Season of Creation Sunday I

All is interdependent, all is interconnected.

We cannot say we love God if we do not love our neighbor.

We cannot say we love our neighbor  if we do not care for the  air,

the  water,  the  land, the  ecological systems, the  intricate Web of Life

upon which our neighbors and we depend for life itself.

 

 

On this First Sunday of the Season of Creation, the scriptures call us to accept our prophetic responsibility in love to invite each other to conversion and care for creation in these times of ecological crisis and collapse.

 

 

Opening Prayer

 

Our Loving God, in You justice and mercy meet. With unparalleled love and forgiveness, You have drawn  us into the  circle of your life. You send us to invite our sisters and brothers to turn from their  sins into Your ways, ways of love and care for You, for each other, and for all creation. Open our eyes  to the  wonders Your creation sets before us that we may serve you free  from fear and address You with grateful love. We ask this in the  name of Jesus the  Lord. Amen.

 

One of Pope Francis’s central beliefs at the heart of Laudato Si’ is that everything and everyone is connected, interdependent. We are  responsible for each other. God speaks to us and calls us to conversion in many  ways. In the  context of the Season of Creation, we need to listen to that Word of God in “the  cry of the  Earth  and the  cry of the  poor.”  

                                                                                                                           - Laudato Si’ #49

 

The Prophet Ezekiel describes God’s warning to himself  and to us: we are responsible for each other. If we hear and fail to relay  God’s Word, God’s call to conversion to those for whom it is intended, we will be held responsible and complicit in their  sin and in the  suffering and punishment it brings.

 

St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans puts this prophetic education and invitation to care for creation in their  deepest context: they are expressions of the  great commandments that sum everything up:

Love God. Love your neighbor.

 

How can we, how do we express this prophetic love …

            In our families?

            In our parishes and dioceses?

            In our religious communities?

            In our schools and universities?

            In our hospitals and health care centers?

            In our businesses and farms?

 

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus lays out a way to convey the  urgent prophetic warnings in this time of ecological crisis, an approach that shows respect for those who need to hear these truths and invites  conversion gently but persistently.  At the  same time, the approach is realistic: there will be those who will not listen.

 

Intercessory Prayer

That we may grow in consciousness of the great gift of creation and all of its elements,  We Pray…

 

To deepen our gratitude for nature’s rich Web of Life within which we live and may grow in openness to wiser and more just ways of caring for Each and sharing it,   We Pray…

 

To take up our prophetic responsibility in this time of climate crisis and collapse to speak God’s Truth to each other and to call each other into conversion and to ways of living within creation wisely, sustainably, justly, and reverently, 

We Pray…

 

Prayer

Conscious of God’s loving presence and great gifts to us in creation,

let us enter into the  quiet of our spirits, praying for prophetic courage, wisdom, and deeper love for God, for all people, and for creation which gives us life and sustains us. In Jesus’ Name.  AMEN.

If today you hear God’s Voice,

Harden not your hearts.

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

Season of Creation THEME

 Jubilee Time for Earth

 

“We are faced  not by two separate crises,

one environmental and the  other social,

but rather  with one complex crisis

which is both environmental and social.

Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach  

to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the  excluded,

and at the  same time  protecting nature.”

Laudato  Si’   #139

 

We begin the Season of Creation, September 1 - October 4, in the midst of a climate emergency that some have called a climate collapse. The Season of Creation is a time to acknowledge the tipping points being reached, that are threatening the lives of the most vulnerable and putting the lives of future generations in jeopardy.  As people of faith we are called to stand up against climate injustice in prophetic ways.

 

The Theme of the 2020 Season of Creation is ‘Jubilee for the Earth’. Climate change is the result of the intersection of greed, inequality and destruction of God’s Earth.  Jubilee is a time to renounce overconsumption and economic systems based on constant economic growth at the cost of Earth and those who are poor.  In faith traditions, Jubilee is a time when those who have consumed the most must make restitution to those who have suffered the most.  It is a time of rest for the land from constant exploitation, to restore ecosystems and people. Let us learn, pray and act throughout this month long Jubilee!

 

Blessing  Prayer

 

We believe that all creatures come  forth from the  all-powerful hand  of the Creator, evolving  through time and space, filled with God’s presence and tender love.

May God awaken our praise and thankfulness for every        

creature and bless  us with the  grace of feeling  profoundly  

joined to everything that is. Amen.

Through Christ all things were made.  Formed in the womb of Mary our Mother, Christ Jesus became part of Earth, gazing upon this world with human eyes.

May Christ bless  us with eyes  to see  him alive in every creature in his risen glory. Amen.

The Holy Spirit guides this world toward the Creator’s love and accompanies creation as it groans in travail.

May this Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts and inspire us to do what is good, to care wisely and with love for Earth, our Common Home.   Amen.

And may our Triune God, wondrous community of infinite love, bless us all with justice, peace, love and beauty, Creator, Word and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Hymn:  For The Beauty of The Earth

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

 

 

For more information go to:

Global Catholic Climate Movement

 

https://catholicclimatemovement.global/christians-come-together-to-celebrate-season-of-creation/

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 5^th 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

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

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)

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 170^th 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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLUBM3kl4T3AsERUWM1wgiBkj7Bpmt79C6&v=19mlsJfXZow&feature=emb_logo

Cluny Procession from the

Mother House Chapel and Gardens

Paris, France

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uc9EMVGy5Y&list=PLUBM3kl4T3AsERUWM1wgiBkj7Bpmt79C6&index=14

August Stop Trafficking Newsletter

Stop Trafficking AUGUST Newsletter FOCUS

This issue highlights topics covered by the United States

State Department Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for 2020.

https://files.constantcontact.com/c719bcdc001/28c28a0f-00fc-4b36-bdce-255265ed1e72.pdf