Pope Francis begins his message for this year’s Season of Creation (September 1 – October 4) by asking us to listen to the sweet song of creation.
- We friars have promised to “seek the presence of the ‘Most High, all-powerful, good Lord’ in prayer, in mission, in human relationships, in different cultures, and in creation” (Constitutions 2).
Pope Francis then asks us to listen to the accompaniment of the sweet song of creation, sung by a chorus of anguish.
- We friars have promised to listen to the women and men of our time, “to their difficulties, sufferings, and hopes, and join them in communal projects of solidarity” (Constitutions 108 1).
Pope Francis asks us to raise our voices, not as individuals but as a community, to bring about lasting change.
- We friars have promised to:
- “take to heart the care of the Earth as our ‘common home’” (Constitutions 108 3);
- “embrace lifestyles that witness to a love for creation and are in harmony with projects of environmental sustainability” (Constitutions 108 3);
- “promote educational initiatives regarding ‘integral ecological conversion’” (Constitutions 108 3);
- “divest [ourselves] of all things, and…resist a consumer mentality, which leads both to accumulation and waste [and thereby harms] our ‘Sister Mother Earth’” (Constitutions 14 6).
Encouraged by Pope Francis’ call for us to listen, may our living of our Gospel promises open our hearts to “weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15) and respond with deeds that bring a sound of hope to the sweet song of creation.
Friar Michael LASKY
