Rome (Italy). From 1 September World Day of Creation, to 4 October 2024, Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron of ecology, the usual appointment with the Season of Creation will be held, an annual ecumenical time that brings together the world Christian family in prayer and commitment to take care of the common home, with the aim of taking concrete action for its preservation and safeguard.
“Hope and act with Creation” is the theme of this year, with the symbol “The first fruits of hope”, inspired by the Letter to the Romans (Rom 8:19-25). In his Message for the World Day of Creation Pope Francis affirms that, “To hope and act with creation means above all to join forces and, walking together with all men and women of good will, to contribute to rethinking the question of human power, to its meaning and its limits.”
To celebrate this precious time of ecological conversion, the Youth Ministry Sector, in collaboration with the Integral Ecology Commission and the Sector for Social Communication of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, offers a webinar on the annual theme, with a Salesian approach.
The webinar scheduled for 14 September 2024, addressed to the FMA, to young people, and to the Educating Communities, provides a formative moment by Sister Linda Pocher, FMA, Professor of the Pontifical Faculty of Education “Auxilium” with simultaneous translations into English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
The proposal of a joint reflection through webinar is a way to implement what is required by General Chapter XXIV: “As an educating community we assume an alternative way of living contemporaneity in the perspective of relational anthropology, the basis of the Salesian charism, through specific formation journeys.” (GCXXIV choice 2)
On the website of the Season of creation, the Laudato Movement invites us to plan this year’s actions, offering useful resources. “The planning of events spurs us and motivates us to move forward, transforming good intentions into concrete actions. When planning, we are better prepared to realize our ideas and achieve our goals, so that every effort contributes to positive change.”
In the local Churches of different contexts and in the Educating Communities (CE) of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, there is already a shared reflection on integral ecology with activities and initiatives to educate young people to act for the care of creation. In some Provinces, the various initiatives developed with young people in different educating environments have become good practices that young people and the EC can draw inspiration from. In this perspective, reflections and events made together, however small they may seem, have a significant impact and nourish hope for a more sustainable future. The Framework for Youth Ministry therefore encourages the sharing of good practices, because they can inspire reflection, prayers, and actions for the protection of creation.
The care of the common home is not only an environmental or technocratic cause, but is placed in a holistic, human, and spiritual vision, precisely of integral ecology. Through prayer, concrete mobilization, and sustainable actions, the celebration of the Season of Creation 2024 can prophetically renew the commitment and care of the common home.
For the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, it means assuming integral ecology as a dimension of life and of the educative mission, according to the encyclical Laudato si’. As indicated in the third choice of General Chapter XXIV: “We embrace integral ecology as a dimension of life and of the educational mission, according to Laudato Si’.
Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
