Creation Time 2024: Hope and Action with Creation
2.2 billion Christians around the world will come together to care for our common home: the Earth. The ‘Celebration’ of Time begins on 1 September, the Feast of Creation, and ends on 4 October, the feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology loved by many Christian denominations.
Creation Time recalls the proclamation, on 1 September 1989, of a Day of Prayer for Creation. At that time it was the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I who, for the Orthodox, proposed this date. The World Council of Churches then decided to amplify the importance of this event by extending its celebration to 4 October.
Image: https:laudatosimovement.org
This year’s theme is ‘Hope and Act with Creation’ and its symbol is ‘The Firstfruits of Hope’, inspired by Romans 8:19-25.
‘The biblical image depicts the Earth as a mother groaning as if giving birth (Rom 8:22). St Francis of Assisi understood it this way when in his Canticle of the Creatures he referred to the Earth as our sister and mother. The times in which we live show that we do not relate to the Earth as a gift from our Creator, but as a resource to be used.’ (Source: ” (Fonte: www.laudatosimovement.org).
Image: www.avvenire.it
Creatures of all kinds, including human beings, ‘cry out’ because we do not relate to the Earth as a gift from our Creator, but only as a resource to be exploited. And these actions cause climate crises, loss of biodiversity and human suffering as much as the suffering of Creation.
‘Yet there is hope and expectation for a better future. Hope in the biblical context does not mean standing still and silent, but rather groaning, crying and actively striving for new life in the midst of hardship. Just as during childbirth, we go through a period of intense pain but a new life is being born’. (Source: www.seasonofcreation.org/).
Download the theological reflection of the Theme and symbol (www.docs.google.com/document)
These days, in a completely different context, there is talk in the United States of an Earth-friendly Climate Marshall Plan. ‘Just as the Marshall Plan assisted the countries most devastated by World War II, the new Marshall Plan should aim to help the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change: the United States’ partners in the developing world. Developing countries and emerging markets will need access to cheap capital and technology to move away from fossil fuels fast enough to halt global warming. The United States once again has an opportunity to help others by helping itself. Putting its own industries at the centre of the energy transition will generate further innovation and growth.’ (source: corrieredellasera.it)
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Is it paradoxically the economy that saves us from the economy?
If in doubt, let us continue to care for Creation!
