Season of Creation 2023
Scottish Laity Network's 2023 Programme
Hover over the programme to see it enlarged.
Once again, the Scottish Laity Network are delighted to be able to confirm their Season of Creation 2023 programme and warmly invite you to participate.
The theme chosen by Pope Francis for this year is:
Let Justice and Peace flow like a mighty river.
Each Thursday evening in September there will be a Zoom meeting from 7 - 8.30pm dealing with different topic.
The first topic is:
Flowing with the Divine: A Spirituality for ALL Seasons and will be led by Arlene Flaherty
Arlene Flaherty OP is a Dominican Sister of Blauvelt, NY. For the past 40 years her ministry has been at the intersection of theology, spirituality, and justice.She is a teacher, workshop leader, justice animator, and group facilitator.
For the past year, she has been teaching Theology and Spirituality in an
Evolutionary Context at An Tairseach, the Dominican Organic Farm and
Ecology Center in County Wicklow, Ireland.
The theme of the 2023 Season of Creation is: “Let Justice and Peace Flow.” But what is the source of this flow? Where does it reside? How can we align ourselves with this generative and transforming power for the sake of Earth and her community of life?
In this session, we will reflect on some theological and spiritual insights emerging from contemporary understandings of creation. The hope is that throughout the session, participants will harvest the wisdom needed to align with the FLOW, so as to support God’s dream and our desire - the flourishing of creation’s community of life - a community to which we all belong.
Season Creation Resources
Resources for Sunday Masses
(Click on the image)
Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 2023
Dear brothers and sisters!
“Let Justice and Peace Flow” is the theme of this year’s ecumenical Season of Creation, inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (5:24).
The evocative image used by Amos speaks to us of what God desires. God wants justice to reign; it is as essential to our life as God’s children made in his likeness as water is essential for our physical survival. This justice must flow forth wherever it is needed, neither remaining hidden deep beneath the ground nor vanishing like water that evaporates before it can bring sustenance. God wants everyone to strive to be just in every situation, to live according to his laws and thus to enable life to flourish. When we “seek first the kingdom of God” (Mt 6:33), maintaining a right relationship with God,
humanity and nature, then justice and peace can flow like a never-failing stream of pure water, nourishing humanity and all creatures.
On a beautiful summer day in July 2022, during my pilgrimage to Canada, I reflected on this on the shores of Lac Ste. Anne in Alberta. That lake has been a place of pilgrimage for many generations of indigenous people. Surrounded by the beating of drums, I thought: “How many hearts have come here with anxious longing, weighed down by life’s burdens, and found by these waters consolation and strength to carry on! Here, immersed in creation, we can also sense another beating: the maternal heartbeat of the
earth. Just as the hearts of babies in the womb beat in harmony with those of their mothers, so in order to grow as people, we need to harmonise our own rhythms of life with those of creation, which gives us life”.
During this Season of Creation, let us dwell on those heartbeats: our own and those of our mothers and grandmothers, the heartbeat of creation and the heartbeat of God. Today they do not beat in harmony; they are not harmonised in justice and peace. Too many of our brothers and sisters are prevented from drinking from that mighty river. Let us heed our call to stand with the victims of environmental and climate injustice, and to put an
end to the senseless war against creation.