Season of Creation

 

The Season of Creation is a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together. During the Season of Creation, we join our sisters and brothers in the ecumenical family in prayer and action for our common home.

Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I proclaimed 1 September as a day of prayer for creation for the Orthodox in 1989. In fact, the Orthodox church year starts on that day with a commemoration of how God created the world.

The World Council of Churches was instrumental in making the special time a season, extending the celebration from 1 September until 4 October.

Following the leadership of Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I and the WCC, Christians worldwide have embraced the season as part of their annual calendar. Pope Francis made the Roman Catholic Church’s warm welcoming of the season official in 2015.

In recent years, statements from religious leaders around the world have also encouraged the faithful to take time to care for creation during the month-long celebration.

The season starts 1 September, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations.

Throughout the month-long celebration, the world’s 2.2 billion Christians come together to care for our common home.  The theme for this year's celebration is Listen to the Voice of Creation.  May we take time during this time to honor and celebrate our common home.

Vacation Blessings

 

This week I had the opportunity for a vacation week.  It was wonderful to be out in Long Island with some friends and just be.  The week could not have been more perfect with cool temperatures at night and not too hot during the day.  It was perfect beach weather and pool weather.  There is something so wonderful about having a vacation.  It doesn’t have to be a long journey or a trip to an exotic place.  Sometimes it is nice to just have a leisurely time close to home.

Having the time to just stop and get away from all the busyness and demands on one’s time is a blessing.  For me it was nice to have time to pray, read and reflect on life.  Taking time away definitely has renewed my spirit and I am so grateful that the weather was as nice as it was and that I was able to go to my “happy place” – the beach.  I always love to sit and watch the ocean as the tide comes in and out.  It amazes me that each time the tide comes in or goes out the water is never the same.  It was wild the first time I went over to the beach.  The waves were huge and seemed to be pulling in one direction.  No one was in the water and people were cautiously standing on the shoreline afraid of being pulled out by the mighty ocean.  The next time I went to the beach it was like a gentle pool.  It is fascinating to me to watch it and walk along the water’s edge.  Truly a gift from God.

The Ursuline Arrival in New Orleans

 

From Ursuline Academy New Orleans

Today, August 7, 2022, is the 295th anniversary of the Landing of the Ursuline Sisters in New Orleans. After a 5-month journey by boat from France, the Sisters arrived in New Orleans to staff a military hospital and educate young women. Convinced that the education of women was essential to the development of a civilized, spiritual, and just society, the Ursuline Sisters influenced culture and learning in New Orleans by providing an exceptional education for its women. Thanks to our #trailblazing Ursuline Sisters, our Academy is proud to be the oldest, continuously-operating school for girls and the oldest Catholic school in the United States.  May God continue to bless the Ursuline Academy New Orleans!