All Praise be You, My Lord…

Father Solanus Guild Reflection by Br. Gary Wegner, OFM Cap. – April 8, 2025

One of the ministries of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen is Earthworks Urban Farm. It is one of the oldest urban farms in the city of Detroit. Most of the food we grow — 3 tons last year! — goes to our two soup kitchens. Some goes to other food ministries, some to our volunteers, and some to our weekly summertime market, Meldrum Fresh. Our surrounding neighborhood in Detroit could be considered a food desert. There are few places to get healthy foods. Meldrum Fresh is an opportunity for our neighbors to find fresh organic produce.

Throughout 2025, we Franciscans are celebrating the 800^th Anniversary of the composition of the Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis of Assisi. One of the first poems ever written in the Italian language, it is a beloved expression of the deep connection St. Francis experienced in his relationships with the natural world. Echoing Psalm 148, the Canticle of the Creatures is a more intimate expression of love for the Creator and His creation. Beginning with “All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made”, St. Francis goes on to praise God through Brother Sun, Sister Water, Sisters Moon and Stars, and Brothers Wind, Air, and Fire.

Our Earthworks Urban Farm provides the opportunity to celebrate the bounty of Sister Mother Earth. As St. Francis sang in his Canticle:

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains us and governs us and who produces
varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

By giving our urban and suburban volunteers the opportunity to tend the land that grows our crops, Earthworks Urban Farm lets them become, at least for a moment, farmers with a connection to the earth. My grandparents on my mother’s side were farmers. Farmers have a strong bond with the land. Unfortunately, this relationship is being further eroded. As a pastor in rural Wisconsin, I witnessed firsthand the decline of the family farm and its replacement with industrial farms. It becomes more difficult to praise the Lord through Sister Mother Earth if she becomes a stranger. St. Francis, walked the hills, valleys, and fields of Umbria. He knew the feel of the soil.

Unlike my grandparents and countless generations that have gone before, this loss of regular and intimate contact with the natural world can diminish our appreciation for God’s creation. Sadly, for me and for many others, the rhythm of the seasons has been replaced by decisions of when to turn off the furnace and turn on the air conditioner.

The staff of Earthworks Urban Farm welcomes volunteers in the spring to plant, in the summer to weed, and in the fall to harvest the fruits, vegetables and herbs. If you happen to be at the Solanus Casey Center on May 15, the Feast of St. Isidore the Farmer, consider coming over to our new Earthworks building. We will be having a building dedication and blessing of our statue of St. Isidore the Farmer. A plaque at the base of the statue will read:

Each day, after working in the fields,
St. Isidore and his wife, St. Maria,
welcomed to their table
anyone who was hungry and in need of food.

Let us pray that more urban farms will arise in Detroit and elsewhere, and that the decline of the family farm can somehow be stopped, so that future generations can have a deeper appreciation for land, water, and air before the Earth itself succumbs to Sister Death.