Brian Grogan SJ has provided Eco-Congregation Ireland an update from Loving Sister Earth.
We encouraged our Diocesan Contacts to note that while September 1 is the Pope’s Day for World Prayer for Creation, they might organise events during the Season of Creation, which is organised by the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM). It runs between Sept 1 and Oct 4 and so gives time for a wider variety of initiatives. The GCCM website offers good resources, and it registers reported events reported.
Our focus was on Harvest Festivals, ecumenical where possible. Rituals included:
– Thanksgiving for the gifts of the earth
– Prayer for the hungry of the world
– Action to show commitment to eliminate hunger and waste from the world, and to ensure fair distribution of harvests. Pope Francis says that the Churches must stand with the poor,, but that the intention to provide everyone with daily bread is not enough: action is required. Two useful quotes came from Laudato Si: ‘Whenever food is thrown out it is—as it were—stolen from the table of the poor’ (50); ‘Purchasing is always a moral, and not simply an economic act’ (226).
– We noted the GCCM pledge campaign that aims to mobilize one million people who will promise to turn Laudato Si into action.