Jesus our Liberator and the Season of Creation
Last week we reflected on taking up our cross and following, or Jesus our Liberator. What is it we are being liberated from and into? Perhaps it is how we live on this world.
This week we begin our celebration of the Season of Creation. From September 1 to October 4, we join the Christian family as we unite for this worldwide celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home. This year we are invited as followers of Christ from around the globe to reflect on our common role as caretakers of God’s creation; to see that our wellbeing is interwoven with its wellbeing and to rejoice in this opportunity to care for our common home and the sisters and brothers who share it.
Last year Pope Francis said, "this is the season for letting our prayer be inspired anew, ” a season “to reflect on our lifestyles ,” and a season “ for undertaking prophetic actions . . . calling for courageous decisions . . .directing the planet towards life, not death."
This year, the theme is “Jubilee for the Earth”. We are invited “to consider the integral relationship between rest for the Earth and ecological, economic, social and political ways of living. This particular year, the need for just and sustainable systems has been revealed by the far-reaching effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. We yearn for the moral imagination that accompanies the Jubilee.”[1]
Today we are invited to reflect on the importance of forests and bush for us as individuals, and as the lungs of our planet. Our readings remind us of the importance of healthy life giving relationships, with each other, and with our world. How do we live in such a way that we maintain the health of these relationships, with each other; with all humanity, especially the vulnerable; and with God’s gift of creation?
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