Every year, during the month of May, we commemorate the anniversary of the Encyclical Laudato Si, with which Pope Francis calls on all Catholics around the world to join together to respond to climate change and its effects on the Common Home and life in general. Nine years after its publication, the Church is committed to advancing this process of awareness towards an ecological conversion that responds to the environmental challenges of the present time, and Laudato Si Week is part of this process.
The theme of this year’s Laudato Si week is Inspired by the symbol “first fruits,” which the Season of Creation takes for 2024. The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is celebrated every September 1, and marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, which concludes on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The theme of Pope Francis’ Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 2024 is: “Hope and Act with Creation.” The Season of Creation, in turn, is an ecumenical initiative promoted by different entities, including the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Anglican Communion and the Laudato Si Movement.
Over the past few years, the devastation brought about by climate change that is affecting so many forms of life, and particularly the poor, has become increasingly evident. The Redemptorist family, for our part, continues to strive to understand that the created world, not just humankind, is the beneficiary of the abundant Life and the Copiosa Redemptio of Jesus Christ. Reverence for nature and care for Creation are religious values that must be manifested in the life of every Redemptorist. The current ecological crisis reveals itself primarily as a spiritual crisis that calls for ecological conversion. At the root of this crisis is the greed that distances us from the God of Life revealed in Jesus Christ, locks us in our selfishness and does not allow us to see our interdependence with other forms of life, for all is connected.
In this way, as a Redemptorist family we are discovering the ecological dimension of our charism and we are seeing more clearly the need to seek ways to enter into reciprocity with the whole created world and the different forms of life, not only human life. The cry of the Earth along with the cry of the poor is becoming more and more evident, and it is no longer possible to ignore it. We invite you during Laudato Si Week to continue to deepen and explore paths of ecological conversion so that the world may have life and life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10).
General Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)
View the celebration Guide in PDF format:
All the resources from the official web page: https://laudatosiweek.org/
