Season of Creation

(Sept,1 thru Oct.4 the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi)

“Listen to the voice of creation” is the theme and invitation of this year’s Season of Creation. September 1st is the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. It is a special time for all people of good will to pray and work together to care for our common home. Let us renew our personal participation in this vocation, as caretakers of this glorious Earth that has been entrusted to our care. 

Pope Francis counsels, "If we learn how to listen, we can hear in the voice of creation a kind of dissonance. On the one hand, we can hear a sweet song in praise of our beloved Creator; on the other, an anguished plea, lamenting our mistreatment of this our common home. It is a summons to base our spirituality on the “loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion” (ibid., 220)."

Although, the challenges are , Love constantly impels us to find new ways forward.

The following 1 min. video is worth watching. Please do.

And we all must do our part.

I am grateful that the health system I work for is deeply committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030. Significant strides have been made with outstanding achievements that are earning national attention and several prestegious Environmental Excellence Awards. A few examples of these efforts include, converting anesthetics with lower greenhouse gases, converting several sites to 100% renewable electricity, reducing business air travel by 90%, establishing a surgical supply reduction project saving 47 mil across our system, reducing food waste, donating surplus foods and composting. An added benefit is the phenomenal cost savings of millions, as good stewards of resources.

I'm curious to know, what are some ways that you are helping our environment? I would love for you to post a comment, so we can learn from each other and generate some new ideas. The following informative video offers a great overview of innovative solutions that researchers around the world are working on to find solutions to these complex problems. We can't let our global communities, children, grandchildren and future generations down.

 "We are the ones we have been waiting for." -June Jordan

In closing, let us pray this prayer today and every day.

Pope Francis Interfaith Prayer (Laudato Si)
A prayer for our earth
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.

Liz Sorensen Wessel
Earth image by Nasa