By Susan Chase, SCL
Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote his poem, God’s Grandeur, at a time when the harmful effects of the Industrial Revolution had become all too apparent. Then, as now, “the world charged with the glory of God,” the presence of God, may be difficult to see. As Hopkins continues:
“And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.”
Pope Leo XIII responded to the cries of poor workers with the first of the Church’s social encyclicals: “Rerum Novarum” (1891), promoting the rights and responsibilities of Capital and Labor. Our new pope made his concern for the well-being of our planet and for those who continue to suffer injustice by his choice of the name Leo and by speaking Gospel truth to the powerful.
Now, on the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’, Pope Leo has set in motion a plan to make the 135-acre Village of Laudato Si within the grounds of Castle Gandolfo a place of education, sustainability, and community life where people can come to stay and put the principles of Laudato Si into practice. The Vatican website describes this initiative: “This is not simply a place to visit but a place to live, to pray, to learn, and to grow in communion with God, with one another, and with creation.”
Change brings both presence and possibility, for as Hopkins ends God’s Grandeur, we are reminded:
“nature is never spent”…Because the Holy Ghost over the bent world broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.”
