The magnificent beauty of God’s creation

by Joseph Nangle, OFM
Pax Christi USA 2023 Teacher of Peace

One of the most popular religious songs written by Bernadette Farrell is titled “God Beyond All Names.” Two lines from this hymn speak to us as we move through these early days of the Season of Creation: “All around us we have found you” and “All creation tells your story.”

Together with the famous quote from Dostoevsky, so special to Dorothy Day, “the world will be saved by beauty,” these two lines inspire a necessary first reflection for this season of concern, prayer and action on behalf of our beautiful but threatened common home, Mother Earth. Instead of delving immediately into the frightening and sometimes overwhelming threats to our environment, it is better for us, as believers in a forgiving and all-powerful God, to focus on the gift we have in this all-embracing expression of Divine Love.

“All around us we have found” abundant evidence of the Unnamable and Incomprehensible One who out of sheer love has given us a home in this “living garden” of trees, flowers, shrubs and green grass, clouds, myriad species of fish and birds – the list is endless. We have water, air and fertile soil. We are indeed surrounded by beauty. And this home is perfectly endowed with all that humanity needs for survival, happiness and long life. It is all utterly magnificent – and we haven’t yet considered here the cosmos!

What is more, the human person is at the center of it all – not above or outside – but a part of it. “God said ‘let us make humans in our own image, after our likeness.’” (Genesis 1:26) And the psalmist responds: “I praise you, so wonderfully you have made me.” (Psalm 139) We have been called “God’s supreme creation,” possessing intellect and free will, capable and called to be witnesses and celebrators of the rest of creation.

In light of this, the only appropriate and utterly necessary attitude for us is a deep humility. As St. Francis of Assisi prayed: “Whom am I, O God, and Who are you?” Humility, but also recognizing our sublime vocation to proclaim in prayer, “I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” (Ephesians 3:14).

The Canticle of Creation written by the saint of Assisi illustrates all of this. “Praise be to You my Lord with all Your creatures. Praise be to you my Lord for sister water – she is useful and humble, precious and pure. Praise be to you, my Lord for Brother Fire – through him you enlighten the night, and he is fair and merry, and vital and strong. Praise be to you, my lord for our sister Mother Earth, who nourishes and sustains us all, and brings forth diverse fruits with many-colored flowers and herbs…”

What immediately impresses one here is that Francis situates himself and all human beings in familial relationship with all Creation. Pope Francis points this out at the beginning of his encyclical “On Care For Our Common Home”: “Laudato si” (“Praise be to you my Lord.”) He reminds us that our “Common Home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.”

This insight of an uneducated person in the 13th century is remarkable. Some of us are only now coming to understand the intimate relationship which humanity has with all God’s creatures. Equally impressive is the fact that St. Francis was dying an extremely painful death when he dictated this joy filled poem to a brother Franciscan. 

In conclusion we can do no better than to cite Pope Francis’s words about “this other Francis.” They are a call and a warning: St. Francis’s conviction “cannot be written off as naïve romanticism, for it affects the choices that determine our behavior.” (Laudato si, 11)

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Joe Nangle OFM is a Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace and the 2023 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. As a member of the Assisi Community in Washington, D.C., he is dedicated to simple living and social change. Joe also serves as the Pastoral Associate for the Latino community at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington, Virginia.