Feast of St. Francis and Care for God’s Creation
St. Francis exemplified respect for the interconnectedness and sacredness of all life in God’s creation. He perceived creation as a gift reverenced by stewardship, not controlled as a possession. His feast day on October 4 reminds us care for creation is not just a slogan, but a precept of our faith with moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored. Parishes and dioceses around California continue the legacy of St. Francis with ministries and activities that protect both people and the planet and encourage us to live faith in relationship with all of God’s creation:
Parishioners at Mary Immaculate Church in Pacoima gather regularly for convivencias, or town hall meetings, at the 95 percent Spanish speaking parish. Learning of environmental consequences from millions of water bottles deposited annually in land fills, they banned plastic water bottles from their grounds. Vending machines dispensing plastic bottles were also eliminated and they installed more drinking fountains. To encourage parishioners’ participation, the parish purchased one thousand refillable stainless steel water bottles, with the church’s logo, and sold them at about cost.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference welcomed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed standards for mercury and air toxics produced by power plants, according to a June 20 comment filed with the Environmental Protection Agency, by Bishop Stephen Blaire, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.