September 1st is the World Day of prayer for the Care of Creation and the beginning of the month long Season of Creation, that ends on 4th October – the feast day of af St. Francis of Assisi. In this special Laudato Si anniversary year that kicked off at the turn of the Laudato Si 5th anniversary in May, coupled with the fact that this year also marks the 50th anniversary of the first World Earth Day, we are called to join the ecumenical family to celebrate the 2020 Season of Creation with the theme JUBILEE OF THE EARTH. The season of creation is a time of increased prayer, reflection and action for the care of each other and the earth – our common home.
In the words of Pope Francis (Laudato Si 217), he calls on all of us during this season to realise that “living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue, it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience” In the light of the traumatic experience the world has been subjected to with the corona virus pandemic, what Pope Francis terms the “Cry of the Earth” and the “Cry of the Poor” have embraced. Hence his message to all of us to attend to the “immense hardship for the most vulnerable among us” the poor.
Therefore amid this pandemic that has thrown up our vulnerabilities as well as our interconnectedness, that has thrown into a near state of crisis our socio- political and economic systems and almost rattled our foundations, we must as a people of hope, rise up in urgency, to repair the relationships that sustain us – our relationship with God, with each other and with creation – they are all interrelated and connected. The rupture of any of these bonds is indeed a Sin. We must open our eyes to the beauty around us.
we must return to nature we must individually and as a community be ecologically converted and put it into practise this season and beyond. We must care for creation by a changed lifestyle, from consumption to conservation, reuse and recycle. Re- green your homes, parishes and community. The earth and the poor beckon on you – will you reach out to help change and renew their faces? Finally, let me reiterate the Pope’s 2019 season of creation charge as we enter the Jubilee of the Earth 2020 Season of Creation “this is the season for letting our prayer be inspired anew, to reflect on our lifestyles and to undertake prophetic actions ….calling for courageous decisions…. directing the planet towards life not death”.
“LAUDATO SI, mi Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord” Marie Fatayi-Williams Laudato Si Animator.
