28 September

This Sunday will be our traditional Harvest Festival.

It is that time of year when we pause to contemplate creation’s generous giving and our own responsibility to care for Mother Earth. As I was preparing, I was reminded of Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’, in which he calls Christians to pay closer attention to creation: both in our relationships with one another and in our relatedness to the rest of the created world. It is at once a document of deep gratitude for creation and a plea to hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.

Following Laudato Si’, a prayer book was published which includes a beautiful “linger, listen, love” prayer. It is a way of contemplating creation, whether indoors or outdoors.

Please join me in this prayer today:

Linger: 

Walk or look around you slowly. 

Notice if some member of creation attracts your attention, a cloud, a tree, a plant indoors. Allow yourself to linger, to pause at whatever attracts your attention and be present to what is there.

Use your senses to take in the wonder of this creature: the colours, shapes, smells, textures.

Listen: 

What might this being be trying to tell you? 

What might God be saying to you through this element of creation? 

Consider entering into dialogue with this member of creation, calling to mind St. Francis talking to the birds and calling Brother Sun and Sister Moon. 

You might ask a question. Then listen. 

Just be open to what might arise.

Love: 

When you are ready to leave, find a way to offer love, by saying thanks, offering a

prayer to God for this encounter, wishing your new friend well. 

Find a way to acknowledge the gift you have received and your desire to give something in return.

If there is time, you might try this process of Linger, Listen, and Love with another element in creation.

Blessings

Marius