St. Kateri, Pray for the National Parks and Against Our Abuse of God’s Creation

I’m something of a National Park fanatic. On my cubicle wall at Ave Maria Press, I have a huge map of the National Parks. Every time I visit one, I mark the spot with a push pin into my cubicle wall. Even more embarrassing, I have a National Park Passport that I get stamped very time I visit one of the parks.

I’ve been really stressed out lately with the million different moving parts of my life. When I discovered I had the entire fourth of July weekend to myself, I decided to go on a solo adventure to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I figured a few days in nature wouldn’t hurt. I wanted to visit Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, an amazing part of the coast of Lake Superior.

For two days I wandered through the woods, stumbled over rock beaches, gaped in awe of the painted lakeshore cliffs and investigated exposed ship wrecks. I barely ran into another person. Within a couple of hours, my soul started to restore and repair.

Every time I go to a National Park, shore, or forest, I see God at work through the wonders of creation. So it’s an absolute mystery to me why anyone would want to develop or clear this land, as the new “Land Transfer Movement” is advocating. The movement is funded in part by the infamous Koch brothers, who have also contributed money to a war against Pope Francis.

Essentially, this group of people is using a campaign of misinformation to make the government give back millions of acres of national land to state and local governments. On the surface, they are telling people they want to “give the land back to everyone.” But they only want to do this so they can use it.

The reality is, they want to exploit the resources for their own financial gain. They claim to be providing “jobs” that will supposedly be helping people. But many of these companies have no regard for their employees (see coal mining companies) or the people who live in the general area they want to exploit.

Many of these people claim Christ as their Lord and the Bible as their book but in reality, they worship money and personal autonomy first. The truth is, they are practical gnostics, not Christians. Deep down, they view people and God’s creation as things to exploit, ravage and destroy as long as it serves their god, Mammon. The Catholic worldview is vastly different and inherently more challenging.

Pope Francis sums it up in Laudato Si when he writes:

“Human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbor and with the earth itself. According to the Bible, these vital relationships have been broken, both outwardly and within us. This rupture is sin. The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations.”

Here’s what’s going on when we exploit creation and seek to destroy nature for our own ends: sin. There’s no getting around it. Anyone seeking to destroy natural land for overdevelopment and exploitation is a sinner, just like anyone who is committing adultery, stealing or lying. Of course, as usual, I include myself in this condemnation.

We are the stewards of creation and we are called to cultivate, not exploit the created world. This requires a measured, careful and prayerful approach. We are merely stewards, made in God’s image but not God. We can’t just do whatever the hell we want with this place. We’re supposed to fight for creation and restore it.

To that end, I encourage everyone to support our national parks and fight against those who would develop our natural places. While there is no patron saint of the National Parks, I’d nominate St. Kateri, whose feast day is today, July 14.

Canonized in 2014, St. Kateri was the first Native American saint. She converted to Catholicism around the age of seventeen. Pope Benedict designated her as the patron saint of the environment, Native Americans and ecology. She seems like the perfect intercessor for the National Parks.

So I close with this prayer:

St. Kateri, elder sister in the faith, watch over America’s National Parks with your prayers and intercessions. Restrain the hands of the Evil One who seeks to destroy what is good. Teach us to encounter the incarnate Lord in creation and to see the earth as a gift held in trust, to be treasured and protected, not sold off for short-term gains. We join with you and all creatures and living things in thanks and praise to the Holy Trinity who calls this creation good. We groan together for the return of the One who will restore its original beauty. Pray that until then, we might grow in wisdom and understanding. Amen.