January 19, 2025 Essay: For the Year of Hope, Reverence God in the Wonder of Creation
Living out our parish mission statement’s call to “Reverence God in the Wonder of Creation” is an invitation to experience joy, enrichment, and awe. It is a welcoming to understand God’s revelation of Himself in creation. Even before the universe began 13.7 billion years ago, Psalm 90:1-2 says, “Lord, you have been our refuge through all generations. Before the mountains were born, the earth and the world brought forth, from eternity to eternity you are God.”
We are enriched in appreciating this wondrous long story marked from the beginning of the universe, in experiencing creation’s intricate and interconnected beauty and in realizing our part as caretakers in creation’s evolving presence in our common home on earth. In our being intimately connected to God’s gift of the Earth, as collaborators we are entrusted to protect the earth’s resources for the Common Good of all species and the betterment of future generations.
God calls us to be good stewards of our Earth. God’s appeal for our stewardship is fundamental to our Faith—encouraging conservation, restoration, preservation—and in refocusing ourselves to take the necessary steps and heed the call to seek the greater Common Good.
The Parish’s Festival Mass on January 26th at 11 AM is a celebration of Solemn Mass and Wallace Hall Family Mass coming together as an entire parish community. First, it is to fully appreciate the grace of faith and the gifts of our parish ministries and community as a blessing and revelation of God’s timeless presence with us. Additionally, it is an opportunity as we celebrate the gifts and graces of our parish community to recognize ourselves as a Laudato Si’ Parish and to respond and act as good stewards of our common home.
Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ encyclical was first published in 2015. Its tenth anniversary this year in 2025 will be celebrated and its importance further advanced throughout the world by the Church’s worldwide Laudato Si’ Movement. In his wisdom and scholarship, Pope Francis cited scripture, as well as built upon the words of his predecessors, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who also embraced and extolled the care of creation. Pope Francis’ words continue as a call of action while there is still hope.
While the Laudato Si’ Movement may have found somewhat less traction among United States Catholics than elsewhere in the world, there are many dioceses and parishes in our country, such as our own here at St. Ignatius Loyola, that have adopted a Laudato Si’ Action Platform to bring its message to life. An important aim of our parish’s recently initiated Creation Care Ministry will be to implement and further the goals of our parish’s Laudato Si’ Platform. Two of those goals from that Platform that are envisioned for this year are: 1. Responding to the Cry of The Poor and Vulnerable and 2.
Addressing the Economic Practices of Conservation and Sustainability.
Everyone, and all in the parish are joyfully encouraged to come together as an entire community to further the message of Laudato Si’ (Praise Be – the Care of our Common Home) as an expression of our love for God, for God’s earth and for the whole human family. May we, together as parishioners of St. Ignatius Loyola, in this year of hope, move forward together to live with Christ’s grace, active in the world.
— Nicholas Naccari, PhD & Geraldine Rizzo
Laudato Si’ Care of Creation Ministry