Saint Francis of Assisi Ministry

Paul

  • Measuring progress

    Laudato Si was released in May 2015. Since that time, progress on reducing our global climate footprint and our trajectory towards an irreversible climate catastrophe has been mixed at best.  Shortly after Laudato Si’s release, the Paris Agreement committed most… Continue reading

  • Not Just an Encyclical for the Environment

    Papal encyclicals take their name from the latin encyclius, or circle. Originally, the name came from the fact that an encyclical was a letter that circulated from the Holy Father to bishops, and then to priests, and finally to all… Continue reading

  • The Pressure to Consume

    In Laudato Si, Pope Francis speaks of rampant consumerism: Since the market tends to promote extreme consumerism in an effort to sell its products, people can easily get caught up in a whirlwind of needless buying and spending.  Do you… Continue reading

  • An Ecological Conversion is Needed

    In Chapter Six of Laudato Si, Pope Francis speaks powerfully about the need for an “ecological conversion”.  “The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast”. For this reason, the ecological crisis is… Continue reading

  • Make Change Stick with a System

    Last week, I mentioned how Pope Francis was calling to us action on climate change. I also wrote how to go about making public commitments. Now it’s time to convert those commitments into sustained action. But how? Perhaps, it’s time… Continue reading

  • Commit to Change!

    In Chapter Six of Laudato Si, Pope Francis writes: We are always capable of going out of ourselves towards the other. Unless we do this, other creatures will not be recognized for their true worth; we are unconcerned about caring… Continue reading

  • The Ten Green Commandments of Laudato Si

    At our July 8th meeting at St John the Evangelist, we watched a wonderfully informative webinar The Ten Green Commandments of Laudato Si. At this link you can view the 90-minute webinar (hint: click on the Watch on Vimeo link… Continue reading

  • The Beauty of Nature

    In the Introduction of Laudato Si, Pope Francis points to the beauty of nature: Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of… Continue reading

  • Recycle

    In Chapter One of Laudato Si, Pope Francis states: We have not yet managed to adopt a circular model of production capable of preserving resources for present and future generations, while limiting as much as possible the use of non-renewable… Continue reading

  • Reconsider

    In the Introduction of Laudato Si, Pope Francis makes it clear that he was not the first pope to call attention to environmental destruction: Saint John Paul II became increasingly concerned about this issue. In his first Encyclical he warned… Continue reading