“Proclaim the Gospel of Creation” Prayer Service.
Marking the Conclusion of Laudato Si’ Week 2023.
On Pentecost Sunday, May 28, 2023, Friars Marco MARONI and Michael LASKY participated in a global online prayer service, which featured two hosting sites: the Church of San Damiano in Assisi and the Conventual Franciscan Shrine of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, in Fonda, New York, USA. The Shrine is staffed by the friars of the Province of Our Lady of the Angels in the USA. St. Francis and St. Kateri are both patron saints of ecology.
The prayer service was sponsored by the Laudato Si’ Movement and included a commissioning ceremony of its Laudato Si’ animators from all over the world. As a member of the training team for animators, Friar Michael LASKY conducted an online class on “Laudato Si’ and Catholic Social Teaching” on April 26, 2023, in anticipation of the commissioning of animators on Pentecost Sunday.
Presiding from the Church of San Damiano, His Eminence, Cardinal Michael CZERNY, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, offered a reflection to the animators and the entire global audience: “How encouraging it is to see so many Laudato Si’ animators and other pastoral agents so committed to proclaiming the one and only Gospel, which sends us forth to care for our common home and to care for those—especially the poor—who inhabit it, now and in the future,” he said. Stating that he also considers himself a Laudato Si’ animator, he said, “Each of you has been called to give a response to the message of Laudato Si’. We, filled with the Holy Spirit, have a mandate to go forth and proclaim the amazing generosity of God’s Creation.”
Afterwards, a send-off rite for the Laudato Si’ animators took place, in which they were asked, “Do you accept the responsibility of listening to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, and the humble leadership that Laudato Si’ and the Holy Spirit ask of you?” “Yes, we accept,” responded the animators present in Assisi and through the online chat platform who participated from different corners of the world.
To learn more about becoming a Laudato Si’ animator, visit the Laudato Si’ Movement website at:
English: https://laudatosimovement.org/#getInvolved||getInvolvedTabs|4
Italiano: https://laudatosimovement.org/it/#getInvolvedTabs|4
Español: https://laudatosimovement.org/es/#getInvolvedTabs|4
Friar Michael LASKY
