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Monday, August 31, 2020

2020 Season of Creation

 Season of Creation
September 1 - October 4


This year, the theme for the Season of Creation is “Jubilee for the Earth”. We invite you to consider the integral relationship between rest for the Earth and ecological, economic, social and political ways of living. This particular year, the need for just and sustainable systems has been revealed by the far-reaching effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. We yearn for the moral imagination that accompanies the Faith Traditions’ Jubilee.

 

The global reach of the novel coronavirus this year, has revealed our shared human nature and the inter-connectivity of our economies, political structures, health care systems, food production chains, energy and transportation systems in devastating ways. The pandemic also demonstrated that the entire web of life is rooted in our Common Home, Earth and limited by Earth’s capacity to sustain our economic and ecological demands. The unjust effects of climate change are a consequence of our inability to find a sustainable balance of all life.

 

From September 1 to October 4, the Christian family celebrates the goodness and gift of creation. During the Season of Creation, we unite as one family in Christ, celebrating the bonds we share with each other and with “every living creature on Earth.” (Genesis 9:10) The Faith family celebrates the Season of Creation by spending time in prayer, considering ways to inhabit our common home sustainably, and lifting our voices in the public sphere.

 

This year, 2020, also marks the 5th Anniversary of Pope Francis’s important encyclical, Laudato si’ and the Church is using this anniversary occasion to join the ecumenical ecological efforts to save the planet with great energy and commitment.

 

Let the celebration begin!

Season  of  Creation  2020  Prayer

 

Creator of Life,

 

At Your word, Earth brought forth plants yielding seeds and trees of every kind bearing fruit. The rivers, mountains, minerals, seas and forests sustained life. The eyes of all looked to You to satisfy the needs of every living thing. And throughout time Earth has sustained all life. Through the planetary cycles of days and seasons, renewal and growth, You open Your hand to give creatures our food in the proper time.

 

In your Wisdom, you granted a Sabbath; a blessed time to rest in gratitude for all that you have given; a time to liberate ourselves from vicious consumption; a time to allow the land and all creatures to rest from the burden of production. But these days our living pushes the planet beyond its limits. Our demands for growth, and our never-ending cycle of production and consumption are exhausting our world. The forests are leached, the topsoil erodes, the fields fail, the deserts advance, the seas acidify, the storms intensify. We have not allowed the land to observe her Sabbath, and Earth is struggling to be renewed.

 

During this Season of Creation, we ask you to grant us courage to observe a Sabbath for our planet. Strengthen us with faith to trust in your providence. Inspire us with the creativity to share what we have been given. Teach us to be satisfied with enough. And as we proclaim a Jubilee for Earth, send Your Holy Spirit to renew the face of creation.

In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus Christ.     

Amen.

Litany of the Holy Spirit

Dan Schutte Music

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp0vQdAju8Y

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Apostle of Non-Violence

 Abba Moses the Ethiopian

Humility, Patience, Long-Suffering, Forgiveness

Characteristics of the Robber turned Monk and Saint

 

A certain brother committed an offence in Scete, the camp of the monks, and when a congregation was assembled ‎on this matter, they sent after Abba Moses, but he refused to come; then they sent the priest of the church to him, ‎saying, "Come, for all the people are expecting you," and he rose up and came. He took a basket with a hole in it ‎and filled it with sand, and carried it upon his shoulders, and those who went out to meet him said unto him, "What ‎does this mean, O father?" And he said to them, "The sands are my sins which are running down behind me and I ‎cannot see them, and, even, have come to this day to judge shortcomings which are not mine." And when they heard ‎this they set free that brother and said nothing further to him.‎

  

Gentled by Grace

Apostle of Gospel Non-Violence

 

Gentled by Grace, is the incredible and inspiring story of Abba Moses the Ethiopian. He was a violent thief who became a humble and kind monk and one of the great Desert Fathers who served the Lord Jesus Christ in the 4th Century. From his life we see an example of how we can overcome our sins and the injustices we experience to be transformed by God’s nonjudgmental love, mercy, and the powerful grace of Non-Violent love.

 

Moses became the spiritual leader of a colony of hermits in the desert and ordained a priest. At about age 75, around the year 407, word came that a group of renegades planned to attack the colony. The brothers wanted to defend themselves, but Moses forbade it. He told them to retreat, rather than take up weapons. He and seven others remained behind and greeted the invaders with open arms, but all eight were martyred by the bandits. A modern interpretation honors St. Moses the Black as an apostle of non-violence.

 


Remember Me in Your Kingdom:

The Life of Abba Moses The Ethiopian

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-MrfEbvWY0


 

Apostle of Gospel Non-Violence

John Lewis

February 21, 1940 - July 17, 2020 

A black man of faith

courage, long-suffering and patience

An Apostle of Non-Violence

A Congressman and Civil rights activist

committed to non-violent protest

for six decades

fiercely independent,

gentle and loving

 

May he rest in Peace

May his legacy come to fullness of life

 

 

  

Together, You Can Redeem

The Soul of Our Nation

 

“Though I am gone, I urge you to

Answer the highest calling of your heart and

Stand up for what you truly believe.”

 

Morgan Freeman Reads the Last Words of John Lewis

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oelfqiJvQMo

 

 

John Lewis: Good Trouble

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_oEkOdIXdo

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ATwisIrtfg

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Prayer for the Peoples of Beirut Lebanon

Holding In Prayer the Peoples

of Beirut, Lebanon

  

The blast destroyed a silo at the port in Beirut. Several hours after the blast, emergency crews still had not been able to reach all of the wounded people in their homes, the Lebanese Red Cross said.

STR/AFP via Getty Images




Firefighters douse a fire

at Beirut's port.

Hours after the blast, numerous Beirut hospitals are reportedly overwhelmed.

STR/AFP via Getty Images




On the afternoon of 4 August 2020, two explosions occurred at the port of the city of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The extremely powerful second blast resulted in at least 220 deaths, 7,000 injuries,

The economy of Lebanon was in a state of crisis prior to the explosions. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic had overwhelmed many of the country's hospitals, several of which already were short of medical supplies. The morning before the explosion, the head of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, which served as the main coronavirus medical facility in Lebanon, warned that it was approaching full capacity.

The government-owned Port of Beirut served as the main maritime entry point into Lebanon and a vital piece of infrastructure to import scarce goods. The Beirut Naval Base is a part of the port.

 

Prayer for the People of Beirut, Lebanon

 

“Let us pray for the victims, for their families; and let us pray for Lebanon

so that, through the dedication of all its social, political and religious elements,

it might face this extremely tragic and painful moment and, with the help of the international community, overcome the grave crisis they are experiencing.”

 

Good and Gracious One, You are strength to those who suffer and comfort to those who grieve. Let our prayers be for the people of Beirut. We claim Your promises of wholeness as we pray for those who suffered a tragic explosion, taking many lives and injury hundreds. We long for your healing touch.

 

   Make the broken whole, and confirm those who serve them as agents

of your love.                                 Hear our prayer.

   To everyone in distress, grant mercy, grant relief, grant refreshment.

 Hear our prayer.

   As Beirut begins to rebuild, we commend those affected to Your care.

 Hear our prayer

   Give strength and healing to those who have lost family members.

 Hear our prayer.

   God of compassion, watch over the people of Beirut, and weave out of

terrible happenings wonders of goodness and grace.

 Hear our prayer.

   Surround those who have been shaken by tragedy with a sense of Your

present love.                                Hear our prayer.

   Though they are lost in grief, may they find You and be comforted.

 

Amen.

 

Good and Gracious One, You are strength to those who suffer and comfort to those who grieve. Let the prayers of who are in trouble rise to you. We claim Your promises of wholeness as we pray for those who are injured, or suffering the loss of a loved. May Your healing touch be a comforting presence. Make the weak strong, the injured healthy, the broken whole, and confirm those who serve them as agents of your love. To everyone in distress, grant mercy, grant relief, grant refreshment. Hear our prayer.

 

As Beirut begins to rebuild, we commend the people to your care. Give them strength of purpose and concern for others, that they may create a community where Your will may be done.

 

(Prayer adapted from Presbyterian Church USA

Prayers for those in Distress)



Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Announcing a Year of Prayer



Cluny  Sisters  Announce
A Year of Prayer For the Canonization of
Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey

In a letter to the Congregation, Sister Clare Stanley, Superior General, announced a year of prayer for the canonization of Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey, Founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny.

 

The year begins on August 15, 2020, the day the church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption of Mary and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny celebrate Mary as the perpetual Superior General. The special year  will end on July 15, 2021, the Feast of Blessed Anne Marie and the 170th Anniversary of her death


Join Us In Prayer
Between August 15, 2020 and July 15, 2021

Join the 2, 500 Cluny Sisters in 56 countries around the world in this year of prayer with prayers and actions on behalf of her canonization.  Join us often throughout the year using this prayer for the Founder’s canonization.


L ord our God,
You enabled Blessed Anne Marie to
consecrate herself to the carrying out
of Your Holy Will in all things and to
be ever attentive to Your calls as
manifested through the poorest of her
brothers and sisters.

Grant that we, in the Church of our
day, may zealously continue the work
you confided to her.

Through her intercession hear the
prayers we address to You ...

        (Intentions mentioned here)

In Your goodness grant us the favor of
her canonization for Your glory and to
promote Your Reign of love, justice
and peace.                                 
                                                        Amen.
                                                                                     
                                                                                     
Beata Anna Maria
Ora pro nobis, Ora pro nobis

Cluny Sisters on Pilgrimage  
Notre Dame des Victories Church
Paris, France



Cluny Procession from the
Mother House Chapel and Gardens
Paris, France

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

75th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing




Let There Be Peace On Earth

Let Peace Begin With Me

 

“In a world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions, the money that is squandered and the fortunes made through the manufacture, upgrading, maintenance and sale of ever more destructive weapons, are an affront crying out to heaven”                                  Pope Francis

 

75th Anniversary of the Bombing

of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

This August marks seventy-five years since the United States conducted nuclear attacks against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, devastating their populations and destroying their infrastructure. Following their use in Japan, the production and testing of nuclear weapons in the United States and internationally continues to harm the health, environment, and cultures of communities around the world.

  

In this time of pandemic, people have come to realize more fully the deep interconnections and mutual dependence of life on Earth. Many are beginning to rethink national security and questions national priorities.  


Today, nine countries still possess nearly 14,000 nuclear weapons, enough to end all life on the planet many times over.  Unlike the coronavirus, maintaining and expanding international nuclear arsenals, and the threats they pose to the world, are a choice nuclear-armed countries make. 

While it is fitting to mourn the lives lost to COVID-19, this anniversary also invites people around the world to stand with the hibakusha, the survivors of the bombings in Japan, and other communities harmed by nuclear weapons.


This 75th anniversary is an opportunity to come together, to reflect, and to push for a more just world that values peace and the safety of all people.


A Story of Hope and Peace

 

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is based on the true story of a girl named Sadako Sasaki. It begins nine years after the United States dropped an atom bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan in an attempt to end World War II. When the bomb fell, Sadako was only two years old, and she survived the explosion with seemingly no injuries. However, when Sadako was 11 years old, she discovered that she had leukemia, a form of cancer many people called the 'atom bomb disease'. The leukemia was a result of radiation poisoning from the bomb.




While Sadako was in the hospital, her best friend Chizuko told her that if she folded one thousand paper cranes, the gods would heal her. Sadako continued to grow weaker and sicker, but she never gave up hope. In the book, the young girl only managed to fold 644 of the beautiful paper birds before she took her last breath. After her death, Sadako's classmates folded the rest of the one thousand paper cranes, and they were buried with her.

Sadako's story is one that inspires peace and hope all over the world, and there is a monument in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in memory of Sadako that helps spread her story.

Think about joining #stillhere, a coalition of anti-nuclear organizations who share a common goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons and standing with the hibakusha.

·      Read the coalition’s position statement.

·      Sign and share the hibakusha appeal.

·      Find resources and learn how to get involved HERE.

·      Plan to attend the national virtual event on Thursday, August 6 and Sunday, August 9.

·      Join The Peace Ribbon campaign. It is yet another way to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to raise awareness of the imminent threat of nuclear weapons. Pax Christi USA has taken a lead on this project as its contribution to the ongoing effort begun by Justine Merritt and carried forth by The Ribbon International that seeks to keep Justine's vision of a nuclear free world alive.

·      Make a ribbon panel — either by cloth or on poster board — sewing, painting or drawing to capture “what I cannot bear to think of as lost forever in a nuclear war.”

·      Share this very short video that describes The Real Cost of Nuclear Weapons from Pax Christi International.


 

UP Concert Chorus Dekada Ochenta

‘Let There Be Peace On Earth’

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ITXaL2Sk2A