Throughout the month of September, Christians across the world will celebrate the Season of Creation, an annual invitation to pray and reflect on our shared call to care for the earth - our common home and the blessed, beloved creation of God. The Season of Creation takes place from September 1st (World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation) to October 4th (Feast of St. Francis of Assisi) under the 2024 international theme, ‘Hope and act with creation'. The symbol, 'The firstfruits of hope', is inspired by Romans 8:19-25. Paul’s letter to the Romans describes the Earth as a Mother, groaning as in childbirth (Rom 8:22). Francis of Assisi understood this when he referred to the Earth as our sister and our mother in his Canticle of Creatures. The times we live in show that we are not relating to the Earth as a gift from our Creator, but rather as a resource to be used. And yet, there is hope and the expectation for a better future. To hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet, but rather actively striving for new life amidst the struggles. Just as in childbirth, through a period of intense pain new life springs forth. Pope Francis invites us to pray and act in hope in his 2024 Season of Creation letter, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/cura-creato/documents/20240627-messaggio-giornata-curacreato.html In this letter, he says: As people who dare to dream, we must dream with our eyes wide open, impelled by a desire for love, fraternity, friendship and justice for all. The protection of creation, then, is not only an ethical issue, but one that is eminently theological … In this way, our lives can become a song of love for God, for humanity, with and for creation, and find their fullness in holiness. We invite you join us in hopeful action to care for our common home during this Season of Creation and beyond!

 

This week, we present a message from Pope Francis and his message regarding our shared responsibility for the care of creation and acting justly.  In addition, we share reflections on this weekend’s Gospel reading.  We invite you to read, pray, and take action.

Message of His Holiness Pope Francis
for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
1 September 2023

Dear brothers and sisters!

“Let Justice and Peace Flow” is the theme of this year’s ecumenical Season of Creation, inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (5:24).

The evocative image used by Amos speaks to us of what God desires.  God wants justice to reign; it is as essential to our life as God’s children made in his likeness as water is essential for our physical survival.  This justice must flow forth wherever it is needed, neither remaining hidden deep beneath the ground nor vanishing like water that evaporates before it can bring sustenance. God wants everyone to strive to be just in every situation, to live according to his laws and thus to enable life to flourish.  When we “seek first the kingdom of God” (Mt 6:33), maintaining a right relationship with God, humanity and nature, then justice and peace can flow like a never-failing stream of pure water, nourishing humanity and all creatures.

On a beautiful summer day in July 2022, during my pilgrimage to Canada, I reflected on this on the shores of Lac Ste. Anne in Alberta.  That lake has been a place of pilgrimage for many generations of indigenous people.  Surrounded by the beating of drums, I thought: “How many hearts have come here with anxious longing, weighed down by life’s burdens, and found by these waters consolation and strength to carry on!  Here, immersed in creation, we can also sense another beating: the maternal heartbeat of the earth. Just as the hearts of babies in the womb beat in harmony with those of their mothers, so in order to grow as people, we need to harmonize our own rhythms of life with those of creation, which gives us life”.

During this Season of Creation, let us dwell on those heartbeats: our own and those of our mothers and grandmothers, the heartbeat of creation and the heartbeat of God.  Today they do not beat in harmony; they are not harmonized in justice and peace.  Too many of our brothers and sisters are prevented from drinking from that mighty river.  Let us heed our call to stand with the victims of environmental and climate injustice, and to put an end to the senseless war against creation.

The effects of this war can be seen in the many rivers that are drying up.  Benedict XVI once observed that: “the external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast”.  Consumerist greed, fueled by selfish hearts, is disrupting the planet’s water cycle.  The unrestrained burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of forests are pushing temperatures higher and leading to massive droughts.  Alarming water shortages increasingly affect both small rural communities and large metropolises.  Moreover, predatory industries are depleting and polluting our freshwater sources through extreme practices such as fracking for oil and gas extraction, unchecked mega-mining projects, and intensive animal farming.  “Sister Water”, in the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, is pillaged and turned into “a commodity subject to the laws of the market” (Laudato Si’, 30).

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that acting now with greater urgency means that we will not miss our chance to create a more sustainable and just world.  We can and we must prevent the worst from happening.  “Truly, much can be done” (ibid., 180), provided we come together like so many streams, brooks and rivulets, merging finally in a mighty river to irrigate the life of our marvelous planet and our human family for generations to come.  So let us join hands and take bold steps to “Let Justice and Peace Flow” throughout our world.

How can we contribute to the mighty river of justice and peace in this Season of Creation?  What can we, particularly as Christian communities, do to heal our common home so that it can once again teem with life?  We must do this by resolving to transform our hearts, our lifestyles, and the public policies ruling our societies.

First, let us join the mighty river by transforming our hearts.  This is essential for any other transformation to occur; it is that “ecological conversion” which Saint John Paul II encouraged us to embrace: the renewal of our relationship with creation so that we no longer see it as an object to be exploited but cherish it instead as a sacred gift from our Creator.  Furthermore, we should realize that an integral approach to respect for the environment involves four relationships: with God, with our brothers and sisters of today and tomorrow, with all of nature, and with ourselves.

As to the first of these relationships, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the urgent need to recognize that creation and redemption are inseparably linked: “The Redeemer is the Creator and if we do not proclaim God in his full grandeur – as Creator and as Redeemer – we also diminish the value of the redemption”.  Creation refers both to God’s mysterious, magnificent act of creating this majestic, beautiful planet and universe out of nothing and to the continuing result of that act, which we experience as an inexhaustible gift.  During the liturgy and personal prayer in “the great cathedral of creation”, let us recall the great Artist who creates such beauty, and reflect on the mystery of that loving decision to create the cosmos.

Second, let us add to the flow of this mighty river by transforming our lifestyles.  Starting from grateful wonder at the Creator and his creation, let us repent of our “ecological sins”, as my brother, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, has urged.  These sins harm the world of nature and our fellow men and women.  With the help of God’s grace, let us adopt lifestyles marked by less waste and unnecessary consumption, especially where the processes of production are toxic and unsustainable.  Let us be as mindful as we can about our habits and economic decisions so that all can thrive – our fellow men and women wherever they may be, and future generations as well.  Let us cooperate in God’s ongoing creation through positive choices: using resources with moderation and a joyful sobriety, disposing and recycling waste, and making greater use of available products and services that are environmentally and socially responsible.

Lastly, for the mighty river to continue flowing, we must transform the public policies that govern our societies and shape the lives of young people today and tomorrow.  Economic policies that promote scandalous wealth for a privileged few and degrading conditions for many others, spell the end of peace and justice.  It is clear that the richer nations have contracted an “ecological debt” that must be paid (cf. Laudato Si’, 51).  The world leaders who will gather for the COP28 summit in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December must listen to science and institute a rapid and equitable transition to end the era of fossil fuels.  According to the commitments undertaken in the Paris Agreement to restrain global warming, it is absurd to permit the continued exploration and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructures.  Let us raise our voices to halt this injustice towards the poor and towards our children, who will bear the worst effects of climate change.  I appeal to all people of good will to act in conformity with these perspectives on society and nature.

Another parallel perspective has to do with the Catholic Church’s commitment to synodality.  This year, the closing of the Season of Creation on 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, will coincide with the opening of the Synod on Synodality.  Like rivers in nature, fed by myriad tiny brooks and larger streams and rivulets, the synodal process that began in October 2021 invites all those who take part on a personal or community level, to coalesce in a majestic river of reflection and renewal.  The entire People of God is being invited to an immersive journey of synodal dialogue and conversion.

So too, like a river basin with its many tiny and larger tributaries, the Church is a communion of countless local Churches, religious communities and associations that draw from the same shared waters.  Each source adds its unique and irreplaceable contribution, until all flow together into the vast ocean of God’s loving mercy.  In the same way that a river is a source of life for its surroundings, our synodal Church must be a source of life for our common home and all its inhabitants.  In the same way that a river gives life to all kinds of animal and plant life, a synodal Church must give life by sowing justice and peace in every place it reaches.

In Canada, in July 2022, I spoke of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus brought healing and consolation to many people and proclaimed “a revolution of love”.  Lac Ste. Anne, I learned, is also a place of healing, consolation and love, a place that “reminds us that fraternity is genuine if it unites those who are far apart, [and] that the message of unity that heaven sends down to earth does not fear differences, but invites us to fellowship, a communion of differences, in order to start afresh together, because we are all pilgrims on a journey”.

In this Season of Creation, as followers of Christ on our shared synodal journey, let us live, work and pray that our common home will teem with life once again.  May the Holy Spirit once more hover over the waters and guide our efforts to “renew the face of the earth” (cf. Ps 104:30).

Reflection on this week’s Gospel - Matthew 18:15-20:  Prophecy

If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over…

Confrontation is unpleasant and hard, even when our cause may be right and just.  Yet today’s Gospel describes justified confrontation as a necessity. the climate crisis requires confrontation with the world’s powerful governments, finance institutions, and extractive industries. Each of these entities benefits, in various ways, from the status quo of the climate crisis. Finance institutions enjoy profits from oil and gas – which they have financed to the tune of trillions since the Paris Climate Agreement. Extractive industries profit from the continued growth of their businesses at the very time when they should be giving way to clean energy. Some governments benefit by playing to a nationalist, anti-climate, anti-immigrant, anti-women base of support.

Many faith communities, and their clergy, are uncomfortable about confronting these powerful forces. They fear that if they speak out, they will suffer criticism of mixing politics and religion or backlash from certain wealthy benefactors. These fears, while both predictable and understandable, are hurdles which faith communities must overcome. If it is wrong to destroy God’s creation, then it is certainly wrong to profit from such destruction. Religious communities have a responsibility to society, and a sacred duty, to speak out in the face of wrong. Confrontation of evil is part of the prophetic tradition of the church. Now is such a time to raise prophetic voices.

In the words of the late great prophet Archbishop Tutu: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

So as people of faith we are called to act – we draw strength from our traditions from our shared Eucharistic celebration, from songs of joy and lament. We draw on the love we have for neighbors and for our children, and we stand on the prophetic tradition of the saints who go before us.

Wake up! It is time!

In the face of a big issue, we can feel small, and as if our actions won’t make a difference. But it is exactly in the conversion of individual hearts and minds, and the following action that springs forth, that true cultural change can be made. So, what is each of us to do? On this 3rd Sunday of the Season of Creation, the scriptures compel us to take action. Today’s first reading is taken from the 3rd Servant Song. In the verse just before today’s passage begins, the Servant of God declares, “God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.” And continues, “Morning after morning God opens my ear that I may hear…” And in the second ready, James insists that faith that is not put into action is worthless. We whose ears have been opened to God’s Work in the Cry of the Poor and the Cry of the Earth must use our “well-trained tongues” to speak out the prophetic Word we have received. How might we take up the opportunities God provides to each of us to forward the healing and saving of the Earth and all its communities? How can each of us use the gifts we have been given – our talents, our resources, our commitment – to do what needs to be done? Reflection: Are you among those who believe in God, Who births all created things, renews all things, and cherishes all things with love? Are you among those who believe in God, Who opens the ears and frees the tongues of those called to be Servants of the New Creation among us in these times? Are you among those who believe in Jesus, the risen Christ, Who reconciles all things to God, renewing all Creation, and filling the Universe? Are you among those who believe in the Holy Spirit, Who renews life in Creation, kindling within us the fire of compassion and the willingness to work for the rebirth of Creation? This is our faith. Through it we see God’s revelation emerging in new ways among us. Through it we embrace the promise of God’s saving love and our mission to restore the household of Creation. Amen.

On this fourth weekend of September, our community is invited to think about the future for STM – to dream about the future of this parish community, about the growth of our shared faith, and the ways that we can be a light to the communities we live in. What will we dare to dream in this precious opportunity?

In this week’s readings, we are given a sense of the destructive power of passions, divisions,
jealousies, greed, and competition, both for people and, in this Season of Creation, for Earth
itself and all Earth inhabitants. This destructive dynamic contrasts sharply with what the Letter of James calls “the Wisdom from above,” a wisdom that embraces the importance of turning our
competitive energies to true service of the least among us and the Creation of which we are a
part.

In the gospel, Jesus catches the Twelve arguing among themselves, competing to be
recognized as the greatest in the group. Most all of us have to acknowledge a competitive
streak in ourselves. It may show itself in different situations and ways. Some people’s
competitive juices flow when the issue is recognition. Some instinctively compete for power and
control. The economy is driven when people compete for wealth. Others compete to be most
helpful…. What is worth noting in this gospel passage is that Jesus does not tell the Twelve to
stop competing. The drive to compete can provide powerful energy to drive action. Jesus tells
them that his disciples need to channel their competitive energies into service, service of the
least.

What competitive challenges do we find ourselves rising to most naturally and spontaneously?
Through study and prayerful reflection, how can we best direct our competitive energies, both
individually and as communities, to serve Creation and the human community in this time of
growing crisis and need? Will our plans and efforts deepen our personal and community
ecological spirituality? Can they help to free us from the competitive dynamics driving climate
change and social conflict? How can we nurture growth in mutual service, simplicity of life, and
the true wisdom “full of mercy and good fruits” that will bring the change and healing that Earth and we so urgently need?

So, what does this mean for STM? As we dream about the future, perhaps it helps to
acknowledge the past. This parish has a strong history of involvement in justice issues. Among
those is the Care for Creation work done by many in this parish, and the responsible
stewardship shown by parish leaders and staff over the years. In the past decade, this has
resulted in practical actions including:

• Retrofitting all light fixtures on campus to LED fixtures (estimated savings of $10,000 per
  year on energy costs)
• Replacing old, drafty windows on campus
• Establishing campus wide recycling programs
• Equipping St. Ignatius Hall with reusables – dishes, glassware, tableware – so events
  like the Spaghetti Dinner can be close to zero-waste
• Instituting campus wide organics collection, so the food waste -and items like your coffee
  cup and napkin on Donut Sunday - can be composted
• Education efforts have included virtual events such as a presentation on climate ethics,
  discussions on Laudato Si, presentation on solar installation, an art exhibit, and an invitation to all parishioners to complete the household inventory.

Your homework assignment: Before you join in the master planning discussions, consider
these questions:
1. As we dream about the future, what other actions should our parish community take to
conserve resources and care for our common home? What opportunities exist for us to
be sustainable into the future?
2. How might STM serve as an example to other faith communities? What might we do
that will inspire others?
3. What can we do to educate, to demonstrate, and to bolster caring for our common home
within our own homes, within this faith community, within the city and state, and in the
broader world?