During the month of September the Christian family unites for the Season of Creation, the worldwide ecumenical celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home. The Season of Creation asks us to pray, use our voice to speak out about climate injustice and to take action to care for our common home. The theme for this year, “Let Peace and Justice Flow”, taken from the wisdom of Prophet Amos, encourages us to wash away our apathy, our greed and selfishness so that we can reveal the deep relationship that God created for us, with all of creation. In Religious Education classes, students from all year levels learnt about Pope Francis’ letter, Laudato Si, and how they are asked to put the goals into action especially during the Season of Creation.
Fourty students volunteered to work on the Season of Creation project during lunchtimes to enable the college community to focus on prayer, voice and action. To focus on prayer and voice a whole school liturgy was celebrated outside, in the beautiful nature filled school grounds that we are so blessed to have. The theme was highlighted beautifully in the sounds of nature, through the symbolism of water, the power of words and the reflective mood created by the music. The liturgy concluded with a prayer from Laudato Si and the words of a hymn “Let the River flow, let the river of God flow out upon this place”. Students and staff left the liturgy feeling the joy and hope that is found in our relationship with Jesus, each other and all of creation.
“The liturgy was a gracious moment and the students were so respectful as we acknowledged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and brought the theme alive.” Luis, Year 7
The liturgy was followed by an environmental awareness campaign on the following Friday during lunchtime.
“We kicked off the Season of Creation really strongly with stalls at lunchtime spreading awareness about the damage that’s happening in our environment. Students were able to participate in the stalls and the fun games, learning a little more and making the environment better than yesterday.” Blake, Year 11
Our students embraced this campaign and enjoyed participating in games and activities, as well as learning about environmental issues along the way.
“Bees are just as important as any animal. They may be small, but they can change the world, just like us. The environment awareness stalls were fun and it was a great way to teach people about our environment.” Maria, Year 7
