Lenten Reflections on Creation Care –prepared by the Creation Care Ministry of St Patrick Church-Bridge Ave., Cleveland, OH. March 2025.
WEEK 1 -MAR 9 2025
READINGS Dt 26: 4-10, Ps. 91: 1-15, Rms 10: 8-13, Lk 4: 1-13
“Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble.” (Psalm 91)
Just as Jesus did during the three temptations by the devil in the desert (Lk 4), we are reminded to trust in God and rely on divine strength. Putting our faith in the word of God and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome the temptations of Satan that have led us on a destructive path: 1) turning God’s creation (stones) into something to be bought and sold on commodities markets (e.g., extractive mining and drilling); 2) striving for power and glory (e.g., pursuit of global economic, political and military dominance); and 3) believing that no evil shall befall us and that the angels will guard us in all our ways because we are a “Christian nation.”
In Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home (2015) and his follow-up letter Laudate Deum (2023), Pope Francis is clear about the impending doom facing God’s abundant, bounteous and munificent creation—a planet that provides enough for all, if only we act as good stewards of these gifts (Gn 1: 26-28). Pope Francis urges us to protect the procreative power of Earth to generate life for generations to come. And in this Jubilee Year, the pope reminds us to remain hopeful.
“Pilgrims of Hope” is the theme designated by Pope Francis for this Jubilee Year. The theme of hope might seem preposterous considering the calamaties facing us today. Every day we wake up, turn on the radio or read our news feeds; there are plenty of reasons to despair. But God’s gift of hope might be absolutely appropriate and necessary in these trying times. Hope is just what we need. That is precisely why Pope Francis prescribes it for us.
We know from St Paul that among the precious gifts of the Holy Spirit are faith, hope, and love (1 Cor 13:13). But hope is not merely wishful thinking, like making a wish when we throw a penny into a fountain or crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. Like all grace from God, we must open our heart to accept the gift of hope. And if we accept the gift, then we are compelled to act accordingly. Choosing to accept the gift of hope means we choose to act on that hope. And we are given the strength and courage to act as hope-filled pilgrims with the knowledge that hope does not stand alone; it is united with the gifts of faith and love.
In his Epistle to the Romans (Rms 10: 8-13), St Paul reminds us that there is only one God, the God of all humanity (and all living creatures). As believers who strive to follow Jesus as faithful disciples, we see “no distinction between Jew and Greek.” With the knowledge that “the same Lord is Lord all,” we are thus obligated to act in solidarity with all of humanity.
In Laudate Deum, Pope Francis stresses the urgency of the climate crisis and implores all people of faith to take immediate action. As people rooted not only in faith but in love, we can choose to hope and to act, impelled to protect all of God’s children across the globe—our siblings of every tribe and tongue. United in faith, hope, and love, we can heed the call of Pope Francis and take decisive action to show our belief that “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rms 10:13) In “the house that love is building…there’s a great and boundless feast, where the seeds of hope are planted, and the yield is heaven’s peace” (liturgical songwriter Sarah Hart, 2019).
On Ash Wednesday, we are exhorted to repent: “Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:5). As we enter this Lenten journey as Pilgrims of Hope, may we believe and live the Gospel by dedicating ourselves to building and protecting this great house that God has given us—Earth, our common home—and steward it for the progeny of all God’s creatures for ages to come.
WEEK 2 – MAR 16, 2025
Gn 15:5-18, Ps 27: 1-14, Philippians 3:17-4:1, Lk 9:28-36
Verse before the Gospel: From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, hear him.
Reflect
God is so faithful to us. We try to be faithful to God. But sometimes, like Peter, we do not realize that God is revealing Godself to us. How graced we are when we enjoy the sun’s rising or setting , the smell of a forest or the sound of birds singing as the glory of God. How God wants us to cherish and protect God’s creation.
Act
Take a walk and praise God for all the revelation of nature. Consider some way you can be faithful to God in your respect and protection of nature.
Pray
That we may be more attentive to the ways God amazes us through all of creation.
WEEK 3 – MAR 23, 2025
Ps 103:1-11, 1 Corinthians 10: 1-12, Lk 13:1-9
Verse before the Gospel: Repent, says the Lord; the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
“The LORD IS Kind and Merciful”
How the earth feeds us literally, figuratively and spiritually!! In the Old Testament reading (Ex. 3), God appears to Moses as a burning bush. The place where Moses stands is Holy Ground. The figure the author uses are resplendent with earthly images. Is church our “Holy Ground”? Are the streets? Our homes? Wherever God calls us to listen and worship is Holy Ground.
I remember standing before a red maple at my neighbor’s front lawn. The sun streaming through the leaves in the late afternoon of summer made the leaves look like they were on fire. The beauty of it spoke to me of God’s kindness in gifting us with such a spectacle. So humble and grand at the same time. The Lord, indeed, is kind.
In the second reading (1 Cor 10), St. Paul instructs us to learn from those who went before us. He cautions us to not be proud. The earthly gifts of their ancestors’ freedom from bondage had them cross a sea, eat manna from heaven, and drink water from a rock. No doubt we are inextricably tied to the earth. Our earthly home feeds us and images of the cloud of night instruct us of God’s presence. But we must learn from our and their mistakes. We are given to each other. We need to listen to the scientists who have learned about the earth. We are blessed to have their knowledge. The Lord is merciful.
In the Gospel (Lk 13), Jesus cautions us that we are sinners, no better than others if we do not repent. We hear the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth, as well as the words of Christ. Are we going to remain stubborn about not heeding these cries and words and thus changing our ways? We could change the world as God opens our eyes to its different needs, but how often do we either ignore or deny these signs? Still God is merciful. The farmer in the parable asks God for one more year to nurture and cultivate his barren tree so it bears fruit. And God relents. Our God is the God of second chances. Bearing fruit in our lives is a sign of repentance.
We know we have sinned against nature. We are as guilty as anyone else. But today we choose to repent and help restore our air, our water, and our earth, as well as our neighbors to their rightful place and the dignity God intended.
We see God’s mercy and kindness in this “Our Father’s World” everywhere we turn. Today can you take one small step to help not waste water, not pollute our air, and/or give to an area suffering the harmful fires and floods raging as a result of climate change?
Sometimes we are the fig tree looking for another chance. Sometimes we are the farmer. In line with the prayers from Laudato Si’ resources, let us choose to plant the seeds of hope and cultivate them until they bear fruit.
WEEK 4 – March 30, 2025
Joshua 5: 9-12, Ps 34: 2-7, 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Verse before the Gospel: I will get up and go to my Father and shall say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
Reflect
This is the 10th year anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. One of the seven goals encouraged by Laudato Si’ is to live a simple lifestyle.
In the Gospel reading of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son can be looked at as how we have misused our inheritance from Genesis when God made all of creation, saw that all was good, and gave us a direct mandate to protect and care for the earth. Now, the Prodigal Son may not have thought that this had anything to do with him. After all, he was entitled to his inheritance and could do whatever he wanted with it. Wrong. He soon learned that his actions had consequences. (Just like we inhabitants of this grand planet are suffering from the wild abandonment of misuse of Earth’s resources under the guise of if “it’s good for the economy, it’s good for all.”) Eventually, the Prodigal Son realizes that he had it good when his father shared his wealth with his sons. All benefitted.
Pray
That we might treasure and steward our inheritance from the Garden of Eden, all of God’s precious creation, and protect it for generations to come.
Act
In this season of repentance, with God’s loving mercy and grace we can turn around and do our part to nurture and protect creation. One way is to live more simply as a solution. There are many resources on the internet that can help steer us into one or two simple lifestyle practices like https://www.beyondplastics.org/, https://livingsimply.com/https://livingsimply.com , andhttps://laudatosimovement.org/resources/.
When will we realize that we our squandering our God given inheritance and return home? Hopefully, it will be soon.
WEEK 5 – April 6, 2025
Isaiah 43:16-21, Ps 126: 1-6, Philippians 3: 8-14, John 8: 1-11
Verse before the Gospel: Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart; for I am gracious and merciful.
Reflect
In 2002 St John Paul II and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople made a joint statement on Environmental Ethics. In this statement they said that the degradation of the environment and its natural resources is not an issue that is “simply economic and technological, it is moral and spiritual… a solution….only if we undergo, in the most radical way an inner change of heart, which can lead to a change in lifestyle and of unsustainable pattern of consumption and production. A genuine conversion in Christ will enable us to change the way we think and act.”
Pray
That we become more respectful of all of God’s creation, we pray.
Act
Who is without sin regarding our treatment of God’s creation? We are wasteful, disrespectful and greedy at times. We are told to sin no more. We need God’s grace to treat all of God’s creation appropriately. Please help us, oh God.