Bless the Lord, all the works of the Lord ▪ Dan 3, 57.
Today is the day dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. Let’s look at him rightfully because this man is loved by Christians and non-Christians, believers and non-believers alike. S Many want to see their ideal of a reasonable person in him. At a time when there were various disputes, including religious ones, he was the creator of peace. Later, he was referred to as a romantic of migratory birds and a natural dreamer. The fact that we see Francis differently today is related to two factors that have continuously shaped the consciousness of the people of industrialized nations. It is the fear of technological progress’s unforeseeable consequences and our remorse about our well-being in the face of world hunger.
Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI. justifies this with the words: “What fascinates Francis is his determined rejection of the world of property and his illustrated love for creation, for birds, fish, fire, water, earth.” He appears as a patron of the environment, a protest leader against an ideology that only consists of production and growth, and an advocate of a simple life. There is something true in all these images of Francis; everywhere, there is talk of problems that tingle the nerves of human beings. But when we look at František, he becomes a proofreader of our attitudes in everything. He doesn’t just agree with us; it is much more demanding than we would like, and by its claim, it leads us to claim the truth itself. And so we cannot, for example, overcome the problem of dividing Christians by
Pope Benedict XVI, on this occasion, recalls the incident when Francis begged one of the fellows who was tending the garden never to plant the whole garden with vegetables but to leave part of the garden for flowers. He wanted the park to “bring our sisters flowers for the love of him whom we call the flower of the field and the lily of the valley” in every season of the year. He also wanted one extremely beautiful flowerbed planted continuously because people can be inspired and praise God whenever they look at the flowers.
Pope Emeritus adds: “Above all, in this story, do not feel any of the feeling of wrongdoing towards humans as alleged disturbers of the peace in nature, which is now heard in many defenses of heart. If a person deviates from the regular tracks and dislikes himself, not even his soul can prosper. On the contrary, he must be in harmony with himself; only then can he enter into communion with creation and it with him. And this can only be done if it agrees with the Creator, who wanted nature and us. Respect for man and respect for nature belong together, but ultimately, both can prosper only if we respect the Creator and his creation in man and nature. Only through him can everything be put together. We will certainly be unable to find the lost balance if we resist the effort to work towards it. And so we have every reason to.
