As we prepare to celebrate the Ecumenical Season of Creation from September 1 through October 4, may we follow in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi and learn to respect and care for creation and one another so that justice and peace may flow for all. Please mark your calendars and join us in celebrating the Season of Creation 2024.
Season of Creation reflections will be published in the Wheaton Franciscan Latest News each week beginning September 6 through October 4. In addition, scroll down for a list of events during the Season of Creation that you are invited to participate!
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We have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ #49
2024 Season of Creation Reflections
A mere 3 months ago, we were listening to a chorus of cicadas all day and well into the night. This 17-year ritual cycle reminded me of God’s miracles, which happen not every 17 years but all the time around us.
- The miracle of the cicadas that “help us hear the pulsating song of the world.”
- That reminds us to “appreciate the sacredness and fragility of life and preciousness of time…”
Some would see the cicadas as imperfections – they are loud, they ruin certain trees, and they are not “cute” little bugs, but they remind us to see beauty in our world, however imperfect it is. It is our God-given role in this world to see God’s wisdom in ALL creatures in it, be they cicadas, children, plants, or animals…and work in concert with all these God-given creatures to keep this gift of God to us what God intended it to be – truly a GIFT!
Quotes are from Prayer for the Cicadas by John Riehl
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
Marie Curie
When I joined the Laudato Si’ Action Plan circle, my limited understanding of the message was “save Mother Nature.” Lately, the second Laudato Si’ (LS) goal has loomed larger: response to the cry of the poor. How do I care for God’s people beyond my family and friends? How do I connect with marginalized folks beyond donations?
A surprise answer surfaced when I was invited to host a conversation group with female refugees. I wanted to help, but I had to face my fears: What if we couldn’t understand each other? I often struggle to understand accented English, sometimes shutting down with anxiety. How would I conduct a chat?!
I began my group, nervous and unsure. The women shyly showed up. We all faced our fear of “the other.” And then the conversation started to flow, not always smoothly but heartfelt. Shoulders relaxed, faces opened, laughter bubbled up, and topics emerged.
Pope Francis calls us to ecological conversion, the “transformation of hearts and minds toward greater love of God, each other, and creation.” LS living encourages us to face the impact of racism and fear of “the other” in our experiences.
The Spirit accompanies us as we step outside our comfort zone…always.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, priest and paleontologist (1881-1955), spoke often about spirituality and the power of the universe that we are still pondering. This quote inspires me:
“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”
I wonder at the possibilities of harnessing “the energies of love.”
Love changes us all: our direction in life, our decisions for ourselves and others, our perception of how we fit into a larger whole. Love can transform everything by giving us passion, commitment, and the fire of aliveness.
That’s what creation is: aliveness. The aliveness Teilhard expressed is a new energy in the soul for love – a love of tenderness, compassion, and caring for all that the Divine has given us on this living planet. Soon all that life could bloom even more, fueled by the energy of love within us.
With the Divine, we can bring forth a new creation to cultivate all of life for the good of all of us. That’s the gift that keeps on giving.
When I stand alone with the earth and sky a feeling of something in me going off in every direction into the unknown of infinity means more to me than anything.
Georgia O’Keeffe
Set against the infinity of the cosmos and the immensity of time, what possible purpose does stewarding this quarter acre of land situated in a corner of DuPage County serve?
Two hundred years ago, W. H. Moffett left New York to break ground on what was then pristine prairie, dotted by mixed oak groves, just west of the Dupage River. Their cabin was situated near the spot where my home was built 160 years later. Before Moffett, the land was a hunting ground for Pottawatomie, and before that, it was for other tribes, in a timeline going back over 9000 years. Mastadon roamed here 16,000 years ago. My forty-year presence feels insignificant against the backdrop of all who came before. And yet, here I am.
The last decade has been devoted to restoration, planting a range of native species to heal and revive a fraction of what was stripped over the preceding century. It’s a balance between imagining what was and creating within the framework of what exists in the present. There is no going back – the diversity of earlier times is gone. Instead, I offer an invitation and a welcome to all that might settle here now, with a spirit of curiosity and wonder and gentle nudging.
The earth needs us less than we need her. It has known and survived cataclysm. The story of the cosmos is one of destruction and rebirth. The story of our land is evolving and will continue to be told long after we have gone to ashes. So, how do we use the gift of our infinitesimal sliver of time? Who will we be while we are walking here now?
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts…Practice resurrection.
Wendell Berry
During the Season of Creation (SOC) 2024, we are all acutely aware of the devastating consequences of climate change for ourselves, our global brothers and sisters, and Earth.
Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si reminds us that we are called to create “the beloved community” by caring for one another and for creation. This concept of integral ecology recognizes that we are all expressions of the divine presence revealed in time and space. We cannot care for creation without also caring for one another. This requires allowing grace to transform our consciousness so that we can heal divisions and polarizations and thereby heal ourselves and our planet.
We are invited to listen with open hearts to the stories of our lives and to the suffering of the planet. Pope Francis refers to this as creating a culture of encounter, where we enter into heart-to-heart dialogue with creation and with one another with curiosity and respect, allowing the encounter to change us.
Listening has the power to transform. As we journey together, let each of us contribute what we can and allow ourselves to be stretched and strengthened by the voices and perspectives of others. Let’s spend time in nature, listening to her whispers of wisdom, bringing us to hope and act for a flourishing future together.
Season of Creation Events
- Prayer Service for Creation Livestream: Sun, 9/1 at 8:00 a.m. CT (in Auditorium)
- Open the Season of Creation at Sunday Mass: Sun, 9/1 at 10:30 a.m. CT (in Auditorium)
- Coffee &… in the Promenade: Sun, 9/1 after Mass at 11:30 a.m. CT
- Season of Creation Sunday Mass: Sun, 9/8 at 10:30 a.m. CT (in Auditorium)
- Webinar on Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty: Tues, 9/10 at 8:00 a.m. CT
- Season of Creation Sunday Mass: Sun, 9/15 at 10:30 a.m. CT (in Auditorium)
- Concert in the St. Clare Garden by John Niemet: Thurs, 9/19 from Noon-1:00 p.m.
- A Day of Action for Creation: Sat, 9/21 from 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Space is Limited. RSVP by September 1
- Season of Creation Sunday Mass: Sun, 9/22 at 10:30 a.m. CT (return to OLA Chapel)
- Season of Creation Sunday Mass: Sun, 9/29 at 10:30 a.m. CT
- Celebratory Closing of the Season of Creation at Mass: Sun, 10/6 at 10:30 a.m. CT
- Coffee and a Presentation: Sun, 10/6 after Mass at 11:30 a.m. CT
- Enjoy a presentation on “A Better Politics:” Creating Beloved Community through Discernment as a Multi-Issue Voter” by Sister Bea Hernandez