Glossop Catholics

Starting soon: Care for our Common Home

Care for Our Common Home starts in September

Commencing Monday 12th September, 7.30pm, at St Mary Crowned Church.

Eight weeks exploring some key themes of Laudato Si’, in which Pope Francis addresses eco and social justice, grounded in faith and prayer. Here’s how Pope Francis begins:

1. “LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”.

 

2. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

Nothing in this world is indifferent to us

 

3. More than fifty years ago, with the world teetering on the brink of nuclear crisis, Pope Saint John XXIII wrote an Encyclical which not only rejected war but offered a proposal for peace. He addressed his message Pacem in Terris to the entire “Catholic world” and indeed “to all men and women of good will”. Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet.

 

Continue reading…

The first four sessions follow CAFOD’s Study Guide to Laudato Si’, then the following three draw on other resources within our Christian Tradition to continue our reflections on Creation Spirituality. The series will conclude with a shared Liturgy on Care for our Common Home.

Session 1: ‘Creation is a Caress of God’ with the CAFOD Study Guide

Session 2: ‘The Climate is a Common Good’ with the CAFOD Study Guide

Session 3: ‘A Universal Family’ with the CAFOD Study Guide

Session 4: ‘We were made for Love’ with the CAFOD Study Guide

Session 5: An Introduction to Creation Spirituality

Session 6: How Creation Spirituality can shape our life and vocation as followers of Christ

Session 7: Exploring the work of the Global Laudato Si’ Movement

Session 8: (In planning: would somebody like to talk to us about ‘Eco-Church’?)

Final Session: A shared Liturgy for Care for our Common Home


Questions? Email commonhome.enquiry@glossopcatholics.org.uk