by Laudato Si’ Movement | May 30, 2022 | Blog, Chapters, Circles, News and Updates, Prayer | 1 comment
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To pray for the diversity of gifts to deepen our synodality as a movement in communion with the Church.
“Our capacity to reason, to develop arguments, to be inventive, to interpret reality and to create art, along with other not yet discovered capacities, are signs of a uniqueness which transcends the spheres of physics and biology” (LS 81).
Ecological prayer from Mesoamerica
God of life, God of all peoples, We thank You from the rising sun, because You have made the world perfect and have left us in this corner of Your creation to experience the mystery of Your greatness in our “Beloved Mesoamerica” … where the mountain forests provide the rains that nourish the fields, producing our daily bread … where the two seas, full of mystery, kiss the coasts to the rhythm of the moon … where the multitude of animals invites us to understand that we all have a place in that great web of life … where the diversity of peoples and cultures manifests in infinite forms the greatness of Your creation … where the smell of cocoa, the sacred drink of the Mesoamerican peoples, rises to heaven with the songs as an offering to You and a sign of our desire to live in deep fraternity. Help us, Lord, to tune our ears to Your voice: present in the beauty of a waterfall, in the song of a little bird and also in the cry of a child who suffers from hunger. May the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth awaken us from any indolence and allow us to live the ecological conversion that manifests our affirmation that, although there is much to change in our lives and this world, we are willing to do what is necessary to recover harmony in this house of Yours, our common home. Help us to receive and follow Your will, like the seed that germinates in the earth and produces many fruits always walking hand in hand in the face of the many threats to integral life, confident that Your grace will always sustain us along the way. And in the darkest night, Lord, let us live fully in the certainty that the dawn will soon come, and with it a new opportunity to celebrate one more day in the heart of the community of creation. Amen.
Originally written in Spanish by José Fitzgerald CM, Mesoamerican Ecological Ecclesial Network (REMAM)
In the evening of that same day… (Jn 20, 19) God’s creation also participates in the Easter joy, in its transforming capacity, in its new light. That day refers to the day of the Lord’s resurrection: could there really be evening on that day? Was it not the day of the new light, of that light that never ends? And indeed it is so, that light of the resurrection continues to shine untiringly and ever rejuvenated, from that day on, to transform every day and every night (with its nightfall) that has followed. And the miracle of that transformation of every day, can be done thanks to the Holy Spirit that the risen Lord breathed on his disciples of the past and of the present.
Fr. Lluc Torcal O. Cist.
It is the Spirit who, dwelling in us and filling us with the love with which the Father himself loves his Son, with that love with which the Heart of Jesus is filled, renews our hearts so that our lives may be rejuvenated and our days transformed.
The Spirit, who is breath, reaches every corner and every time: he transforms everything, he pacifies everything, he fills everything with joy. And while our human capacities already show that uniqueness that transcends the physical and biological realm (cf. LS 81), when these capacities are transfigured by the Spirit, then the transforming capacity of reality is multiplied: reflection, argumentation, creativity, interpretation and artistic elaboration proper to humans are joined to wisdom, understanding, counsel, science, the fear of the Lord, fortitude and piety, the gifts of the Spirit, which enhance these unprecedented human capacities and their renewing effect on all of God’s creation. It is in this way that the physical and the biological are spiritualized, filled with the Spirit and become heaven and new earth, the day without end, without nightfall.
Fr. Lluc Torcal O. Cist. – General Procurator
Reflection question:
View of Masaya Volcano
Amy Lavinia Flores Páramo, LSM Nicaragua Chapter CoordinatorComunidad Manuel Landez, Ticuantepe-Managua, Nicaragua.
Thank you Father, creator of all that our eyes can contemplate, the beauty of the green is the hope that you give to humanity. Thank you because this small place has been blessed and preserved from the damage that men who do not love you cause to the common home.
Natural Park of the Sierras Subéticas (Córdoba, Spain)
Victor Cid Gaitán, Animator of Animators in Spain
True life happens in a moment, when we are alone, thinking, feeling, being aware of ourselves. True life happens in creation, in the water, in the forests, surrounded by the landscape that reminds us who we are.
Hello, I am Linda Sheran, I live in Tegucigalpa Honduras, I am a Laudato Si Animator since May 2021, deputy responsible for the Laudato Si Circles of the Honduras Chapter starting this year. I have always had an appreciation for nature. I like sunsets, a walk in the countryside, enjoying the beach with my family.
Linda Sheran
In a certain way I was outraged to see the burning of the mountains in summer, I criticized the people who littered in the street, of course I didn’t do those things but I didn’t improve my habits either. I didn’t take into account the amount of plastic I used every day at home, or the amount of prepared food I ended up throwing away in the garbage.
With the Encyclical Laudato Si, I heard the call of our Mother Church to live an ecological conversion. Little by little I have incorporated changes, small but lasting, that allow me to move forward every day in a more sober lifestyle. Because any change in favor of the common home, is not insignificant but not enough either, there will always be something left to improve or to do.
I avoid single-use plastic, I cook the necessary portions of food to avoid waste, I separate organic waste to prepare compost, I avoid unnecessary purchases, among other actions.
As a mother of three girls, Edna (16), Ana (14) and Ximena (7), two of them are already Laudato Sí Animators, and they also work in activities promoted by the chapter in our country, such as the Ecoreaders, a community that reads the ecclesial documents on the protection and care of the planet. I motivate and support them, aware of the responsibility I have towards my descendants, perhaps a generation that I may not meet but that I would like to enjoy nature as much as I do. My family is the first community I live and walk with in my conversion. With their company I am getting involved in concrete activities for the care of our environment and for the poor.
I know that we cannot live a true conversion if we forget our less favored brothers and sisters, as the Holy Father says in the Encyclical Laudato Sí: “to listen both to the cry of the earth and to the cry of the poor” LS 49.
This Holy Week 2022 together with my family we were able to do mission in the community of Marale, going out of our comfort, leaving aside indifference, proclaiming the Gospel, listening to the other as a brother, with faith in God that things can change for the better if we all cooperate.
This is a decision that is renewed every day. I am currently a volunteer in an organization that accompanies educational processes in the rural area near Tegucigalpa, who have been forgotten and live as discarded. Inequity affects us all.
If you have come this far, I invite you not to be discouraged and to continue, may Mary Most Holy, Mother and Queen of all creation, guard your heart and help you.
Linda Sheran – Deputy National Circle Leader LS Honduras
By Suzi MoreiraCoordinator of eco-conversion programsLaudato Si’ Movement
St. Anthony of Lisbon, or Padua, is a young saint from the 13th century. Early in his life he felt called to religious life, which led him to join an Augustine order and later join the Franciscan order. His journey with the Franciscans led him to travel several countries and he became widely known for his powerful sermons and bravery in standing up for the poor and oppressed. His humble way of integrating his theological studies with a prophetic evangelical living was admired by St. Francis himself, who St. Anthony encountered more than once in his journeys.
Nothing would keep him from spreading the good news of the Gospel. Stories tell that in one of his travels, being unwelcomed by the authorities and heretics in one of the cities he visited, St. Anthony decided to turn then to the fish and invite them to hear the Word of the Lord. His preaching was always connected with the concrete practice of listening and caring for the people who came to him for help. May we also be inspired by his example, to prophetically spread the good news to the poor and creation, defending those in most need.
In communion with the Synod on Synodality, LSM is reflecting on how we can deepen our synodal journey as a movement and with the wider Church. We invite you to join us by hosting a synodal listening session with your Circle or Chapter and sharing with us the results.Your reflection will be incorporated into a paper submitted to the Synod on Synodality in August and in a statement of LSM principles on synodality in December. You can see more details about LSM’s synodality activities here.
The listening sessions are one of the most important parts of our synodal process and are to take place during the month of June.
The main goal of the listening sessions is to create a space of encounter, active listening and open dialogue, where everyone feels comfortable and safe to express their opinions. The sessions will focus around the five synodal questions (as detailed in the agenda below).
Each listening session must have a facilitator who will be responsible for submitting a short report to [email protected] by June 30. The report must include: the facilitator’s info (name, email, role within LSM), the listening session info (region/city/country, no. of participants), groups contributions (the responses of the small groups to the 5 questions), and conclusion (conclusions and/or contributions the facilitator may consider relevant about the session).
Agenda for 60 minute session:
So much to read, learn, contemplate & enjoy as always! Loved Linda Sheran’s eco-onversion story and to know that two of her daughters are LS Animators! Also, excited & looking forward to a LS Synodality Listening Session!
