From September 1st to October 4th 2025, the Christian family unites worldwide in prayer and action for Creation. This years’ theme is “Peace with Creation” taken from Isaiah 32:14-18. The prophet Isaiah pictured a desolated earth without peace because of the lack of justice and the broken relationship between God and humankind. Isaiah tells us that creation will find peace when justice and peace is restored. We are people of hope, but hope must be accompanied by words and actions.
In his homily, Bishop Martin tells us that “we are called in the Gospel by Jesus to give everything. Jesus makes it clear that we must take up our crosses, our challenges, make the necessary sacrifices, which includes acting to correct injustice and help bring about peace. Our focus today is on the world of nature; that of God’s creation. Our theme in this Season of Creation 2025 is Peace with Creation. We have been gifted with creation, and we have harmed it by seeking to take excessively from the Earth as we often, selfishly, take from each other. We must seek to be in harmony with each other; to be a at peace with each other and with creation. What we are doing is unjust; in raising global temperatures with our reliance on burning fossil fuels in our part of the world we are causing climate change in the poorest parts of the world thus affecting their ability to farm and produce food. We are being called to make sacrifices, and some are suffering due to weather events caused by climate change. The effort to restore harmony, the beauty and diversity of the natural world require commitment on our part.
As disciples, we are called to endure suffering for the sake of seeking the peace of the Gospel message. We have as our model Jesus himself, whose suffering we commemorate in our celebration of the Mass. In receiving Holy Communion, we can carry our cross sustained by Jesus Himself. As regards our duty to care for creation, we must take steps to reduce our impact on the Earth; reduce our buying, reuse, recycle at home and as communities. Yes, we are called to give our all, to do our best, yet it is not about our plans, not all about what we decide. We live in the world where one species of life dominates; human life and we think we are totally in charge. However, we are not God (LS67) as Pope Francis stated in Laudato Si’ on care of our common home, 10 years ago.
God is at work in our lives, when we don’t know it and especially, when we are frustrated that our plans are not working out and indeed when we are enduring suffering. What is happening in our world, to our climate? We have increasing evidence of climate change; weather events, less variety of insects necessary for pollination, an increase in the size of deserts, like the Sahara Desert, increasing sea levels due to melting ice, more forest fires… We must step back in prayer to find out what God’s plans for us are, to seek his wisdom. That is why we have our Season of Creation, to acknowledge the gift we have received from God and to review our appreciation of its value, beauty and diversity.
We must step back in prayer to find out what God’s plans for us are, to seek his wisdom (according to our 1st Rd). That is why we have our Season of Creation, to acknowledge the gift we have received from God and to review our appreciation of its value, beauty and diversity. In the Book of Wisdom, we hear that it is not about our intentions or reasonings, much and all as we may value them! In fact, we are caught in what Pope Francis called a technocratic paradigm, believing falsely that we can impose our technological solutions to resolve all problems.
Rather we must work with nature, in harmony with it. We need God’s wisdom which is revealed to us in the happenings of our everyday lives, in fact, we are saved by God’s wisdom (1st Rd.). In realising that fulfilling God’s plans requires effort, includes challenges, requires sacrifices and suffering; we must face them with eyes wide open. We must take time to look ahead to live in harmony with what we have been gifted realising that we are interconnected with each other and with all of creation. Therefore, we must ask God, our Creator for help to endure. {In our Resp. Ps. today we pray for God’s wisdom and guidance}.
Also, we are reminded in our scriptures today that facing life’s challenges is not a solo effort. We are called to live the Christian life with others in the spirit of our 2nd Rd. (Paul to Philemon). It’s the story of Paul and his missionary companion Onesimus, once a slave, whom he is returning to his master Philemon as a brother in Christ.
Paul is highlighting the necessary interconnection between all of life, expressed in the bond of fraternity between Christians, the relationship of sisters and brothers, of friendship in Christ, of that of our parish faith communities which we celebrate each time we gather for Mass. As parish communities of faith, we have a particular role in caring for creation. We may be overwhelmed by all the scientific facts about climate change, yet it is our coming together in faith around life issues; the protection of human life and the care of creation, that we can be most effective.
We give thanks for our Kilmore Care of Creation Group who throughout the year are raising awareness about what we can do as families, as parish communities to care for creation. Their commitment to highlight what we can do and by acting, notably at our wildlife space here at the Cathedral – the wildflowers and plants are ‘going to seed’ – a sign of hope – as they can be harvested for planting elsewhere as part of the project of the Irish Church that 30% of church grounds be given over to nature by 2030.
We would like to allow the natural wildflowers around the Cathedral to bloom, to cultivate wildflowers and oak seedlings, to plant trees and hedging to enhance the biodiversity of our church grounds. We ask for your support and we invite you to join us. You are most welcome. In this Season of Creation, help us Lord, to discover your plans for us. Help us, Lord, to endure, to act for justice so that your peace reigns.”
The Kilmore Care of Creation Group have erected two ‘Peace with Creation’ Displays and information stands in the Cathedral and they are available for viewing and contemplation. A ‘Ribbons of Peace’ tree is also available in the sanctuary for anyone who wishes to make a prayer offering. We encourage you to make a visit. For more information, please view the Kilmore Care of Creation Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/kilmorecareofcreation/
