Members of the St. Ambrose University football team in Davenport move mulch at Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat near Wheatland July 25.
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
A month-long commemoration of prayer and action that begins Sept. 1 unites Christians worldwide to care for their common home. Here in the Diocese of Davenport, the Season of Creation opens with Vespers at 4 p.m. at St. Anthony Church in downtown Davenport, featuring Evening Prayer and an exploration of this year’s theme, “Hope and Act with Creation.”
“The Season of Creation is a time of grace that the Church, in ecumenical dialogue, offers to humanity to renew its relationship with the Creator and with creation, through celebration, conversion and commitment,” the organizers said. They are the diocesan Social Action Office and Pope St. John XXIII Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order. The season continues through Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology whose life and ministry more than 800 years ago resonates with Christians of various denominations today.
For diocesan leaders, parishioners in several parishes around the diocese and women religious who minister here, Season of Creation is a yearlong commitment to leave the earth a better place for the generations that follow.
St. Thomas More Parish in Coralville, for example, broke ground in April on a $12 million addition to its worship space that maintains the parish’s commitment to energy efficiency, with plans to add solar energy after completing payment on the addition. The parish’s Seasons of Creation activities feature an outdoor Stations of the Cross for Creation; a family event of arts, crafts, storytelling and music; a Peace Pole Blessing; and Blessing of the Pets (see details on Page 4).
Throughout the year, “I think that we have focused on many small things including doing our own recycling of cardboard, plastic, cans, and paper,” said Linda Myers, who chairs the Social Justice Commission of St. Thomas More Parish in Coralville. “We also show a commitment to workers who are struggling to make a decent living through the sale of their crops and the selling of their goods by supporting Fairtrade.”
Sister Marilyn Huegerich, OSF, harvests onions on property owned by the Clinton Franciscans in Clinton.
“We just want to make our parishioners aware of what we do as a parish to be stewards of God’s creation and what more we could do relating it all to the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching,” Myers said. “We also want to show them how to delight in what God has given us. It’s very important to link the small things we can do to make our world a better place, like planting trees for shade in all neighborhoods, planting your own garden or participating in a community garden, buying local food and local products whenever you can, etc.”
St. John Vianney Parish in Bettendorf, responding to Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’’ (On Care for Our Common Home), adopted a Laudato Si’ Action Plan in May to build on parishioners’ relationship with God, each other and all of God’s creation. The parish also committed to using native plants in the landscaping for St. Joan of Arc Catholic School, which is under construction in northeast Bettendorf to serve St. John Vianney and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bettendorf.
The native trees and plantings “will preserve biodiversity and support wildlife,” said Jean Lipinski of St. John Vianney’s Social Justice Committee, which is meeting this week to firm up details for its commemoration of the Season of Creation. The parish also is featuring informative bulletin articles each week. She cites Thor Hanson, an American conservation biologist and author in one article. He said “combating climate change requires a shift in our relationship with our environment, and with energy — how we use it, how we make it, how much of it our lifestyles demand,” Lipinski said. “It’s the choices we make as individuals that will change our culture as a population. We can reevaluate the way we drive, eat shop, travel, garden, and even cut the grass.”
While St. John Vianney may be the first parish in the Davenport Diocese to submit its multifaceted, seven-year plan to the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform, the Davenport Diocese submitted its plan in October 2022. The Sisters of St. Francis of Clinton and the Congregation of the Humility of Mary (CHM) in Davenport previously submitted their own Laudato Si’ Action Plans to the Vatican platform.
Individual actions as well as collaborative efforts are a common theme for parishioners, women religious and diocesan leaders striving to care for creation and build relationships with God and one another. One example is “Squatters on Red Earth,” a one-man touring drama that explores the positive relationship the Amana Colonies have had with the Meskawki Indigenous people. Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat and Franciscan Peace Center, ministries of the CHM community and Clinton Franciscans, respectively, co-sponsored the tour’s stop Aug. 24 at St. Ambrose University in Davenport.
Another example is the collaboration beginning to take place among the CHM community, the Davenport Diocese and St. Ambrose University. The CHM community engaged the Omaha-based Verdis Group to conduct an energy audit of CHM properties. Verdis previously conducted an energy audit for the Davenport Diocese. “We have a good baseline of our greenhouse gas emissions. Now we can decide what things we want to do to improve,” said Sister Lynn Mousel, MD., of the CHM leadership team.
She said the expertise of a retired biology teacher on staff at Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat benefits the Sisters’ commitment to ensure development of the healthiest ecosystem possible. The prairie’s staff “certainly have done a lot in their programs and have a reforestation plan they are carrying out,” Sister Lynn added. Care of Creation is part of the CHM mission statement and speaks to a spiritual and moral responsibility. “It only gets more urgent. What are we leaving for future generations?” she asked.
For the Clinton Franciscans, one such response is their work on a “10-year plan to restore our land that is not planted as a tall-grass prairie,” said Sister Marilyn Huegerich, the community’s vice president. “These 15 acres include the woodlands, the former college soccer field, and savannas area near the Canticle (the Clinton Franciscans’ motherhouse).” The challenge is dealing with invasive species, such as Japanese Knotweed and honeysuckle, she said.
On an individual level, the Clinton Franciscans are looking at ways to reduce their use of single-use plastics. The sisters use cloth bags for their shopping trips and the Canticle now purchases household cleaning supplies in bulk form. While care for creation requires all hands on deck, individual efforts matter. Sister Marilyn quotes Edward Everett Hale, an American author, historian and Unitarian minister who said, “I can’t do everything, but I can do something.”
Season of Creation resources:
• Diocese of Davenport Care for Creation page (davenportdiocese.org/
care-for-creation).
• Season of Creation website: seasonofcreation.org
