September 23, 2016
Taken from the Summer 2016 issue of the SHCJ Associates Newsletter, American Province.
According to Pope Francis, “The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation [September 1] offers to individual believers and to the community a precious opportunity to renew our personal participation in this vocation as custodians of creation….”
This day of prayer has been extended into a “Season of Creation” that is celebrated by Christian communities around the globe, beginning on September 1 and ending on October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
Watch a short video created by Season of Creation with the Pope’s personal invitation for you to pray for creation. We are also encouraged to complement prayer with action.
A Prayer for Our Earth from Laudato Si’
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one. O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace. Amen.
Action Suggestions
” ‘Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.’ ” (Earth Charter, quoted in Laudato Si’ par. 207)
Possibilities of action for living simply and sustainably are endless, but the ones below make a major impact. These actions interconnect with others, especially care of water:
- Contemplate creation’s beauty, mystery, and interconnections, and rejoice in the divine presence living and acting in our world.
- Vote for candidates proven to care for all creation, to resolve conflicts nonviolently, to assist the poor, and to increase love on our planet.
- Lobby legislators on issues of importance for people and planet, such as:
- invest in renewable energy; stop subsidies to fossil fuels
- increase negotiating skills; stop expansion of weapons systems reduce inequality
- foster organic agriculture; stop monocrops and toxic chemicals
- Reduce extraction and use of fossil fuels:
- transition to renewable energy at home and work
- reduce use of plastic, especially plastic water bottles and plastic bags
- reduce gasoline use by reducing car trips and staying below 55-60 on highways
- Eat responsibly for the planet
- reduce factory-farmed meat consumption
- increase fair trade, organic, and local produce (and products)
- Protect trees
- reduce paper use
- use 100% sustainable paper
- plant trees and/or support groups that do
- Reduce use of electricity
- turn lights and fans off when not in use
- reduce use of a/c, dryer, iron
- Reduce consumerism
- make do with what you have whenever possible
- share when possible
- buy recycled goods
The Sisters of the American Province over the past two years have:
- made countless personal efforts
- engaged in many kinds of advocacy
- agreed on a province statement
- transferred to green energy in all their houses
- studied Laudato Si’
- engaged staff in forming green committees at Holy Child Center & the province office
- continued our province Eco-spirituality & Ever- greens Groups
What can we share about our care of creation over the past year or two? What action suggestions might you consider for the upcoming seasons?
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