By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor
Popes as far back as Leo XIII (1878-1903) have “spoken of the relationship between human beings and the environment,” observed the late Pope Benedict XVI, often described as the “Green Pope.” In his 1990 Message for the World Day of Peace, St. John Paul II “emphasized our relationship, as God’s creatures, with the universe around us,” Pope Benedict wrote in his own World Day of Peace message in 2010 titled, “If you want to cultivate peace, protect Creation.”
Enter Pope Francis, who in 2015 issued his now widely referenced encyclical, Laudato Si’ (subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home”), which expands on our responsibility as stewards of Creation and connects our relationships with God, each other and the earth. That same year, Pope Francis officially entered the Roman Catholic Church in the global Season of Creation. This ecumenical commemoration of prayer and action for our common home begins Sept. 1 and concludes Oct. 4 on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. This year’s theme is “To hope and act with Creation.”
In his World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation message this year, Pope Francis speaks of our “responsibility for a humane and integral ecology, the path to salvation for our common home and for us who inhabit it.” He said the Holy Spirit “continually guides us and calls us to conversion, to a change in lifestyle in order to resist the degradation of our environment and to engagement in that social critique which is above all a witness to the real possibility of change.”
“To hope and act with Creation, then, means above all to join forces and to walk together with all men and women of good will. In this way, we can help to rethink ‘among other things, the question of human power, its meaning and its limits…’” (https://tinyurl.com/2fwky5vy).
The Season of Creation calls us to prayer and action, individually and collectively, and our faith compels us to make this a commitment for all seasons, for the sake of current and future generations. As Pope Benedict XVI said in 2010, “A greater sense of intergenerational solidarity is needed. Natural resources should be used in such a way that immediate benefits do not have a negative impact on living creatures, human and not, present and future.”
Action steps we can take in our diocese:
- Participate in Vespers for Season of Creation, 4 p.m. Sept. 1 at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Davenport. Vespers features Evening Prayer and an exploration of this year’s theme, “To hope and act with Creation.”
- Participate in Seasons of Creation activities at St. Thomas More Parish in Coralville: Outdoor Stations of the Cross for Creation, Sept. 12, 6 p.m. and Sept. 13, after 9 a.m. Mass; family event (arts, crafts, storytelling and music), Sept. 15, 2-3:30 p.m.; Peace Pole Blessing, celebrating International Day of Peace, Sept. 20, after 9 a.m. Mass; and Blessing of the Pets, Oct. 6, after 11 a.m. Mass.
- Watch The Catholic Messenger’s event page for additional activities and events as they are announced at other parishes in our diocese.
St. Thomas More’s Green Team also created Season of Creation reflections based on the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching. The reflections serve, in part, as a call to action as we consider our responsibility to care for God’s Creation individually and collectively. Think about how we might apply these suggestions (adapted for this editorial) in our daily lives, prayers and advocacy efforts in our city, county, state and federal governments:
- Individuals deserve respect no matter their viewpoint. Our senses need to guide us, our ears to listen, our eyes to see, our lips to speak with compassion and understanding. We must work together to resolve disagreements through peace and give value to everyone.
- As one body of Christ, “we are called to care for all.” In what ways can you encourage yourself, family and friends to care for our brothers and sisters and to choose actions that would promote the common good?
- Work together to ensure access to clean/safe drinking water, plant more trees for shade in all neighborhoods, make fresh food available in communities without easy access to a grocery store, plant community gardens, including fruit trees. These “are just a few of the ways we can work together to meet the basic needs of everyone in our communities.”
- The ability to make a living “is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. Protecting the dignity of work requires respect for the basic rights of workers — the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property and to economic initiative.”
To hope and act with Creation is to recognize that we are “tillers of the garden,” as Pope Francis said, encouraging seeds to germinate and roots to grow.
Barb Arland-Fye, Editor
(arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org)
