Today, Oct. 4, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis – patron Saint of Ecology – and bring to a close the Season of Creation. If we heed the example of St. Francis, this should not be an end, but a beginning.
St. Francis started his life anew when he realized that every tree, every flower, every deer, every star, every hungry person was his sister and brother. What a marvelous call for all of us to heed.
Pray
We share the Season of Creation Prayer and invite you take a moment today to prayerfully look out the window, take a walk, pick up a leaf, and be filled with gratitude and wonder at the creation of our planet Earth. And we invite you to reflect on our global community, including flooded communities of Pakistan, drought-filled fields of the Horn of Africa, battered towns of Florida, and respond as Sister and Brother to these cries of the Earth and cries of the poor.
Study
Host a screening of The Letter, a celebrated documentary released today and based on Pope Francis’s environmental encyclical Laudato Si’. Through the voices of five extraordinary people from around the world, you will be inspired by this even more extraordinary letter that “lights the way” and gives us the “power to protect our Common Home.” Watch the trailer of The Letter here. Watch The Letter on Youtube here.
Act
We invite you to sign a letter to President Biden asking for bold leadership at the upcoming UN Climate Talks (COP27) to revive global commitments to greenhouse gas reductions and prioritize the needs of climate vulnerable nations and peoples.
Enjoy this Feast of Saint Francis and celebrate our journey of sisterhood and brotherhood with our one and only Common Home.
In solidarity,
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns