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.
In Stockton, the environment ministry at the Church of the Presentation embodies an educational component. By teaching parishioners the reality of resource use and conservation practices, community dialogue and participation follows with the cohesive environmental stewardship practice of reduce, reuse and recycle. Deacon Scott Johnson notes this means utilizing the resources of local agencies. For example, for a discussion on air pollution, its impact on asthma and ways parishioners could improve air quality, incorporated input from the local air quality management agency. They also distributed CFL (compact fluorescent lights) bulbs in conjunction with the local electricity company to educate parishioners about energy savings and proper recycling of CFL bulbs.
The parish’s environmental justice project leader, Susan Loyko, feels it is important to educate other ministries at the parish about environmental stewardship. This lead to the Knights of Columbus eliminating Styrofoam products at monthly pancake breakfasts.
For Church of the Presentation, care for creation also means participating in projects outside the parish. They partner with S.O.S., Save Our Stockton, to ecumenically develop community gardens in economically challenged neighborhoods to provide locally grown produce. This program involves many young adults and teens from the parish. Deacon Johnson says, “Our ministry cares for God’s creation, but also reinforces Catholic Social Teaching principles of solidarity, community, participation and caring for the poor and vulnerable.”
St Mel’s parish school, of 500 K-8 students, in Woodland Hills, started a recycling program about five years ago after realizing they were sending 130,000 pounds of trash to the land fill each year. A green club was formed and recycling bins placed around the campus saved 24,000 bottles and cans from the landfill, while raising $1,200. Inspired by their efforts, they applied for a $15,000 California Department of Conservation Beverage Container Recycling Grant. These funds bought a recycling bin for each classroom, additional bins to use at special events, along with instituting a drive through recycling drop off program to raise $3,200 and collect 64,000 bottles and cans during the first year of implementation.
Now, parents bring recyclables from home to support classroom competition for the most recycled products. This enthusiasm generates 100,000 recycled bottles and cans annually and $5,000 in revenue. With the grant, St Mel’s bought additional recycling bins that it donates to other parochial and public schools to start their own program for four to six months until they generate enough revenue to buy their own bins. Frank Gamwell, a St Mel’s parent and program coordinator, feels the program trains future environmental leaders by helping students realizing the importance of conservation and recycling, while educating parents, staff and the parish community about the importance of caring for creation.
In the rural Sierra foothills community of Sonora, St Patrick’s parishioners had minimal opportunities for recycling household batteries. In the parish hall, containers were placed to collect used batteries and keep them from being improperly disposed of to contaminate landfills. Now, they are taken to the waste transfer station for proper recycling. Deacon Mike Kubasek said, “ Seeing the lack of recycling options in Tuolumne County, parishioners became involved in the community dialogue with the local waste management company to start curbside recycling instead of individuals hauling their recyclables, like newspaper and cardboard, to centralized locations.” St Patrick’s environmental ministry looks at the needs of their community and gets involved to provide practical solutions to help their region practice environmental stewardship.
Several dioceses in California provide resources for parishes to care for God’s creation:
- Bishop Blaire, in the Diocese of Stockton will issue a pastoral letter for Environmental Justice Sunday on October 30th, with the Diocese’s Environmental Justice Coordinator, Betsy Reifsnider, encouraging parishes to highlight the St. Francis pledge and distribute pledge cards. (Read their newsletter here.)
- The Diocese of San Jose offers resources on their environmental justice home page for parishes to establish green teams.
- In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for the Feast of St. Francis, the Office of Justice and Peace will distribute to each parish a copy of 77 Ways to Save Money and Energy at Your Church or School by David Troesh with a cover letter by Auxiliary Bishop Salazar encouraging parishes to be stewards of creation.
Throughout California, in a diversity of parishes, parishioners live the legacy of St. Francis to care for God’s creation by their actions and when necessary words to explain the interconnectedness and sacredness of all creation. As St. Francis experienced a conversion of heart to tame the Wolf of Gubbio and face challenges in his time with the strength of Scripture and the Spirit, today environmental ministries help parishioners see care for God’s creation as a pillar of Catholic Social Teaching. To tame resource use and environmental degradation, with education, conservation and recycling, parishes are establishing a legacy of hope for future generations.
“The Magisterium underscores human responsibility for the preservation of a sound and healthy environment for all. Technology that pollutes can also cleanse, production that amasses can also distribute justly, on condition that the ethic of respect life and human dignity, for the rights of today’s generations and those to come, prevails.” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, paragraph 465)