Season of Creation

 

An Earth Examen

An examen is a way of beholding an object or being present in prayerful wonder. A way of Listening to the Voice of Creation.  Through a series of questions, you are invited to reflect on God’s presence and the goodness of that which you behold. During this week of the 2022 Season of Creation, consider contemplating a part of your local ecology. This is an exercise that you can choose to do alone, or with a group.

 

Pick a natural or agricultural place to contemplate. A forest, river, or city street with a natural area. The Moon and Stars. An urban park or a farmer’s field.  A hilltop or a meadow. A simple flower arrangement.

 

Find a comfortable place to pause and gaze in or near this place.  Enter into prayer in whatever way is natural to you.  Invite Holy Wisdom to open the eyes of your heart.

1. Become aware of God’s presence in a natural or agricultural place that you are contemplating.

How is God present in this place? How does all the life you see exist in God’s spirit? How do you feel knowing that the Holy Spirit has filled this place for geological ages, with every plant, animal, organism and mineral that has called this place home in the deep past, makes its home here with you now, and will live here with creatures in this place in the future? How do you feel knowing that you, earthling, belong to this place, are made of the same carbon, breathe the same air, are nurtured by the same cycles and life processes, and are enlivened by the same Spirit of the Creator?

2. Reflect on the ecological cycles of this place with gratitude for all that it provides.

What nutrient cycles are supported by this place? Is this a watershed that filters water? Is this a rainforest (tropical or deciduous) that fixes nutrients? Is this a meadow or field that fixes nitrogen? Is this a green space that absorbs CO2 and cleans the air? What plants, animals, microbes and minerals are sheltered here? How do they serve the whole earth in their being? For all that this place provides to nurture you and all that belong to this place, let a feeling of gratitude fill you.

3. Listen for the voices that speak in this place, and pay attention to what you feel as you contemplate the health of this site.

Fill your lungs with breath. Be attentive to what you feel (the air, grass, sand, soil, sun, rain) on your skin. Open your eyes (or close them and open the eyes of your heart). Open your ears to listen to the voices of creation in this place. Who are they? What do you hear them saying? Who is missing or lost from this place? What does their absence tell you?

Is this ecosystem healthy? How is this ecosystem at risk of illness?  What are the keys to sustaining the equilibrium and balance of this place? What niches and diversity must be protected to maintain the health of this habitat? What are the sources of stress that threaten the balance of this particular ecosystem? Do those stresses drive your co-creatures from their home in this place? How do you feel when you consider the fragility of life that depends on the health of this place? What is your effect on this balance?

 

4. Choose one feature of the site and pray for it, its rest and its renewal.

When you consider the ways that this place is under stress, what does it need for rest, restoration and renewal? What needs to be conserved for this site to heal itself? What features need to be reclaimed? What creatures need to be restored to their rightful home here so that their voice can be heard? Pray for this site, and the wisdom to care for it.

5. Look toward your response. What can you do to ease demands or promote the rest of this ecological site?

Based on your examination, how do you identify with this place?  What have you discerned is required to care for this place?  Whose voice from among this place will you seek to amplify? What will be your act of compassion to promote rest for this common home?

 

Here is a Creation Meditation
you may want to use during the week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y0nS-RrolI

National Migration Week ~ September 19 -25

 

Building the Future
With Migrants and Refugees

The Church has been celebrating the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) since 1914. It is always an occasion to express concern for different vulnerable people on the move; to pray for them as they face many challenges; and to increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers.

Every year the WDMR is the last Sunday of September; this year it will be celebrated on September 25^th. As the title for his annual message, the Holy Father has chosen Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees.  Read Pope Francis’ Message here:

 

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

FOR THE 108th WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 2022

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/migration/documents/20220509-world-migrants-day-2022.html

 

No one must be excluded. God’s plan is essentially inclusive and gives priority to those living on the existential peripheries. Among them are many migrants and refugees, displaced persons, and victims of trafficking. The Kingdom of God is to be built with them, for without them it would not be the Kingdom that God wants. The inclusion of those most vulnerable is the necessary condition for full citizenship in God’s Kingdom. Indeed, the Lord says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me” (Mt 25:34-36).

 Pope Francis ‘Message for World Day of Prayer for Migrants and Refugees 2022’

Prayer for Migrants and Refugees

Lord Jesus, when you multiplied the loaves and fishes, you provided more than food for the body, you offered us the gift of yourself, the gift which satisfies every hunger and quenches every thirst! Your disciples were filled with fear and doubt, but you poured out your love and compassion on the migrant crowd, welcoming them as brothers and sisters.

Lord Jesus, today you call us to welcome the members of God's family who come to our land to escape oppression, poverty, persecution, violence, and war. Like your disciples, we too are filled with fear and doubt and even suspicion. We build barriers in our hearts and in our minds.

Lord Jesus, help us by your grace,

To banish fear from our hearts, that we may embrace each of your children as our own other and sister;

To welcome migrants and refugees with joy and generosity, while responding to their many needs;

To realize that you call all people to your holy mountain to learn the ways of peace and justice;

To share of our abundance as you spread a banquet before us;

To give witness to your love for all people, as we celebrate the many gifts they bring.

We praise you and give you thanks for the family you have called together from so many people. We see in this human family a reflection of the divine unity of the one Most Holy Trinity in whom we make our prayer: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

 For information on Refugees in America go here:

REFUGEES IN AMERICA

https://www.rescue.org/topic/refugees-america

 

'Give me your tired, your poor,

your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.'

Emma Lazarus

 

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Season of Creation

God’s Revelation to us is found in Creation, Scriptures and in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.

This Sunday we reflect with the Scriptures and how they connect to this Season of Creation and the challenge to ‘engage in transformational conversion’.

What word, image or idea find a place in your heart and mind as you reflected with these Readings?

What action is stirring up within you?  Find a way to bring your ideas to action.

What Community or Personal Transformational way of being is challenging you?

 

Jeremiah 8: 18 - 9:1   The Prophet Mourns for the People

My joy is gone; grief is upon me;

    my heart is sick.

Listen! The cry of the daughter of my people

    from far and wide in the land:

“Is the Lord not in Zion?

    Is her King not in her?”

(“Why have they provoked me to anger with their images 

    with their foreign idols?”)

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended,

    and we are not saved.”

For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken,

    I mourn, and horror has seized me.

Is there no balm in Gilead?

    Is there no physician there?

Why then has the health of the daughter of my people

    not been restored?

O that my head were a spring of water

    and my eyes a fountain of tears,

so that I might weep day and night

    for the slain of the daughter of my people!

 

Psalm 79: 1-9

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
    they have defiled your holy temple,
    they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
They have left the dead bodies of your servants
    as food for the birds of the sky,
    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.

 They have poured out blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there is no one to bury the dead.
We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
    of scorn and derision to those around us.

How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
    How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out your wrath on the nations
    that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
    that do not call on your name;
for they have devoured Jacob
    and devastated his homeland.

Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
    for we are in desperate need.
Help us, God our Savior,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
    for your name’s sake.

I Timothy 2: 1-7   The Appeal Renewed

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.  Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Luke 16: 1-13     The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measure of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

 

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Season of Creation

 September 11th  Sunday 2

The burning bush is the Symbol for the Season of Creation 2022. 
Today, the prevalence of unnatural fires are a sign of the devastating effects that climate change has on the most vulnerable of our planet. Human greed, desertification and land misuse lead to the disintegration of ecosystems, the destruction of habitats, and the loss of livelihoods and species at an alarming rate. Creation cries out as forests crackle, animals flee, and people are forced to migrate due to the fires of injustice that we have caused.

On the contrary, the fire that called to Moses as he tended the flock on Mt. Horeb did not  consume or destroy the bush. This was a flame of the Spirit that revealed God’s life sustaining presence. This holy fire affirmed that God heard the cries of all who suffered, and promised to be with us as we followed faithfully to deliverance from injustice. During the Season of Creation, this symbol calls us to listen to the voice of creation, and faithfully respond through worship, repentance and action.

Moses was told to remove his sandals, for he was standing on holy ground in God’s presence.
May this symbol move us to remove the “sandals” of our unsustainable lifestyles that disconnect us from creation and our Creator, contemplate our connection to the holy ground where we live, and listen for the voice of creation.

As you celebrate this Season of Creation, light candles or a new Easter fire, 
adorn a bush in your place of worship or action, and be filled with hope to quench the fires of injustice with the light of God’s healing love that sustains our common home.

Thanksgiving for the Earth

Remember the fruits of the earth, for sowing and for harvest.

Remember the dew of the air.
Remember the downcoming of the rains and the waters and the rivers.
Remember the plants and the blooms of every year.
Remember the safety of humans and of animals and of me, your sinful servant
For the rain, the wind of the sky, seed, plants, the fruit of the trees and also the vineyards, and for every tree in the entire world,

We are grateful

For the Holy Trinity who brings us to perfection in safety and peace, forgives us our sins, brings us up according to their measure that we may grow and prosper through your grace, who makes the face of the earth to rejoice, waters her furrows, lets her grain be abundantly multiplied and makes ready her seed-time and harvest,

We give You thanks  

 

(adapted from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Pre-Anaphora, and Anaphora of Basil

Sing and Pray with the Song, The Cry of the Poor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD-iMC6LZF8

Suggestions for Acting on behalf of Creation this Week

 

• Participate in campaigns that call for ecological restoration
• Go on a Creation Walk or Pilgrimage
• Reflection with the Sunday Gospel from Luke 15: 1-10 or the Burning Bush story in Exodus 3: 1-12  What commitment are you willing to make as you ‘Listen to the Voice of Creation’?

September 8th, Feast Day Greetings!

 

On this feast of the Birth of Mary, your family, friends, Associates and Cluny Sisters send special feast day greetings and prayers.  May the Blessed Virgin Mary and Mother of our Congregation, gift you with New Life and the generosity of her ‘Yes’, to do always and everywhere the Will of God.

Today we also honor your devotion to Saint Brendan, the Navigator, and pray with you, one of your favorite prayers.

This beautiful prayer of St. Brendan, the Navigator  (484-577 A.D.), also known as St. Brendan the Voyager, an ancient Irish monk, abbot, sailor, ship-builder, and explorer. 

It is believed by some historians that the holy abbot was eager to spread the Gospel to unknown lands, with the winds of the Holy Spirit in his sails, he traveled by boat to North America—making him the very first explorer to set foot on her shores. Some say it was the legend of St. Brendan's Voyage that prompted Christopher Columbus to launch his own attempt to discover the New World a thousand years later.

Happy Feast Day, Sister Mary Patrice!

Prayer of St. Brendan the Navigator

Lord, I will trust You.

Help me to journey beyond the familiar

And into the unknown.

Give me the faith to leave old ways

And break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries,

I trust You to be stronger

Than each storm within me.

I will trust in the darkness

And know that my times are in Your Hand.

Tame my spirit to the music of heaven, 

and somehow, make my obedience count for You.

AMEN.

Global Synod on Synodality

Pope Francis launches 2-year synodal path
with call to ‘encounter, listen, and discern’

Pope Francis celebrates a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica 

opening the worldwide synodal path, October 10, 2021

Pope Francis formally launched the two-year global consultation process leading to the 2023 synod on synodality on Sunday with a call to “look others in the eye and listen to what they have to say.”

Preaching at a Mass  at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 10, the pope said that Catholics taking part in the synodal path should strive to “become experts in the art of encounter.”

“Not so much by organizing events or theorizing about problems, as in taking time to encounter the Lord and one another,” he said. 

“Time to devote to prayer and adoration -- this prayer that we neglect so much: to adore, to make room for adoration -- listening to what the Spirit wants to say to the Church.”

“Time to look others in the eye and listen to what they have to say, to build rapport, to be sensitive to the questions of our sisters and brothers, to let ourselves be enriched by the variety of charisms, vocations, and ministries.” In his homily, the pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading, Mark 10:17-30  in which Jesus challenges the rich young man to “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor … then come, follow me.”

He said that the Gospels often showed Jesus in the midst of a journey, meeting people and listening to their deepest concerns. “Today, as we begin this synodal process, let us begin by asking ourselves -- all of us, pope, bishops, priests, religious and laity -- whether we, the Christian community, embody this ‘style’ of God, who travels the paths of history and shares in the life of humanity,” he urged. 

“Are we prepared for the adventure of this journey? Or are we fearful of the unknown, preferring to take refuge in the usual excuses: ‘It’s useless’ or ‘We’ve always done it this way’?”

“Celebrating a synod means walking on the same road, together. Let us look at Jesus, who encounters the rich man on the road; he then listens to his questions, and finally he helps him discern what he must do to inherit eternal life.” The pope built his homily around three verbs -- “encounter, listen, and discern” -- that he hoped would mark the synodal path.

He noted that when Jesus encountered the young man, he was fully present to him and did not “keep looking at his watch to get the meeting over.”  “Everything changes once we are capable of genuine encounters with Him and with one another, without formalism or pretense, but simply as we are,” he observed.

Pope Francis said that Jesus’ meeting with the rich man showed that listening was an essential feature of true encounters.  He said: “Let us ask frankly during this synodal process: Are we good at listening? How good is the ‘hearing’ of our heart?”

“Do we allow people to express themselves, to walk in faith even though they have had difficulties in life, and to be part of the life of the community without being hindered, rejected, or judged?”

He continued: “Participating in a synod means placing ourselves on the same path as the Word made flesh. It means following in his footsteps, listening to his word along with the words of others. It means discovering with amazement that the Holy Spirit always surprises us, to suggest fresh paths and new ways of speaking.” The pope acknowledged that learning to listen was “a slow and perhaps tiring exercise” for bishops, priests, religious, and laity.

The pope said that encounter and listening should lead to discernment. 

“That word, discernment, summons us to discernment and it brings light to that process. It guides the synod, preventing it from becoming a Church ‘convention,’ a study group or a political congress, because it is not a parliament, but rather a grace-filled event, a process of healing guided by the Holy Spirit,” he said.“In these days, Jesus calls us, as he did the rich man in the Gospel, to empty ourselves, to free ourselves from all that is worldly, including our inward-looking and outworn pastoral models; and to ask ourselves what it is that God wants to say to us in this time. And the direction in which he wants to lead us.” Pope Francis ended his homily by wishing participants in the synodal path a good journey together.

He said: “May we be pilgrims in love with the Gospel and open to the surprises of the Spirit. Let us not miss out on the grace-filled opportunities born of encounter, listening, and discernment. In the joyful conviction that, even as we seek the Lord, he always comes with his love to meet us first.”

Synod on Synodality Process

Communion Participation and Mission

The Synod on Synodality is a global, two-year consultative process of "listening and dialogue" that began with a solemn opening in Rome on October 9, 10,  2021.  

The first year of the  process is the diocesan phase lasting into 2022.  The Vatican has asked all dioceses worldwide to participate, hold consultations, and collect feedback on specific questions laid out in synod documents.  A synthesis of the input is made and Diocesan Report sent to the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) by June 2022.

The next step of the process begins!  At the end of the first phase, the reports generated are sent to the national episcopal conferences, where they will be reflected upon and massaged into some kind of document. Then the bishops of each continent will meet from September 2022 to March 2023. 

Gathering all this material from around the world, the Vatican secretariat for synods will produce an instrumentum laboris (working document) that will be taken up in October 2023 by the actual Synod of Bishops.

This vast consultation and discernment process of local, diocesan and national churches is a huge undertaking!  Let us prayer frequently for this two year process and for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” will be the final phase of the process in Rome at the Vatican in October 2023. 

Season of Creation

September 4th Sunday I 

Reading from the Book of Jeremiah 18: 1-11
At the Potter’s House

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel….

Reading from the Letter of Philemon 1 - 21
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker

… although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self.

I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

Gospel of Luke 14: 25-33
The Cost of Being a Disciple
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?  If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Reflection Points

1. We need to be re-formed: The Image of the Potter gives us an image of God reshaping Israel and us. The passage is mainly about nations, but applies also to churches / communities, and to individuals. The passage speaks of God relenting from judgment if the people repent, and God then literally re-forming them – reshaping them to a new purpose. Are we prepared to recognize our need and place ourselves in the hands of the potter.
2. We need to restore relationships: Paul’s concern about Onesimus speaks about inequality and injustice between slave and master then, and in global relationships today – between nations and individuals. Our hearts need changing to see migrants, refugees and our Christian sisters and brothers in the global South as ‘my very heart’ and ‘my dear brother / sister’. In Christ we have a new family – not based on ancestry and DNA, but based on being made new creations in Christ. Jesus’ strong words on ‘hating’ family should challenge us deeply about who we really care about.
3. We need to reduce our addiction to stuff! Jesus very bluntly tells us: ‘those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples’ (Luke 14:33). Which matters more to us: our security, home, bank balance and pension provision, or God’s kingdom of justice and peace? Jesus was speaking in the home of a well-known Pharisee, somebody who was devoutly religious, including in their giving, and probably fairly wealthy. Today we have all the solutions we need to address the ecological challenges we face. The problem is not the science or technology. It is us. We can blame politicians or big business, but they ultimately answer to voters and shoppers. The problem is people. We are resistant to giving up our comforts, to reducing our addiction to air travel, to new tech (phones, TVs, laptops), to keeping our homes artificially hot or cold, to eating whatever we feel like. We place convenience before conscience, and comfort before God’s Kingdom. 

As Christians we are called to follow Jesus, whatever the cost. Today, Jesus’ challenging words on money and possessions call us to take our cross and follow him. Follow Jesus to a life of greater simplicity, to being re-formed from our selfish consumerism into a new community which models the way of God’s kingdom.

Action Make sustainable lifestyle changes on an individual level

The Season of Creation is a wonderful time to reflect on how our lifestyles affect the environment and to make a commitment to more sustainable ways of living. The good news is that making more sustainable lifestyle choices in just a few areas adds up to a big difference overall. As the saying goes, “Let us live simply so that others may simply live.” Living simply is a way to ensure our planet is truly a home for all.

Let us find ways this week to:

Be Reformed in God’s Image
Restore Relationships with Creation and One Another
Reduce our Addiction to Stuff

Lord’s Prayer We pray our common prayer that Christ taught us.

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,

Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echoes through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! 

Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your beloved community of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. With the bread we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. 

In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.

From trials too great to endure, spare us. 
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.

(Adapted from The New Zealand Book of Prayer | He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa.

 This version of the Lord’s prayer was influenced by Maori theologians)

Give Thanks to the Lord

Dan Schutte

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70cIycImjp8

2022 Season of Creation

 

2022

September 1 - October 4

Pope Francis is calling on Catholics to keep a Season of Creation, which begins on September 1, 2022, the Day of Prayer for Creation and continues until October 4, the Feast Day of St. Francis.

The Pope defines the Season of Creation as an “opportunity to cultivate our ‘ecological conversion’.  As we listen to Creation there is a 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 our Common Home.

We are being called to pray and unite with the human family to decisively address the double crisis of climate and biodiversity reduction”.  Look for more news during this year’s  Season of Creation.

  

Listen to the Voice of Creation

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have become familiar with the concept of being muted during virtual conversations. Often, people using a platform do not have the capacity to unmute themselves. Even more do not even have access to digital platforms, and so their voices are never heard. Many voices are muted in public discourse around climate change and the ethics of Earth-keeping. These are the voices of those who suffer the impacts of climate change. These are the voices of those who hold generational wisdom about how to live gratefully within the limits of the land. These are the voices of a diminishing diversity of more- than-human species. It is the voice of the Earth. The 2022 Season of Creation theme raises awareness of our need to listen to the voice of all creation.

The Psalmist (19: 1-4) acknowledges that hearing the voice of creation requires a kind of listening that is increasingly rare. Within the ecumenical Christian family, there is a diverse range of traditions to help us recover our capacity to hear the voice of creation. Some of the earliest Christian writings refer to the concept of creation as a book from which knowledge of God can be read. The theological tradition of the book of creation runs like a golden thread from the writings of Origen through the Patristic writers such as Tertullian, Basil of Caesarea and others. 

The Psalmist reminds us that the entire cosmos praises and glorifies God ‘with silent voices’, and that praise is not heard until we give it a voice, until we praise God in and with creation. St. Augustine writes, “[Creation] is the divine page that you must listen to; it is the book of the universe that you must observe. The pages of Scripture can only be read by those who know how to read and write, while everyone, even the illiterate, can read the book of the universe.” 

Let us pray together and act together as a Common Family living in our one Common Home.

Season of Creation Prayer

Creator of All,

From your communion of love your Word went forth to create a symphony of life that sings your praise.

By your Holy Wisdom you made the Earth to bring forth a diversity of creatures who praise you in their being. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

You called human beings to till and keep your garden. You placed us into right relationships with each creature so that we could listen to their voices, and learn how to safeguard the conditions for life. But we turn in on ourselves and away from our co-creatures.

We close our ears to the counsel of our fellow creatures. We fail to listen to the cries of the  poor and the needs of the most vulnerable. We silence the voices of those who hold the traditions that teach us to care for the Earth. We close our ears to your creative, reconciling and sustaining Word that calls to us through the Scriptures.

We lament the loss of our fellow species and their habitats that will never speak again. We grieve the loss of human cultures, along with the lives and livelihoods that have been displaced or perished. Creation cries out as forests crackle, and animals alike flee the fires of injustice that we have lit by our unwillingness to listen.

In this Season of Creation, we pray that you would call to us, as from the burning bush, with the sustaining fire of your Spirit. Breathe upon us. Open our ears and move our hearts. Turn us from our inward gaze. Teach us to contemplate your creation, and listen for the voice of each creature declaring your glory. For “faith comes from hearing.”

Give us hearts to listen for the good news of your promise to renew the face of the Earth.  Enlighten us with the grace to follow the Way of Christ as we learn to walk lightly upon this holy ground. Fill us with the hope to quench the fires of injustice with the light of your healing love that sustains our common home.

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

Amen.

Photos and videos

Share photos of your actions with peoples around the world.

Social media and blogs

Post images and stories of your celebrations and actions. 

Write a blog about your Season of Creation celebrations and community action and post on your own social media or faith community websites.

Pray and Worship

Prayer is at the center of our lives. Praying together deepens our relationship with God and one another, strengthens faith, and brings forth new gifts of the Spirit. As Jesus said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am with them” (Matthew 18:20).

For more information about the 2022 Season of Creation go to:

https://seasonofcreation.org/2022/04/04/2022-season-of-creation-listen-to-the-voice-of-creation/ 

Watch and Listen to Monica Brown’s 

‘Care of Creation Day’ Videos

https://www.emmausproductions.com/special-feature/care-for-creation-prayer-day-2022/

Cluny Sisters Celebrate

 August 15th 

Blessed Feast Day of our General Superior!

  Sister Clare Stanley, General Superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny 

Addresses the Council of the Congregation 2022 in Rome

Each year the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny celebrate the feast of our Superior General on 15th August, the feast of the Assumption of Mary.  From the beginning of the Congregation, the Virgin Mary has been named the ‘Perpetual’ General Superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny.

Dear Sister Clare Stanley, the sisters of the Province of the USA & Canada join with our Cluny Sisters, Affiliates and Associates around the world in wishing you a blessed and joyous feast day.  

Our deep gratitude for your prayers, support and faithfulness to the mission of Missionary Discipleship in a New World, entrusted to the Congregation.

I invite you to enjoy this video tour of our Motherhouse in Paris along with remarks from Sister Clare Stanley, our General Superior regarding our Cluny Charism.

Mother House

Paris

https://sj-cluny.org/The-Mother-House?lang=en