Caring for God’s Creation
The earth is the Lord’s and all it holds,
the world and all who dwell in it.
Psalm 24:1
Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home
Pope Francis’ second encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, calls all Christians to a greater responsibility in stewardship of the planet.
“Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”.[Laudato Si #1]
In response to Pope Francis’ document, we have gathered a few people together to form a Caring for God’s Creation team for the Stella Maris Family of Parishes. We began with identifying what our mission would be and created some ideas for how to begin.
Mission Statement
To raise awareness of our united call to Care for God's creation by deepening our understanding of what it means to live a more sustainable life and to act by improving environmental management practices in our homes and parishes.
In our desire to care for God’s creation,
we endeavor to:
LEARN
Learn about the causes and impact of consumerism, pollution, and climate change; especially how they are related to each other and how they impact the poor and vulnerable.
ACT
Act to increase our individual and collective contributions to the protection of the natural and human environment.
ASSESS
Assess how we as individuals, families, parishes, and other affiliations can contribute to the protection of God’s creation.
EDUCATE
Educate others on how everyone can have a positive effect in whatever role they are called to engage.
PRAY
Pray and reflect on how we can best protect God’s creation so that future generations will see God’s glory and love through God’s wonderful creation.
ADVOCATE
Advocate for Catholic principles and priorities in environmental discussions and decisions.
The need is great.
It will take all of us.
It will take all of us to truly make an impact, and visionary leadership to bring us together with enthusiasm. We invite you to consider joining the Caring for God’s Creation team . Together, we can serve God and impact the world around us for good of all of us. We recognize that each of us will bring different talents, ideas, and available time to the table. Through the loving support of each other and God’s good graces, we can make a difference in our own lives and in our community
