With the memory of meeting Catholic Scientists still fresh on my mind, I travelled to a Franciscan conference. The occasion was the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi and his passing into eternal life. Both the Order and society are changing in fundamental ways, and we wondered: What is our task in a new world whose shape we cannot yet recognize? I reflected on how we can renew trust in science and confidence in its promise, both of which have deteriorated rapidly in recent years.

An important Franciscan theme is the goodness of creation and the praise it offers to God. We see its highest expression in St. Francis’s Canticle of Brother Sun, and his brothers saw it in daily life when he kindly referred to tiny creatures as brother or sister. Many lives of saints recount creatures being docile and obedient in a saint’s presence, which symbolizes the Edenic closeness between God and the saints. But for St. Francis, there is more. He called them brother and sister. He said that they praised God.

Of course, St. Francis had not lost sight of the difference between animals and humans. He spoke about creation’s relationship to God and our place within it. The primacy of the Creator over creation is maintained. His language draws us to the Creator by understanding creatures and creation as praising God. Creation is meant to praise God, and the unfolding of created life in history continues this praise.

We cannot read this today and then conclude that nature is best left alone, as it praises God perfectly in just the way it is. We are part of nature, and the unfolding of human life within creation is part of how all created life unfolds in time. Life never stands still; it is always a movement towards a goal. And St. Francis tells us that this goal is the praise of God.

Technology, our use of knowledge of nature, should not be defined as the exploitation of nature. Technology is not merely a convenience but an essential part of enabling human life to unfold in a dignified way. The premodern world had charms that are all too easily romanticized, but it was also brutally hard and denied a dignified life to many, if not most. We who know this cannot set technology and nature against each other as exploitation and cultivation. All that God created and all that God has made possible are ultimately for the praise of God, and this includes technology.

This tells me what Franciscans can do to rebuild trust in science and restore confidence in its promise. Our task is to understand science and its applications in the context of learning how it can enhance the dignity of human life. Our task is to accompany scientists and encourage them to explore the profound dignity of their vocation.

Franciscans are a practical people. Our task is to understand the nitty-gritty of how technology affects our lives and how this teaches us how to use it well. Our task is to find what it is in today’s technological advances that is meant to praise God. We are not supposed to shy away from technology as if it were something alien, but embrace it in the spirit of St. Francis’s understanding of nature. If we can do this, we can do our part to restore trust in the goodness of science and the promise of its applications.