This week's feasts
World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
This Tuesday, Sept. 1, is the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. This feast of the Church was established a few years ago by Pope Francis.
When God created our first parents, Adam and Eve, He made them stewards or caretakers of this new world He had created. In the Book of Genesis, we see God place Adam in charge of the animals by giving him authority to name these creatures. Our first parents were to care for creation not only for their own sake, but also for the plants and animals God had created.
By any standard, we humans have not done a great job of this. The Church calls us to recall this command of God to the human race, and to work to establish policies that protect the environment and all creation for our own sake and that of future generations.
When God created our first parents, Adam and Eve, He made them stewards or caretakers of this new world He had created. In the Book of Genesis, we see God place Adam in charge of the animals by giving him authority to name these creatures. Our first parents were to care for creation not only for their own sake, but also for the plants and animals God had created.
By any standard, we humans have not done a great job of this. The Church calls us to recall this command of God to the human race, and to work to establish policies that protect the environment and all creation for our own sake and that of future generations.
St. Teresa of Calcutta
On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Church honors St. Teresa of Calcutta. Mother Teresa was born in Albania in 1910. At 18 years old she moved to Ireland (good girl!) to join the Sisters of Loretto and later moved to India. While there, she received what she called her “call within her call,” to leave the Sisters of Loretto and move to Calcutta and form a new religious community. She did so and was working alone for quite a while. Some of the young women whom Mother had taught in high school when she was with the Sisters of Loretto came and joined her in Calcutta. In 1950, she established the Missionaries of Charity, a new religious order dedicated to the care of the “Poorest of the Poor.”
Word about Mother Teresa and her communities of sisters working in Calcutta spread. A book and then a movie entitled Something Beautiful for God, written by Malcolm Muggeidge, was published in 1971, and she became a something of a worldwide celebrity. Mother remained centered in Calcutta, India, but also opened centers and convents at various places throughout the world.
Mother even opened a convent and mission in Jenkens, Kentucky and came to Kentucky herself. Some will remember a large gathering and presentation at Covington Catholic High School, at which she spoke to the crowd. Fr. Raymond Hartman, a former pastor here at Mother of God Parish, accompanied Mother Teresa during her historic visit. (Jenkins is now part of the Diocese of Lexington, but at that time it was part of the Diocese of Covington.)
Mother was recognized by people of all religions around the world. In 1979, she received the Nobel Peace Prize. She died on Sept. 5, 1997, and was canonized a saint in 2016 by Pope Francis. At her death, Mother Teresa received a state funeral from the nation of India. She lay in state for a week before the actual funeral.
Word about Mother Teresa and her communities of sisters working in Calcutta spread. A book and then a movie entitled Something Beautiful for God, written by Malcolm Muggeidge, was published in 1971, and she became a something of a worldwide celebrity. Mother remained centered in Calcutta, India, but also opened centers and convents at various places throughout the world.
Mother even opened a convent and mission in Jenkens, Kentucky and came to Kentucky herself. Some will remember a large gathering and presentation at Covington Catholic High School, at which she spoke to the crowd. Fr. Raymond Hartman, a former pastor here at Mother of God Parish, accompanied Mother Teresa during her historic visit. (Jenkins is now part of the Diocese of Lexington, but at that time it was part of the Diocese of Covington.)
Mother was recognized by people of all religions around the world. In 1979, she received the Nobel Peace Prize. She died on Sept. 5, 1997, and was canonized a saint in 2016 by Pope Francis. At her death, Mother Teresa received a state funeral from the nation of India. She lay in state for a week before the actual funeral.