By John McCarthy, SJ | Province of Canada
[From “Jesuits 2024 - The Society of Jesus in the world”]

A scientist tells how every creature can be seen as a reflection of the Trinity's creative mystery.

As a lichenologist (one who studies lichens), I have helped to describe and name new lichen species. Lichens are creatures you pass by every day but probably have never noticed. Complex and mysterious, a lichen is not one organism but several that have learned to live with each other to the point that they function as one. Neither completely plant, nor animal, nor fungus, a lichen is a combination, a living symbiosis of an alga and a fungus. So intimate is this relationship that we give each lichen only one name, even though it is composed of several different organisms from distinct plant and fungal kingdoms.

The desire to name the world is as old as humankind is. All of us distinguish and name what lives around us – cats, dogs, birds, whales, mushrooms and plants.

Naming is a divine act. In the Book of Genesis, God creates the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and brings them to the man, Adam, to see what he would call them. Centuries later, Carl Linnaeus (18^th century), the celebrated Swedish botanist, would invent the binomial (two-name) system of nomenclature using Latin and Greek. Each creature was assigned a genus name and a species name, or epithet. For example, we humans are Homo sapiens, the “wise or knowing human”.

Imagine being born and not being given a name. Names give us life! In the rite of Christian baptism, parents are asked by the celebrant, “What name do you give (or have you given) your child?” With this name we are baptized in the name of the Trinity: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are named into life by our parents, then we are named into the life of Christ and the living body of Christ, the Church.

A name permits a relationship. No longer is the other unknown but is now named and given a place of honour. Mutuality and love are possible. Remember the risen Christ with Mary Magdalene. She recognizes Jesus only when he utters her name. Then, Mary’s heart springs to life in love and recognition. Never take the name of our Lord in vain – or each other’s names, for that matter. Names are powerful beyond our imagination.

Working with colleagues in North America and Europe, I have the privilege of helping to name new lichen species. German lichenologist Christian Printzen and I named Biatora terrae-novae, a lichen that grows on coniferous tree bark and, to date, is known only from the province of Newfoundland, Canada. A British-American colleague, Alan Fryday, and I named Hymenelia parva, a lichen species that grows on sedimentary rock along rivers in coastal Newfoundland. Several other lichen taxa await a name.

People often ask me, “What good are lichens?” While lichens have their own special ecological function and pharmaceutical potential, and are used successfully to track and monitor pollution, I prefer to note that lichens are “good” by their very existence – which, in itself, gives glory to God, the Creator. Indeed, the vocation of all creation, ourselves included, is to give glory to God.

In the Nicene Creed, we profess faith in the Creator Trinity: in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; in Jesus Christ, through whom all things were made; and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. God is revealed as Creator. All creation expresses something of God’s love, beauty, and graciousness – even lichens.

In Laudato si’, Pope Francis underlines the importance of care for all life forms on the planet. How many species live with us on Earth? We do not know. We have named about 2.13 million species. Millions more exist without a name. About 20,000 lichens have a name. New species are being described and named all the time. We have a long way to go before we can hope to name even a fraction of Earth’s biodiversity.

This diversity of life and form is none other than the diverse expression of God’s boundless generosity. Each creature reveals something of the creative mystery of the Trinity. Naming species gives word and meaning to the expressive love of God.

The Book of Nature is the world’s scripture. Creation reveals the myriad dimensions of the beauty and love of God. We are invited to name these mysteries of God and to contemplate their unique beauty. Wonder and amazement draw us deeper into the heartbeat of God. There, in the heart of the diverse living world, we discover something of the goodness and beauty of the Creator Trinity. May our only response be that of St. Francis of Assisi: Laudato si’, mi’ Signore – Praise be to you, my Lord.