by St. Francis of Assisi on his deathbed in 1226. We call this magnificent Franciscan hymn The Canticle of the Sun, and unless we appreciate its significance as an expression of authentic Christian ecology, we cannot grasp the full importance of the Holy Father’s teaching in “Laudato Si’.”
Pope Francis tells us, “I do not want to write this encyclical without turning to that attractive and compelling figure, whose name I took as my guide and inspiration when I was elected Bishop of Rome. I believe that St. Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. He is the patron saint of all who study and work in the area of ecology, and he is also much loved by non-Christians.
Continue reading Cardinal Joseph Tobin’s latest newsletter.
