Second Sunday of the Season of Creation - the Exhaltation of the Cross

 The 1st Sunday of this Season of Creation called us to humility before the vast and intricate web of Creation and laid out before us some of the costs of discipleship to Christ in this time of urgent global crisis.

The complex, integral ecological crisis confronting us in these times bears witness to humanity’s lack of humility in relating to the rest of Creation, our attitude of domination toward nature and the lack of attention to the challenging dimensions of discipleship to Christ.

The punishing natural consequences of those failures – the more frequent and severe fires, floods, and many other impacts of the warming of the planet – threaten the future of life on Earth in all its dimensions.

Today’s liturgy assures us of God’s readiness to forgive us and to welcome our conversion while warning us of the punishing natural consequences of sinful values and actions so visible in the sufferings of the crucified Christ. In these times we need to see them as well in the crucifying suffering of Earth and of the poor.

The First Sunday of the Season of Creation

From the Ursuline JPIC Team

In recent years, under the leadership of Pope Francis, the Season of Creation has taken its place in the Catholic liturgical calendar, uniting Catholics worldwide with the more than 35-year Ecumenical/Orthodox history of its celebration. The Season of Creation extends from September 1st, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to October 4th, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

The Season focuses on God as Creator of the vast, cosmic Universe, God’s revelation in Creation, and our response to our calling to care for Creation and address the urgent need to protect its rich diversity and its capacity to sustain life as we know it.

The celebration of the Season of Creation, since its foundation, has come amid a complex environmental, social, political, and cultural crisis. The impacts of this crisis make it hard to ignore the urgency of its message and the importance of our prayer and work to address it: record-setting heat waves killing people by the thousands around the planet, severe and long-term droughts, famines, massive wild fires and a never-ending fire “season,” serious water shortages facing major cities, more violent storms and destructive flash floods, rising sea levels, millions of people driven from their homes as climate-change refugees, and so much more….

The theme serving as a focus for this year’s Season of Creation is “Peace with Creation.” This theme reminds us that many human activities amount to a “war against Creation.” Unsustainable lifestyles, exploitive business models, excessive consumption and throw-away cultures, thoughtless destruction of habitats, disregard for biodiversity loss, and the devastation of literal wars are just a few of the human dynamics threatening the web of life around planet Earth.

The mission before us as people of faith and members of the human community is to work for the justice and global solidarity that are essential to establishing “Peace with Creation.” Coming to understand and enter into this process is one of the most important challenges of the Season of Creation.

The first scripture reading, from the Book of Wisdom, in today’s liturgy calls us to humility before the great Mystery we call God and to prayer for God’s Spirit of Wisdom to guide us into right living within this vast Web of Creation upon which we depend and of which we are a part. The second reading from St. Paul urges us to welcome as brothers and sisters in Christ people whose wisdom about Creation has for ages been disregarded and who themselves have been marginalized and even enslaved. In the gospel, Jesus wants us to hear the seriousness and costs of discipleship in the face of these challenging conditions.

Season of Creation

The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is observed annually on September 1 to encourage believers to pray for the planet and take action to protect it. Established by Pope Francis for the Catholic Church in 2015, the day marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, a month-long period of prayer and advocacy for environmental stewardship that extends to October 4. Pope Francis adopted the day for the Roman Catholic Church, coinciding with the release of his encyclical letter Laudato Si': Care for Our Common Home.

Communities are encouraged to engage in various forms of prayer, such as meditative nature walks, liturgical celebrations, and reading scripture.

The day promotes practical steps, including advocating for rapid decarbonization, supporting a just energy transition to renewable sources, and preserving natural resources.

It serves as a time to reflect on the connection between social justice and environmental protection, and the disproportionate impact of environmental degradation on vulnerable communities.

There are many resources available for this Season focusing on care for the planet and to advocate for it. Resources can be found online at: https://seasonofcreation.org/.

Go Out to All the World

A good friend of mine wrote a musical accompaniment for today’s responsorial psalm. I have always loved this psalm, but his musical accompaniment has brought it to life in a new way for me. Whenever I hear this psalm, I always find myself singing his version in my head.

The words are relatively simple, yet the message is profound. Psalm 117 states:

Go out to all the world and tell the good news and tell the good news.

Praise the Lord all you nations, glorify Him all you peoples.

For steadfast is His kindness to us and the fidelity of the Lod endures forever.

These rather simple words are a true call for us during our current times. We are called to go out and proclaim the message of Jesus. As ambassadors for Jesus, we are called to proclaim His love for all people in our daily life by our words and our actions. In a world full of pain and despair we are called to be light and hope for others. We are called to bring the good news to all people by our words and our actions. May we always  share the good news of Jesus with all.

Hope Unbroken: Journeying in God's Promise

 From the LCWR Website

The 2025 assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) entitled Hope Unbroken: Journeying in God’s Promise drew approximately 560 LCWR members as well as about 300 collaborators to Atlanta, Georgia from August 12-15. Throughout the event, participants acknowledged the struggle of these times and explored the practices that can ground them in faith so they can live “hope unbroken” for the sake of the world, the church, and their religious communities. 

In a moving personal reflection that stemmed from the experience of being diagnosed with cancer shortly after assuming her role as LCWR president Sister Kathy Brazda, CSJ of LaGrange, Illinois shared in an address the questions she carried: “How could I lead when I had doubts about my own future, my own life, my own ability to be competent? How could I plan for a future that I had doubts would be available to me?” In her address, she recounted what she had learned about leadership for these times from the stance of greater vulnerability. “In surrendering to God’s strength, we can come to courage and grace and the dynamism of love. With that encouragement, we can face the future through the best and worst of times.”

Sister Simona Brambilla, MC prefect of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome, addressed how religious life can be a sign of hope today. She noted, “May consecrated life truly always be a humble prophecy of forgiveness, of reparation, of the rebuilding of bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood, of peace, of trust, of communion. May it be a sentinel with senses sharpened and open to perceive in the night the breath of God, His gentle light, His whisper, His fragrance, His unmistakable taste, in order to welcome it, point it out, proclaim it, and walk the paths of hope that does not disappoint, because they are rooted in the Paschal Mystery, in the Heart of God.”

Rev. James Martin, SJ, editor-at-large at America Media, using the gospel story of the raising of Lazarus challenged the participants to apply the insights of this story to the realities of US religious life today. He posed the questions: “What is keeping us from hearing God’s voice in our lives, in our congregations, in our communities?” “What do you, what do we, need to leave behind to hear God calling us into a surprising new life?”

A panel of three women religious leaders, Sisters Barbara Beasley, RGS; Pat McDermott, RSM; and Sara Postlethwaite, VDMF, spoke to what has held them in the challenges of religious life leadership so that their hope remains unbroken. Drawing upon their own experiences, they shared what has kept them inspired and what have been their anchors as they face the complex questions that are before religious institutes today. 

Representatives from the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King, Jr. Center and The Carter Center joined the assembly in a panel presentation and shared their valuable insights on their work and how it connects to the LCWR Call for 2023-2028 and the LCWR assembly resolution.

A Pilgrimage of Hope took place on the morning of August 14, a one-mile walk through downtown Atlanta with prayer rooted in the commitment to addressing systemic injustice in the areas of racism, migration, and the climate crisis.   (A recording of the one-hour walk is available on the LCWR Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lcwr.org) 

During the assembly the members blessed the new leadership for the conference. Sister Debra Sciano, SSND, a School Sister of Notre Dame from Wisconsin was selected as the LCWR president-elect. She joins Sister Vicky Larson, BVM who will serve as president for 2025-2026, and Sister Kathy Brazda, CSJ who will serve as immediate past-president. Elected to the national board were Sisters Karen Dietrich, SSJ; Sheena George, CSJP; Maribeth Larkin, SSS; and Maria Sheila Undang, O Carm. 

At the assembly closing, Sister Mary Pat Garvin, RSM was honored with the 2025 LCWR Outstanding Leadership Award. A Sister of Mercy of the Americas, Sister Mary Pat has served as an educator, consultant, and facilitator for national and international institutes and conferences of religious. 

Recordings and texts of the addresses and other materials are available at lcwr.org. 

Jubilee

Yesterday we celebrated our 2025 Jubilees. We had four of our sisters celebrate their 60th Anniversary of Profession. What a wonderful time to celebrate them in this Jubilee Year of Hope. Each of these women have ministered as educators on all levels, missionaries, an archivist. They have had a lasting inpact on many lives and are fondly remembered by their former students. They have given hope to many. This year we had one sister celebrate her 50th anniversary of her final profession. Combined we celebrated 290 years of vowed life.

Earlier this year we celebrated our 75th Anniversary Jubiliarian and her 100th birthday as they were a week apart. What an incredible milestone. Each of these sisters had given her life to God and the service of God's people. Their service continues even though most are retired now. They continue to live out the commitment they made many years ago. Each one has lived through many changes in our Church, our society and our world yet there is one constant -- their love of God and neighbor. May we continue to celebrate this Jubilee Year of Hope and be ready for big surprises!

Retreat a Time Apart

Today’s Gospel reading features Jesus' instruction to his disciples on prayer and not giving up. Jesus gives us the prayer called the "Lord's Prayer." In this prayer, which is used as a model for all prayer, Jesus directs us to give God praise and make our petitions known to him. The blessed assurance that God hears our prayer is central to our understanding of praying and never giving up. Prayer makes a difference and changes the way we look at things.

For the past week I was on retreat at Mercy Center in Madison, CT. It was a wonderful time to take time to pray, reflect and just be. During the days I had the opportunity to spend more time in prayer and in nature. The grounds of Mercy Center are beautiful, and it was nice to see bunnies, birds, and other wildlife during the day. One day a large log drifted onto the beach. It became a real center of prayer for me. I was able to sit by the water on it and reflect. Praying for our world, and many other things was a part of each day.

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Luke 11:9-10 This scripture came to life for me this week. I was a time to ask, seek and knock and God was indeed very present. I am grateful that I had this opportunity and look forward to living out the graces of my retreat.