Listen to this story:
By Elise Gower
“There is no easy path to becoming hopeful people.
Rather, the position of hope is cultivated through our experience of life,
and especially through that experience
closely linked to and generated by death.”
In moments of profound uncertainty, nature offers us its timeless wisdom. Through changing seasons, through cycles of growth and rest, through times of darkness and light, the Earth teaches us about hope — not as mere optimism, but as a patient way of being present to both joy and sorrow.
“We know that all creation is groaning in labour pains even until now.”
-(Romans 8:22)
This ancient insight from St. Paul resonates deeply today, in a world that witnesses both the beauty and the wounds of our common home. What if our ecological challenges invite us not just to new policies, but to a new way of being — one that recognizes environmental healing and human flourishing as inseparable?
A Heart for Creation
One remarkable journey illuminating this path is that of Fr. Jim Profit, SJ, who grew up on Prince Edward Island. His early connection to the land shaped his entire life, leading him to study agricultural science and to work with farmers in Jamaica and Indigenous communities on Manitoulin Island. Whether in local fields or distant missions, he embodied ecological justice through intentional action and a deeply spiritual perspective.
As a Jesuit priest at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, he demonstrated what Pope Francis would later call “integral ecology” — never separating his life and behaviour from genuine care for all creation. A trail in the Old Growth Forest there now bears his name, “holy ground where Earth joins us to our Creator.” Fr. Profit’s leadership helped unite communal voices across and beyond Catholic borders, weaving together spiritual discernment, community building and organic farming.
Hope and the Spiritual Exercises
Through his ministry, Fr. Profit lived out our collective call to co-create with God. He published “The Four-Week Dynamic: The Spiritual Basis for Reconciliation with Creation,” adapting the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises to foster an encounter with God amid the ecological crisis. Recognizing “God who acts in creation, God who suffers in creation,” he encouraged an honest look at both Earth’s grandeur and its wounds.
“God acts in creation, God suffers in creation.”
“There is no easy path to becoming hopeful people,” he reflected. “Rather, the position of hope is cultivated through our experience of life, and especially through that experience closely linked to and generated by death.” By facing what he called “the truth of our declining mother Earth,” Fr. Profit invited us all to discover new life — learning to “live within nature” rather than struggle against her.
A Final Witness of Hope
When facing cancer in 2014, he navigated his illness with the same attentiveness and hope that had guided his ecological work. Even during periods of isolation and uncertainty, he continued nurturing life — planting trees for each new birth in his family. In a poignant personal blog titled “All Creation is Groaning…,” he described how suffering can lead us deeper into the mystery of God present in all creation.
At his funeral, symbols of the green life he had planted were offered in thanksgiving, reminding all gathered that death and new life are forever entwined in creation’s ongoing cycle. This simple gesture spoke to his enduring message: Hope is sustained when we attune ourselves to the rhythms of the Earth, trusting in a God who dwells in both joy and sorrow.
“We know that all creation is groaning in labour pains even until now.”
(Romans 8:22)
Carrying the Mission Forward
Today, the Ignatius Jesuit Centre continues its vital work of connecting spirituality and care for the Earth. Through retreats, organic farming and ecological initiatives, the Centre invites people to discover what Fr. Profit understood so well: Hope emerges when we dare to live within nature, participating in God’s ongoing creation.
Here, many find practical tools for deeper listening, authentic living and sustainable community building. As St. Paul reminds us: “For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Rom. 8:24–25)
