Pope Francis designated May 24, 2020 through May 24, 2021 as Laudato Si’ Year to commemorate the fifth anniversary of his landmark encyclical on the care for our common home. The following is an excerpt from Laudato Si’ and a reflection provided by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia.
Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ #225: Inner peace is closely related to care for ecology and for the common good because, lived out authentically, it is reflected in a balanced lifestyle together with a capacity for wonder which takes us to a deeper understanding of life. Nature is filled with words of love, but how can we listen to them amid constant noise, interminable and nerve-wracking distractions, or the cult of appearances? Many people today sense a profound imbalance which drives them to frenetic activity and makes them feel busy, in a constant hurry which in turn leads them to ride rough-shod over everything around them. This too affects how they treat the environment.
Reflection: Noise, distractions, frenetic activity and constant hurry are impediments to inner peace. What can you do to slow down and create quiet spaces in your busy life?
“It is good to inspire an art of living together
in simplicity, benevolence, fraternity,
as well as to educate in the culture of
respect and encounter,
the only one capable to building a future
that rises up to the ideal of man.”
—Pope Francis