Catholic Corner
September 10, 2021
This year the Season of Creation runs from September 1st to October 4th (the Feast of St. Francis). What is the Season of Creation you ask? It is an annual ecumenical celebration of our common home and a time for us to renew our efforts to protect God’s creation through prayer, and advocacy. This year the worldwide Christian community has been asked to gather around the theme of “A home for all? Renewing the Oikos of God.” (Oikos is Greek for home)
As the organizers of the Season remind us, it is the hope that through this Season and its focus “we hope to lift up the integral nature of the many relationships that hold the web of life together. Within the whole inhabited Earth (oikoumene), the Church (oikoumene) calls all households and societies (oikos) to turn our political, social and economic systems (oikonomia) towards just, sustainable economies of life, which respect the limits and life-giving ecological boundaries (oikologia) of our common home.”
As Catholics we find special incentive to pour ourselves into this Season as we follow the words of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si. In 2015, Francis called us to engage in the climate crisis by way of recognizing our world as the common home of all God’s creation.
What can we do this year in this Season of Creation? There are many events occurring nationally and internationally. Watch our Facebook page for details and links. Want to get personally involved? Want to plan an event? Share ideas? Check out this resource and let’s start a conversation on our parish FB page or contact us through our social media accounts with questions or suggestions. https://seasonofcreation.org and https://laudatosimovement.org/seasonofcreation/
Where to start? Well here’s a place: Pope Francis has called all Catholics to take action for our common home – that’s about 6 billion of us!!! He’s asking us to question the way we live and move “towards lifestyles that are simpler and more respectful of the environment.”
The Laudato Si Movement in conjunction with the Vatican is asking Catholics to both promote and sign the petition Healthy Planet, Healthy People which will be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference this November. By promoting and signing this petition this Season of Creation will “be a critical moment for Catholics to lift up the voices of the most vulnerable and advocate on their behalf.” (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2021-09/pope-season-of-creation-laudato-si-movement.html)
Sign the petition and let world leaders know that all should care for God’s creation! Here is a link to the petition: https://thecatholicpetition.org
Finally, as the baptized we both act and pray. Besides the actions mentioned above and through the links provided, here is the prayer for the Season of Creation.
