Be like St Francis of Assisi

The feast of St. Francis of Assisi is celebrated each year on the 4th of October. It marks the end of the Season of Creation and invites us to celebrate the patron saint of ecology. St Francis was a mystic who, ‘faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness’ (Laudato Si’, 12).

Aware of just how deeply interconnected everything is, St. Francis had a deep grasp of what we today call integral ecology. Just as Jesus spent much time in nature, contemplating the sparrows (Luke 12:6) and the tiniest of seeds (Luke 17:5), so St. Francis also lived in complete harmony with creation. He showed us that care for creation is inseparable from concern for one another, justice for the poor and our own interior peace. Seeing that everything is connected, and living out this vision joyfully and with an open heart, St. Francis was – and is – deeply loved. He takes us to the heart of what it is to be human, and invites us to a profound interior conversion: ‘Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever Francis would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise’ (Laudato Si’, 11).

We are called into this awareness so that we repair our broken relationship with the natural world and with each other. We are called to turn away from destruction and, feeling intimately connected to all that exists, to care more deeply for our common home.

Tríona Doherty and Jane Mellett, The Sacred Heart Messenger, October 2021