Four years ago my friend and I decided to start keeping honey bees in my backyard. So that spring we welcomed 100,000 heads of “livestock” onto my small patch of land in a suburb of Milwaukee. 

In the evenings as I lay myself down to bed after I have completed some bee-keeping work, which usually involves slowly and carefully removing and examining small pieces of their hive-home looking for signs of health and checking the work of the queen and all her attendants, I have the sensation of buzzing bees flying by my ears. My head is overwhelmed by the bustling business of my “sister bees.” After a number of hours working among these ladies, you cannot “unhear” the buzzing. 

Pope Francis’ intention this month invites us first to hear. This suggests that we all this month have to stop our own minds and mouths from running on and on and listen. Like the honey bees, the gift of our created world buzzes with the creativity of our Lord. After time, our Lord becomes impossible to “unhear” in and through His creation. This month our effort is to tune into the sounds of creation and in so doing to find our Lord hard at work.

Like any skill, we can improve our listening skills to hear the hints our Lord is leaving us. As it is with our ears, so it is with our souls. Our Lord asks Elijah the prophet to listen and only reveals Himself in a “tiny whispering sound.” Saint Paul goes as far to say that “all creation is groaning in labor pains”. What is creation groaning about? Saint Paul has an answer for us. Creation is waiting for “the revelation of the children of God.” 

The “children of God”? That’s us! This month pray firstly then, as the Holy Father’s petition suggests, to hear and then discern something to eagerly undertake. Find a local hiking trail, make a small change to reduce the waste you produce, or support a local program that educates the youth on the environment and their place in it.

What is it that the Lord is asking you to take to heart regarding this gift of the created world? Consider the tireless work of the honey bee, then take up your own noble work to care for creation.

Ryan Grusenski is a Board Member of the Catholic Ecology Center catholicecologycenter.org and Teacher at Chesterton Academy chestertonacademymke.org