Season of Creation Resources can be found here: https://seasonofcreation.org/catholic/
Season of Creatsion Celebration Guide can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/5b276mcr
This year’s Season of Creation logo, the Burning Bush, reminds us of the power of drought and potential fire.
This year’s Season of Creation logo, the Burning Bush, reminds us of the power of drought and potential fire.
Week Six: September 30-October 4 - End of the Season of Creation 2022
Consider this SSND International Solidarity Reflection prayer service for your local community, school, or ministry during this last week of the Season of Creation.
This year’s Season of Creation logo, the Burning Bush, reminded us of the power of “removing your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) It has called us to listen to the voice of creation.
Education
As we near the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4th) and the end of the Season of Creation 2022, let us commit to learning more about our relationship with the earth and all of creation. Let us hear the howling winds, the rushing waters, the migrating birds, the silence of the gardens as they move into fall and winter. Let us make a commitment to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves, hearing both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. Let us commit to listening to the voice of creation not only in this season, but in the seasons to come. Consider listening to all or part of the St. Columban Mission podcasts on biodiversity and our sacred story, and share the link with others.
Contemplation
Francis of Assisi reminds us, in his Hymn of Creation, that all parts of creation are meant to be honored as the glory of God. Listen to the Canticle of Creation as Lectio Divina, letting the words wash over and through you anew. Pay attention to the lines or phrases that catch your attention as you hear them and pray them. To what does God call you now? What sister or brother is calling out to you as blessing?
Action
Once again we are asking you to take the survey. Please complete this province-wide assessment on how we are addressing the Laudato Si’ goals. The results will help us plan effectively for Year Two of our commitment as a congregation. We encourage you to embrace a contemplative approach to taking this survey.
Week Five: September 23-30
This year’s Season of Creation logo, the Burning Bush, reminds us of the power of “removing your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)
Education
The ground. The earth upon which you stand. Holy ground. Ground contaminated with “forever chemicals,” PFAFs that can be found in the bodies of 99% of Americans. Learn about PFAFs here. Read about how many US states continue to spread PFAF laden sludge despite the warnings. Watch this CBS Sunday Morning 12 minute video about the PFAFs in drinking water and soil. This is holy ground…listen to this song often sung in liturgy, and reflect on the words in light of these articles. What is our responsibility for “holy ground”? God works through our holy hands.
Contemplation
Laudato Si’ calls for ecological conversion, a change in our soul that moves us to action. Take a slow contemplative walk, paying attention to the earth below your feet. Imagine all those who have walked that path before – that day, last month, 100 years ago, and so on. Watch this four minute video of Thich Nhat Hanh inviting us to “the miracle of walking on the Earth”!
Action
This is the last week to complete the province-wide survey on how we are addressing the Laudato Si’ goals. The results will help us plan effectively for Year Two of our Laudato Si’ commitment as a congregation. Once again we are asking you to take the survey. This will help us see how our situation has changed over the year and it will help us formulate objectives for year two. We encourage you to embrace a contemplative approach to taking this survey
Week Four: September 16-23
This year’s Season of Creation logo, the Burning Bush, reminds us of the power and gift of listening to creation, to the sounds created in the infinite wisdom of the Creator.
Education
Listen with your ears and listen with your heart to the sounds of a Canadian forest filled with birds. Close your eyes and listen; or put the video on full screen as you listen and watch. Play it on your phone as you reflect. It is long enough for serious contemplation. Creation is dramatic in its exquisite simplicity. If only we would remove the sandals from our feet and listen, knowing the place where we stand is holy ground. Exodus 3:2-5: There the angel of the LORD appeared to him as fire flaming out of a bush. When he looked, although the bush was on fire, it was not being consumed. So Moses decided, “I must turn aside to look at this remarkable sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to look, God called out to him from the bush: Moses! Moses! He answered, “Here I am.” God said: Do not come near! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
Contemplation
Laudato Si’ calls for ecological conversion, a change in our soul that moves us to action. Pope Francis writes: “By learning to see and appreciate beauty, we learn to reject self-interested pragmatism. If someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without scruple.” (LS 215) Listen to the beautiful sounds of the forest and share your reflection with another.
Action
Please complete the province wide survey on how we are addressing the Laudato Si’ goals. The results will help us plan effectively for Year Two of our Laudato Si’ commitment as a congregation. Once again we are asking you to take the survey. This will help us see how our situation has changed over the year and it will help us formulate objectives for year two. We encourage you to embrace a contemplative approach to taking this survey.
Week Three: September 9-16
This year’s Season of Creation logo, the Burning Bush, reminds us of the power of water – a sacramental symbol which gives life, sustains life when clean and available, extinguishes fire, and is also capable of flooding that destroys.
Education
Water, water, everywhere. Read about the flooding across the globe, much of it due to climate change. The devastating floods in Pakistan literally beg us to hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor; read about the impact on infants and children. UNICEF calls us to hear the cries of the children. Remember the catastrophic flooding in Kentucky last month and learn about the struggle for schools to open or find space and materials to open throughout the area. Learn more about the water situation in Jackson, Mississippi, and how the lack of infrastructure leaves poor and minority communities without safe water.
Listen to creation in these videos of the waters of the earth – the sea and waterfalls.
Contemplation
Laudato Si’ calls for ecological conversion, a change in our soul that moves us to action. Track all the clean water you use this week – to wash, to bathe, to flush the toilet, to drink, the water you cook with, the glasses of water you don’t finish, the water you use to make ice, - all the clean water you use in one week. Watch this 3 ½ minute video “The Story of Water” and what it means for you. Hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
Action
Last year during the Season of Creation, we asked you to fill out a survey to see what we as a province were doing that already addressed the seven Laudato Si' goals. We used the results of the survey to help us formulate our province objectives for year one.
Once again we are asking you to take the survey. This will help us see how our situation has changed over the year and it will help us formulate objectives for year two. We encourage you to embrace a contemplative approach to taking this survey
Week Two: September 5-9 FIRE
This year’s Season of Creation logo, the Burning Bush, reminds us of the power of fire to heat, to clear, to destroy.
Education:
Wildfires destroy everything in their path. They also produce smoke, which causes additional damage to life and property; read what the CDC says about wildfire smoke damage.
Fire is also nature’s way of clearing space for new growth; read about the ecological benefits of fire. Humans have built homes encroaching on habitats that are meant to burn in the circle of life. The National Interagency Fire Center is a daily update on wildfires across the United States; you can access that information here; a similar report, National Wildland Fire Situation Report, can be found here for Canada.
Contemplation:
Prayer and reflection guidance and resources for the SSND Laudato Si’ survey below can be found here. Laudato Si’ calls for ecological conversion, a change in our soul that moves us to action. If possible, take a slow contemplative walk as you consider your own spirit in this Season of Creation and God’s call to respond in an ever-deeper way to care for all creation.
Action:
We are about to begin Year Two of our congregational commitment to be a Laudato Si' congregation. Last year during the Season of Creation, we asked you to fill out a survey to see what we as a province were doing that already addressed the seven Laudato Si' goals. We used the results of the survey to help us formulate our province objectives for year one.
Once again we are asking you to take the survey. This will help us see how our situation has changed over the year and it will help us formulate objectives for year two. We encourage you to embrace a contemplative approach to taking this survey. May God be with us as we continue to grow into our commitment to be a Laudato Si' Congregation. Blessed Mother Theresa and Mother Caroline, pray for us.
Week One: September 1-5 DROUGHT
Education
Drought is intimately connected to the wildfires around the globe, to catastrophic flooding when the rains do come, as well as to food shortages that affect all but most especially those who are poor. Learn more about what a drought is, what causes drought conditions, and what immediate interventions are necessary to respond to drought conditions. Read about drought conditions in Canada here. Desertification of the earth is global, not local. The United Nations is approaching the issues globally in the Drought Initiative. Drought is also a key factor in driving global migration patterns.
Contemplation
Read at least one of the links above. Laudato Si’ calls for ecological conversion, a change in our soul that moves us to action. If possible, take a slow contemplative walk as you consider your own spirit in this Season of Creation and God’s call to respond in an ever deeper way to care for all creation.
Action
Limit your consumption of meat, especially beef. “Across the US, 60% of cattle are living in drought areas, driving this year's record slaughter, according to the USDA. If it rains, and it seems like there will be enough grass, ranchers may decide to breed their cows and expand their herds, replenishing the US cattle population. But it will take time for those cows to give birth, and for the calves to grow big enough to eat.
