The Australian Province Reconciliation with Creation (RwC) Committee is celebrating Season of Creation that starts with the World Day of Prayer for Creation on 1 September and ends with the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi on 4 October.
And this year, with the crises that are shaking the world, there is an urgent need to heal our relationships with Creation and each other, as we “enter a time of restoration and hope, a jubilee for our Earth, that requires radically new ways of living with creation.” (From Season of Creation)
In their invitation to celebrate the Season of Creation, the RwC Committee also shared the call of Pope Francis to hear the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth and acknowledge, reflect, pray, and act to celebrate and care for God’s creation during Season of Creation 2020, with 13 possible activities to meaningfully celebrate:
- Mark 1 September as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
- Follow the Season of Creation calendar 1 September – 4 October by the Mercy International Association
- Create a liturgy using 7 Days of Creation Reflection-Retreat: Scripture and Prayers by Father Charles Rue of the Columban Mission
- Undertake the Being with God in Nature online eco retreat with Peter Saunders
- Seek some new resources for your own formation, such as the 30-day meditations in Finding God in a Leaf by Brian Grogan SJ
- Take up the challenge to live simply in COVID-19 times, such as drawing attention to environmentally responsible ways of responding to COVID-19, being waste-wise, not using single-use plastic, doing the Responsible Café contactless coffee
- Be creative – paint, make a creation mandala, join the Knitting Nannas Against Gas
- Join the Faith Ecology Networkevents
- Save the dates 26 to 30 September 2021 for the International Ignatian Ecospiritual Conference
- Undertake a course such as Go Deep Green by the Community of the Cosmic Person or the Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home mini-course by the SDG academy
- Support the Green Faith Climate Emergency Declaration
- Find inspiration, visit Plastic free Sophia
- Create your own Season of Creation prayer space
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, in a letter after Laudato Si’ Week, also encouraged “new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology by planning activities for the Season of Creation” through a letter by Monsignor Bruno-Marie Duffé on 24 May 2020.
“Pope Francis’ message, which calls us to attend to the ‘immense hardship for the most vulnerable among us,’ is particularly relevant in the light of the coronavirus pandemic. As the world experiences deep uncertainty and suffering in the midst of a global emergency, we are called to recognize that a truly healthy recovery means seeing that “everything is connected” and repairing the bonds we have broken. We realize that we need to grow more and more in solidarity and take care of one another in fraternity.
“Inspired by the apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia, we encourage the people of God to accelerate their walks towards new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology by planning activities for the Season of Creation. These might include activities such as a special mass or pilgrimage walk, sustainability practices, or advocacy initiatives to respond to the ‘cry of the earth and the cry of the poor,’ to take place during this special season.”
For more information on the Season of Creation activities of the Australian Province Reconciliation with Creation Committee, please contact the RwC Project Officer, Ms Sue Martin, through her email: sue.martin@sjasl.org.au.
