October EarthCare Update

Anniversaries are an invitation to pause, to look back in gratitude and in wonder, to move forward in hope and trust. This year, 2026, marks a significant anniversary: 800 years since the death of St. Francis of Assisi, who died on October 3, 1226. Both the life of Francis and his homecoming into full communion with the Creator are connected in the theme marking these 800 years: “San Francesco Vie,” “St. Francis Lives On.”

How might St. Francis continue to live on in us today?

Our EarthCARE Committee offers a beginning list of possibilities and practices:

• Revisit Laudato Si’. Pope Francis’ encyclical calls every person on our planet into a fresh dialogue about how we are shaping the future of this precious, fragile Earth, our Common Home.
• Pair this with a re-reading of Praise be to You. These six weeks of reflections by our own IHM Sisters and Associates (© 2015) break open Laudato Si’ in a thoughtful pairing of contemplative living and actions for justice.
• Pray St. Francis’ poetry aloud. See Love Poems from God, Twelve Sacred Voices from the East, translated by Daniel Ladinsky, for an excellent sampling. Francis would call all creatures, no matter how small, by the name of “brother” or “sister.” He asked that part of the friary garden always be left untouched, so that wild flowers and herbs could grow there, and those who saw them could raise their minds to God, the Creator of such beauty. Laudato Si’ (This is also part of the EarthCARE vision for the IHM Land Plan!)
• Pray, sing, or reflect on St. Francis’ Canticle of Creatures or take it further and write your own version.
  “Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever Francis would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise.” Laudato Si’
• Pay attention to the EarthCARE Update in our monthly IHM Newsletter. (EarthCARE = Consciousness-Action-Reverence for Earth). You’re reading it right now!
• Integrate the recommendations of The Word-The World-The Wisdom (weekly reflection) into your daily living.
• Become a mystical presence in our world. Spend time in stillness, gazing in communion with creation, the natural world (Sometimes this is referred to as Bio Divina or Terra Divina). St. Francis invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of the Holy One’s infinite beauty and goodness. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is among concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace. Laudato Si’