Pope Francis designated May 24, 2020 through May 24, 2021 as Laudato Sí Year to commemorate the fifth anniversary of his landmark encyclical on the care for our common home. The following is an excerpt from Laudato Sí and a reflection provided by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia.
Pope Francis’s Laudato Sí #139: When we speak of the “environment,” what we really mean is a relationship existing between nature and the society which lives in it. Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it.
Reflection: We are a part of nature not apart from nature. Each of us is Earth in the form of a human. Sit with that.
“Taking care of the environment means having an attitude of human ecology.
That is, we cannot say that mankind is here and Creation, the environment is there. There is a relationship which is
reciprocally influential,
both the environment on the person,
and the person in a way
which affects the environment;
and the effect bounces back to man
when the environment is mistreated.”
—Pope Francis