Season of Creation

Written on: August 16, 2017

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sI1OMZxeXtA%3Frel%3D0%2520frameborder%3D0%2520allowfullscreen

This Friday, September 1st. Pope Francis has invited us to enter into the SEASON OF CREATION. It is also the First Friday of the month, so we enter into the heart of Christ in care for the poor and the poor Earth.

During this SEASON OF CREATION we can focus on care for our common home, the Earth, and all the lives that are part of it: our sisters and brothers around the world, the trees and plants and flowers that grow and sustain us, the birds that fly and delight us with song, the flowing water and the air that we breathe, the soil that nourishes the plants and yields food, Brother Sun and Sister Moon and all the stars that light the night sky. We are all part of this great Earth Community. Let us be in awe of God’s great bounty and creativity shown in the evolving Universe; be grateful and work to preserve and tend these gifts that we have been given so future generations may have the wondrous experiences that we enjoy.
You will find your own good way to celebrate this season. We would offer a few suggestions and resources you may wish to use:

Enjoy the abundance of creation. Go outside and open yourself to the beauty; see what attracts you.

Join with others in a Prayer service to communally express concern for our common home. (Sample Prayer Service or you can use the many resources on the internet.) Invite others to pray with you. Selection of petitions for communal prayer Season of Creation Prayers of the Faithful
Sign or resign the Laudato Si pledge to publicly witness to care for the Earth and to send a resounding message that climate action must be taken. The lives of the children depend on it.

By signing this pledge you promise to:

1. Pray for and with creation
2. Live more simply
3. Advocate to protect our common home.

May we be ONE with each other and the whole Earth Community as we enter into this SEASON OF CREATION.
Laudato Si! Blessed be!

Earth Committee:
SRs. Diane Bardol, leadership liaison, Carol Bartol, Barbara Harrington, Ann McKee, Maureen O’Hara, Sheila Stone, chair.

Summer has abundantly provided all of us with opportunities to enjoy the beauties of nature, longer days, colorful gardens yielding fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers, refreshing breezes, birdsong and walks or dips in the ocean or lake.  We are grateful for the wonders of creation.

During the upcoming Season of Creation, from September 1^st through October 4th, we are invited to join with others across the Earth to pray and care for creation, our common home, in a focused way.

September 1^st was proclaimed a World Day of Prayer for Creation by Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrio 1 for the Orthodox community in 1989; Pope Francis declared it so for the Catholic Church in 2015.  The World Council of Churches, The Global Catholic Climate Movement and other groups have expanded the celebration to the Season of Creation, culminating on October 4^th, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

In light of our congregational stance to support the principles and values of the Earth Charter, the Earth Committee will provide a prayer service and suggested actions and advocacy for this time. We highly recommend viewing the film Before the Flood.  You might want to host a viewing party!  September 14^th, the feast of the Exultation of the Cross,a Congregational Feast, affords us a time to reflect on the suffering of the poor and the poor Earth, as suggested by Pope Francis.

Follow us on Facebook and Instgram for inspiration, and check back here for other suggestions beginning in September.

The Earth Committee

This entry was posted in From our Sisters and tagged: birdsong, breezes, care, Common Home, creation, Earth, flowers, fruits, gardens, Global Catholic Climate Movement, nature, Patriarch Dimitrio 1, Pope Francis, pray, Season of Creation, St. Francis of Assisi