World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
Ecological conversion together
with Pope Francis for future generations
Listen to the voice of Creation is the theme and invitation for this years’ Time of Creation, which is celebrated, as always, from today until 4 October, the feast of St Francis. In his message (Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the Celebration of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation – Laudato Si’ Movement ) Pope Francis called for the “sweet song of creation is accompanied by its bitter cry”: a clear social ecological message, because the way we deal with creation is also transferred to our attitude towards life and human beings. “The sweet song of creation invites us to practice an “ecological spirituality” (Encyclical Letter Laudato si’, 216), attentive to God’s presence in the natural world. It is an invitation to base our spirituality on the “loving awareness that we are not separate from other creatures, but form with the other beings of the universe a wonderful universal communion” (ibid., 220). (Source: Laudato SI Movement)
“LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF CREATION”
(Source: Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 2022)
“First, it is sister mother earth that cries out.
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At the mercy of our consumerist excesses, it groans and begs us to stop our abuse and its destruction.
Then, it is the different creatures that cry out.
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At the mercy of a “despotic anthropocentrism” (Laudato si’, 68), at the antipodes of Christ’s centrality in the work of creation, countless species are becoming extinct, forever ceasing their hymns of praise to God.
But it is also the poorest among us who cry out.
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Exposed to the climate crisis, the poor suffer most severely from the impact of droughts, floods, hurricanes and heat waves that continue to become more intense and frequent.
Again, our brothers and sisters of native peoples cry out.
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Due to predatory economic interests, their ancestral territories are invaded and devastated from all sides, raising “a cry that goes up to heaven” (Exhort. Ap. postsin. Querida Amazonia, 9).
Finally, our children cry out. Threatened by short-sighted selfishness, teenagers anxiously demand that we adults do everything possible to prevent or at least limit the collapse of our planet’s ecosystems.
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SMALL DEEPENING
to better understand Creation Time
“This is a special time for all Christians to pray and care for our common home together. Originally inspired by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, this time is an opportunity to cultivate our ‘ecological conversion’, a conversion encouraged by St. John Paul II in response to the ‘ecological catastrophe’ announced by St. Paul VI as early as 1970″ (Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 2022).
The motto chosen for the Time of Creation 2022 is “Hear the voice of Creation”. The accompanying symbol is that of the burning bush with the biblical quotation from Ex 3:1-12: “I have heard their cry…. I know your sufferings… Come now! I will send you… I will be with you”. See Guide to the celebration proposed by the Franciscans (seasonofcreation.org)