Did you know that daffodils are the flower symbol for a 10thanniversary? The meaning is derived from the fact that they are among the first signs of spring after a cold winter. A 10-year anniversary is like reaching that moment of renewal. A decade is long enough to have endured some of life’s challenges and the bright daffodils are a welcome a sign of new life.
This year we celebrate ten years of Pope Francis’ historic encyclical Laudato Si’: On the Care of Our Common Home. It has been called the ‘green’ encyclical, but it is much more than that. I often refer to it as a love letter to the world. I highly recommend reading it! More than a series of environmental policies, Pope Francis lays before us a vision for life on the planet that excludes no living being.
Laudato Si’ (LS) follows the classic See-Judge-Act model of theologically grounded social analysis. Like an orchestra crescendo, the chapter on Education and Spirituality moves the reader into an entirely different dimension of what it means to be human on the planet. My favorite passage in LS is, The human person grows more, matures more and is sanctified more to the extent that he or she enters into relationships, going out from themselves to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures. In this way, they make their own that trinitarian dynamism which God imprinted in them when they were created. Everything is interconnected, and this invites us to develop a spirituality of that global solidarity which flows from the mystery of the Trinity. (LS Par. 240).
What inspires me about this passage is that Pope Francis puts relationships at the heart of the matter; relationships with each other, with all of creation, and with the Creator. It echoes the quote from St. Columban 1400 years ago that “To know the Creator we must know creation.” The beauty of this vision is that it expands our understanding of St. Paul’s image of One Body in Christ.
When we situate ourselves within the full web of life to include all species ecosystems and biomes our experience of love, given and received, only expands and multiples. Love is the web, and every intersection of the web’s filament is the manifold relationships on which we depend and thrive. Life is interconnection and interdependence.
Laudato Si’ Week will be full of activities to come together as a community locally and globally. A great place to check out what is happening in your area and around the world is the Laudato Si’ Week website: https://laudatosiweek.org/.
Remember, anniversaries are for looking forward as much as they are to celebrating the years gone by. LS Week is a perfect time to imagine the world you want to live in ten years from now and start living that dream today!
Amy Echeverria is the Columban International Coordinator for Justice, Peace and Ecology
