There is a
beloved legend in the Little Flowers of St. Francis in which Francis preaches
to the birds. According to the story, Francis was passing along the road headed
home to Assisi when he saw amidst some trees by the wayside a great multitude
of birds. Being much surprised, he said to his companions, “Wait for me here
while I go and preach to my little sisters the birds.” Upon entering the
field, he began to preach to the birds which were on the ground, and suddenly
all those also on the trees came round him, and all listened while St Francis
preached to them, and did not fly away until he had given them his blessing.
In his sermon he told them:
“My little sisters the birds, you owe much to God, your Creator, and ought to sing his praise at all times and in all places, because he has given you liberty to fly about into all places; and though you neither spin nor sew, he has given you beautiful clothing for yourselves and for your offspring. He has given you fountains and rivers to quench your thirst, mountains and valleys in which to take refuge, and trees in which to build your nests. Clearly your Creator loves you very much, having thus favoured you with such bounties. Beware, my little sisters, of taking all this for granted, the sin of ingratitude. And always raise your voices to give praise to God.”
According to the legend, the birds responded by beginning to sing joyfully. Having finished his sermon, St Francis made the sign of the cross and gave them leave to fly away. Then all the birds rose up into the air, in the form of the cross which St Francis had just made, singing most sweetly.
The Little Ones Whose Wisdom
We Overlook
Francis took
seriously the Gospels which told the story of Jesus. In Matthew’s Gospel today
Jesus thanks G-d for the untutored, the infants, the little ones, who carry a
wisdom of their own worth hearing, lessons that have escaped the attention of
the intelligent and the learned.
This morning we are surrounded by little ones whom G-d has created. Like the birds, they are creatures whom G_d
loves very much. But perhaps more importantly, they remind us that G_d loves us
very much in giving these creatures to us. Their companionship, their love and
devotion, are living evidence of a G-d who loves us. And in the moments when
they try our patience, when they break our hearts as they age and die long
before we are ready to let go of them, they remind us of how G_d sees us,
imperfect creatures bearing the divine image infinitely loved. They are our
teachers.
In the story, Francis preached to the birds and they responded by singing and flying off in the form of the cross. Clearly they had something to say to him and he was willing to hear it. As I thought about that story and the Gospel lesson today, I wonder if perhaps these little ones, these creatures we often see as dumb animals, might often have more to say to us than we think possible. Indeed, perhaps they have things to tell us we badly need to hear.
Remember that we human beings are animals ourselves. Many of us who are owned by non-human animals have learned to read the signals our fur, fin, feathered and scaley companions communicate to us. We don’t generally need to be told when they are hungry or need to go out and if we are not paying attention, they have ways of letting us know we need to live into our part of the bargain of our lives together.
But maybe the animal kingdom is sending us broader, deeper and more urgent signals than the immediate ones we get from our individual companions. Perhaps the patterns they are forming, patterns we are seeing across the good creation, are wake up calls we need to take seriously.
UNC Study: Our Pollinators
are Vanishing
This past week a 20 year longitudinal study from the University of North Carolina reported that the prevalence of flying insects at a site in Colorado 11,500 feet above sea level had declined nearly 73% over the last 20 years. Now check your initial response: who cares about bugs? Most of us tend to think of flying insects as pests to be exterminated. But bear in mind that it is flying insects that along with birds who serve as nature’s pollinators, insuring that pollen moves from plant to plant thus producing fruits, vegetables and nuts. One out of every three bites of food we human animals eat are the result of the work of our pollinators, an unrecognized but essential part of the natural mechanisms a providential Creator has put into place.
The most disturbing aspect of the report was noting that at this subalpine level, the effects of chemicals and genetic manipulation that impacts agricultural products at lower elevations played no role in that decline. They aren’t dying because of pesticides or fertilizers. Our flying insects are disappearing because of warming temperatures caused by climate change. And these impacts even at such a high altitude removed from daily contact with human beings tell us there is no place on our planet untouched by anthropogenic – human caused – climate change.
Like Francis, Jesus often refenced the good Creation in his teachings. He spoke of a G-d who is providential, who supplies all that living beings need on this planet. He taught us to pray “Give us this day our daily bread” with an expectation we will be fed. And, like Francis, he taught us to be grateful for the same and to share our bread with others. Indeed, in this eucharist in which we are about to remember Jesus, we recall that after he took the bread, he first gave thanks to G_d before breaking it, only then giving it to his disciples.
But while our planet has always had the capacity to meet human need, it has never had the ability to satisfy unrestrained human greed. The Global Footprint Network reports that if every human being consumed goods ranging from our clothing to our cars to our dinner tables at the rate that Americans do each day, it would require at least four Earths to supply those demands.
There is a word for such a pattern. It is called unsustainable. And there is a word for continued consumption in the face of an awareness of the damage that unsustainable pattern causes this fragile earth, our island home. It is called the sin of anthropocentrism.
The Appropriate Response is Gratitude
If Jesus and
Francis are right, and I think that they are, the appropriate response to the
generosity of our Creator is to demonstrate gratitude. One of the ways we can
demonstrate such gratitude is by living in a way that is not destructive of the
Creation we share with all other living beings. That requires examining our
consumption patterns individually and questioning ways of living which promote
destructive patterns of consumption.
This day, I join you in giving thanks for the animals that grace my life, from the dogs, cats and fish who live within my home as well as the birds, squirrels and possums who live in my Jungle. I am even begrudgingly grateful for the raccoons that periodically come and eat the goldfish in my backyard pond and the urban coyotes roaming our streets at night placing our feral cats in danger. And I give thanks for the human animals who make my life complete, who allow me to become fully human in my daily life. As Francis said, clearly our Creator must love us very much.
May we all demonstrate our gratitude in behaviors that are responsible to the larger Creation of which we are a part but only a part. May we learn to live in ways that are sustainable. And may we listen to the little ones, the unlearned, the ones we discount so readily, for the badly needed wisdom they are urgently offering us.
I close with a Prayer for Our Environment from Pope Francis’ encyclical on the Creation, Laudato Si’. Let us pray:
Creator God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your
creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists. Pour out upon us the power of
your love, that we may protect life and beauty. Fill us with peace, that we may
live as brothers and sisters with all living beings, harming no one. Teach us
to discover the worth of each living being, to be filled with awe and
contemplation, and to recognize that we are profoundly united with every
creature as we journey towards your infinite light. AMEN.
Sermon for the Feast of St. Francis/Blessing of the Animals, St. Richard’s Episcopal Church, Winter Park, FL, October 5, 2025
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Harry
Scott Coverston
Orlando,
Florida
If
the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be
it religious or political, is not worth holding. Most things worth considering
do not come in sound bites.
Those who
believe religion and politics aren't connected don't understand either. – Mahatma
Gandhi
For what
does G-d require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your G-d? - Micah 6:8, Hebrew Scriptures
Do not be
daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now.
Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are
you free to abandon it. - Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Wisdom of the Jewish
Sages (1993)
© Harry Coverston, 2025
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