Today marks a year since I arrived in Thame, and out of all five

parishes I have been in as a priest, it is probably the most rural. Some of the

things I first noticed when I arrived were: there seemed to be so many more

flies and spiders around, and especially being tall, I was walking into spiders’

webs quite a few times a day. There were also a few spiders that had made

their way into various rooms in the presbytery, whilst in my last parish they

tended to confine themselves to the cellar. I also noticed how the street lighting

seemed to be dimmer and the lamp-posts seemed to be more widely spaced, but

it meant that, on a clear night, you can see so many of the stars. Furthermore,

in the garden there seemed to be a much greater variety of wild plants, or

weeds, call them what you will, although Buddleia seems to get everywhere.

On Friday 4th October we celebrate the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, which

draws the Season of Creation to a close, which began on 1st September. Back

in 2015, Pope Francis wrote a very detailed encyclical letter called Laudato Si’,

in which he pulls together so many different themes, because sometimes our

focus in environmental matters can be a bit too narrow and our solutions one-sided. My task now is to try and join some of what he says in Laudato Si’ with today’s readings.

The first part of the Gospel was about John saying to Jesus they had stopped a

man casting out devils in His name “he was not one of us”, and Our Lord tells

him: “Anyone who is not against us is for us”. One of the themes, not only of

Laudato Si’ but also Pope Francis’ pontificate is of the whole human race

working together, listening to each other, showing respect for one another and

being reconciled. He makes the point, though, that society has gone wrong

because it has thrown away both its ethical underpinnings and the idea that

moral laws are universal and apply to everyone. Instead, people want to do

their own thing, and when there is a law, whether God’s law or a country passes

a law, people resent it and want to break it. Those with power and wealth want

to be in control, and those without power or wealth must just follow along and

put up with the consequences.

In the second reading, though, St James says that we can’t go on oppressing

others and thinking we can get away with it. God will call us to account. I

have a nephew who will be three in November, and it is interesting to see how

his language is developing. Among his first words and concepts, I noticed he

had picked up “it’s mine”. We are not communists, so we do believe in the

ownership of private property. But it does have its limits. Lest people accuse

Pope Francis of steering the Church towards the left, he points out in Laudato

Si’that it was Pope St John Paul II who said that our ownership is not absolute:

the gifts we have been given have been distributed unevenly, and it’s part of our

responsibility to use our blessings to help others and make the world a better

place. This idea, by the way, is in no way a new concept; in fact St John

Chrysostom, who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries, said things in a

stronger manner:

“Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive

them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” (Hom. In Lazarum

2, 5: PG 48, 992, quoted in CCC 2446)

St Rose of Lima pointed out, “When we serve the poor and the sick, we serve

Jesus. We must not fail to help our neighbours, because in them we serve

Jesus.” (quoted in CCC 2449)

In Laudato Si’ Pope Francis extends this to the environment. So often it seems

to be in politics that economics come first and things have to make economic

sense and so on, but no, it is people that come first, and part of that involves

taking care of the planet on which people live. We can’t always do what is

cheapest, and anyway, it may cost us more in the long term. There is the

saying: buy cheap, buy twice, and with environmental matters if we nod our

heads but don’t get down to serious action, the environmental costs can lead to

much bigger economic costs. To do little now is a false economy.

My copy of Laudato Si’ is 180 pages long and there’s so much in there I can’t

cover it all today, so I recommend you to read it, and if you’ve already read it,

to re-read it. It is a call to conversion, to strengthen our bonds with humanity,

the environment, and with almighty God. We all have work to do – it’s not just

the work of governments.

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk