That we might have the wisdom and courage to allow God to transform our under- standing and exercise of dominion and power in all of our relationships, let us pray to the Lord.

Collectively, the popes have
spoken:

In his 1990 World Day of Peace Message Pope John Paul II said: “...the ecological crisis is a moral issue.”

In his 2010 World Day of Peace Message Pope Benedict said: “If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.”

In his 2015 Encyclical, Pope Francis said:
“If present trends continue, this century may well witness extraordinary climate change and unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequences for all of us.”

Take a moment to quiet your mind and soul, and to be open. Offer this simple and powerful prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

The human person grows more, matures more and is sanctified more to the extent that he or she enters into relationships, going out from themselves to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures. In this way, they make their own that trinitarian dynamis in which God
imprinted in them when they were created. Everything is interconnected, and this invites us to develop a spirituality of that global solidarity which flows from the mystery of the Trinity. (240)

We have come to renew our covenant with God and with one another in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
We have come to help protect God’s creation.
We have come as followers of Jesus to commit ourselves anew to one another and to heal injustice and povertykk.
We have come to stand together against all threats to life.
We have come to discover some new beauty every day in God’s creation: the sunrise and sunset, birds, flowers and trees, rainbows in the sky, the stars, the many forms of life in the forest.
We have come to listen to the “music of the universe”- water flowing over rocks, the wind, trees bending in the wind, raindrops pattering the roof.
We will remember always that God speaks to us through the beauty of his creation, and we will
try our best to answer God’s call to reverence all that he has created.
– From Prayers on the Care of Creation, USCCB

Our Creation Care Team wishes to thank our Knights of Columbus for taking a leadership role in finding and providing both recyclable and compostable dinnerware including plates, cups, and take-out containers leading to less bio-degenerative consequences. When possible, they have also been using the hall’s silverware, not plastic. They have made available to our committee the websites that they used for comparative pricing and ordering for these products. We feel certain Father Michael McGivney, their founder, would be extremely proud of their efforts, as are we.