JPIC CARE FOR CREATION:
SUPPORTING IMMACULATE CONCEPTION'S CELEBRATION OF THE SEASON OF CREATION AND SAINT FRANCIS WEEK
JUSTICE, PEACE, AND INTEGRITY OF CREATION (JPIC)
Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) is happy to offer the resources below as just one part of our entire Laudato Si' parish's shared commitment to respond to God's call for us to care for our common home. Immaculate Conception will be sharing more information about the Season of Creation through a variety of mediums, including our e-newsletters, mass announcements, other staff/ministry web pages, and social media.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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I. Introduction to this year's Season of Creation
II. Season of Creation: A Brief History
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III. Season of Creation 2023: Symbol and Theme Presentation
IV. 2023 Season of Creation Prayer Card (English and Spanish) 
Immaculate Conception's 2023 Season of Creation Banner!
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V. Additional Season of Creation and Saint Franics Week Resources
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SEASON OF CREATION 2023
LET JUSTICE AND PEACE FLOW
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Beginning on September 01 with the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation,” our parish is excited to join our ecumenical family around the world in the annual Christian celebration of the Season of Creation! During this time, we are called in a special way to listen, pray, raise awareness, and take action to care for our common home, in response to God’s call to honor and protect the Earth. This year we will unite around the theme “Let Justice and Peace Flow” with the symbol of “A Mighty River.”
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Immaculate Conception and Immaculata will be celebrating in numerous ways, including:
SPECIAL EVENTS
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
The Season of Creation officially ends on October 4, on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (the patron saint of ecology) during our parish’s celebration of Saint Francis Week.
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Along with additional resources, such as an ecological examen and coloring pages, this PDF will be available in the church gathering space after all masses during the Season of Creation. You can also download by clicking on the image above. Our parish is very grateful to all the staff and parishioners who helped to create and organize these events and materials to help make this year's celebration of the Season of Creation possible.
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“Future generations will never forgive us if we miss the opportunity to protect our common home. We have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert for our children.”
2023 Message from Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Link)
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2021 Joint Statement on The Season of Creation from Pope Francis, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury (Link)
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With the exception of some minor additions/revisions, all the information and resources included below has been provided by the Season of Creation 2023 website.
SEASON OF CREATION: A BRIEF HISTORY
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The Season of Creation is a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together. During the Season of Creation, we join our sisters and brothers in the ecumenical family in prayer and action for our common home.
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Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I proclaimed 1 September as a day of prayer for creation for the Orthodox in 1989. In fact, the Orthodox church year starts on that day with a commemoration of how God created the world. The World Council of Churches was instrumental in making the special time a season, extending the celebration from 1 September until 4 October. Following the leadership of Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I and the WCC, Christians worldwide have embraced the season as part of their annual calendar. Pope Francis made the Roman Catholic Church’s warm welcoming of the season official in 2015. In recent years, statements from religious leaders around the world have also encouraged the faithful to take time to care for creation during the month-long celebration.
The season starts September 01, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends October 04, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations. Throughout the month-long celebration, the world’s 2.2 billion Christians come together to care for our common home.
The season starts September 01, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends October 04, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations. Throughout the month-long celebration, the world’s 2.2 billion Christians come together to care for our common home.
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Official 2023 Season of Creation Celebration Guide (PDF Link)
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SEASON OF CREATION 2023
SYMBOL AND THEME PRESENTATION
THE 2023 SYMBOL: A MIGHTY RIVER
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As the people of God, we must work together on behalf of all Creation, as part of that mighty river of peace and justice.
Biodiversity is being lost at a rate not seen since the last mass extinction. The futures of young people are threatened by the cascading impacts of the loss of biodiversity and a changing climate. |
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The urgency grows and we must make visible peace with Earth and on Earth, at the same time that justice calls us to repentance and a change of attitude and actions. As we join the river of justice and peace with others then hope is created instead of despair.
JOIN THE RIVER OF JUSTICE AND PEACE
Prophet Amos cries out “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5: 24) and so we are called to join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity. Our prayers, sermons and liturgies must call for justice not only for humans but for all Creation. Justice, allied with peace, calls us to repent of our ecological sins and to change our attitudes and actions. Righteousness demands that we live in peace, not conflict with our human neighbors, and building right relationships with all of Creation. Those Indigenous communities that recognize the sacredness of natural elements and so live as an embodiment of an interconnected way of life, expressing a partnership between people and the life of the Earth, have much to teach the rest of the world. We are invited to join the river of justice and peace on behalf of all Creation and to converge our individual identities, of name, family or faith community, in this greater movement for justice, just like tributaries come together to form a mighty river. As the people of God, we must work together on behalf of all Creation, as part of that mighty river of peace and justice.
THE RIVER OF LIFE BRINGS HOPE INSTEAD OF DESPAIR
Prophet Isaiah proclaims “Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43: 19) Biodiversity is being lost at a rate not seen since the last mass extinction. The hope of keeping average temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius is fading. The world humans have known, enjoyed and celebrated is changing rapidly beyond repair. The futures of young people are threatened by the cascading impacts of the loss of biodiversity and a changing climate. Industrialization, colonization, and the extraction and consumption of resources have created great wealth, unequally distributed. Powerful Global North nations have grown wealthy at the expense of Global South nations and Indigenous and subsistence communities. Today’s climate and ecological emergency hurts the most vulnerable, many living in the least wealthy nations, who have contributed the fewest emissions. Indigenous peoples make up five percent of the world’s population and protect nearly 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity. We are presently more aware than ever of the link between fossil fuels, and violence and war.
We can, however, dream and work for a world where each country produces the energy they need from God-given gifts of the sun and wind, rather than going to war for fossil fuels. The urgency grows and we must make visible peace with Earth and on Earth, at the same time that justice calls us to repentance and a change of attitude and actions. As we join the river of justice and peace with others then hope is created instead of despair. Streams can rise in the desert. An economy of peace can be built instead of an economy based on conflict.
We can, however, dream and work for a world where each country produces the energy they need from God-given gifts of the sun and wind, rather than going to war for fossil fuels. The urgency grows and we must make visible peace with Earth and on Earth, at the same time that justice calls us to repentance and a change of attitude and actions. As we join the river of justice and peace with others then hope is created instead of despair. Streams can rise in the desert. An economy of peace can be built instead of an economy based on conflict.
A MIGHTY TORRENT CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
Our individual actions during the Season of Creation are important. Celebrating Creation, taking part in clean-ups, planting trees, and reducing our carbon footprint are some of the immediate actions we can take. We must also recognise that as we need a mighty movement of justice, individual actions are no longer enough. Justice also includes paying historic debts. At a global level, nations with power and wealth have a duty to deal justly and honestly with communities that suffer most from the climate and ecological crises. They have not dealt righteously with their less wealthy neighbours in global forums. They have not fulfilled their promises of financing the losses and damages that vulnerable communities are suffering from, or funding necessary biodiversity initiatives in less wealthy nations, nor have they made the necessary sacrifices to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming. Nevertheless, Global South nations, working together for more than 30 years, have just managed to win a victory at COP27 in making wealthier nations realize their moral duty to provide financing for loss and damage. The recent decisions at COP15 to preserve biodiversity are also hopeful and required similar perseverance. These victories have been achieved by those with less power working together. Together we can be a mighty river of justice and peace, that brings new life to earth and future generations, a river that can move the mountains of injustice.
ADVOCACY AND COMMUNITY ACTION
PLEASE NOTE: Additional advocacy opportunities can be found on our JPIC website under each of our JPIC Care for Creation web pages, particularly on our Care for Creation advocacy page.
Those living in the Global North must ask their elected representatives to fulfil their promises. These promises include funds promised at global meetings for the most vulnerable communities affected by climate change and for the preservation of remaining biodiversity.
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Other actions in recognition of our interconnectedness and interdependence with all of Creation include learning about and signing the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Rivers, part of a movement to recognize the inherent rights of Mother Earth. As an ecumenical family, we can engage in these actions and contribute to ensure that the web of life is preserved and cared for. This is why practical advocacy and sustainable actions are more fully described in the Celebration Guide and the Season of Creation website. At the same time that we trust in God’s work, we recognize that we can also participate in God’s will for justice and peace. This Season of Creation, may we journey together in communion as the people of God to let justice and peace flow!
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2023 SEASON OF CREATION PRAYER CARD
TARJETA DE ORACIÓN DEL TIEMPO DE LA CREACIÓN 2023
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ADDITIONAL SEASON OF CREATION AND SAINT FRANCIS WEEK RESOURCES
September 01, Creation Day, also known as Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, opens the Season of Creation 2023. Faith leaders from around the globe will lead this time of prayer and reflection as we celebrate the start of the Season of Creation, on this year’s theme, "Let Justice and Peace Flow.”
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On Wednesday, October 04, as we celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and remember the first anniversary of the release of the film "The Letter," we will close the Season of Creation with an online ecumenical prayer service.
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2023 Season of Creation: A Catholic Liturgical Guide (Link)
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2023 Feast of St. Francis (Catholic Climate Covenant Participant Guide): The Way of Francis - Seeking Peace and Justice for All Creation (Link)
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Blessing of the Animals (Catholic Climate Covenant Facilitator Guide): Befriend the Wolf - Blessing All God’s Creation (Link)
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© 2022. All rights reserved.
If you have questions regarding our various JPIC ministries, please contact me directly.
Kennith M. Chiha, Director of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church - 901-A West Chapel Hill Street, Durham, NC 27701
(919) 682-3449 Ext. 293 - chihak@icdurham.org
If you have questions regarding our various JPIC ministries, please contact me directly.
Kennith M. Chiha, Director of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church - 901-A West Chapel Hill Street, Durham, NC 27701
(919) 682-3449 Ext. 293 - chihak@icdurham.org