Francis of Assisi & Pope Francis' Laudato Si

This short reflection was submitted on September 11, 2020 for my Christian Spirituality course.

Both Francis of Assisi’s "Canticle of Brother Sun" and Pope Francis’ Laudato Si place an emphasis on the intimate relationship between humans and the earth. The Canticle of Brother Sun, as a series of praises to God, exhibits the closeness humans have with the rest of creation. Francis of Assisi refers to different parts of creation as “brother” or “sister”, indicating that the earth and humans all root from one Creator. The words of the Canticle praises God for all the ways His creation has blessed humans with their function and wonders. Laudato Si further emphasizes the equal and mutual nature of human’s relationship with the rest of creation, and how we have taken the earth for granted through our exploitations and sin. According to Pope Francis, humans have “come to see ourselves as [the earth’s] lords and masters” (2, p. 3), but the reality is “we have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth” (2, p. 3). The relationship between human and earth must be of mutual responsibility where we reap the gifts brought by the earth, but also care and tend to it, as all of creation has value and dignity in the eyes of God.

This insistence on respect for the earth is more relevant now than ever; it is painfully obvious that our actions is causing the earth to suffer. Humanity has grown to be greedy in their perpetual hunger for more, materialistic in their appetite, and short-sighted in their unsustainable consumerism, and these sins are at the expense of the earth’s wellness. Many fail to recognize the onus we have to care for the earth— a responsibility given to us by God at our creation— and now we are seeing the repercussions through problems such as climate change.