By Fr. Hugh Davoren, CSSp
Hassop & Bakewell Catholic community
On 3rd October Pope Francis will sign an Encyclical letter addressed to all people of goodwill. The Encyclical has the title Fratelli Tutti (We are all Brothers) and is, of course, meant for all people, male and female!
The title is a quote from St Francis of Assisi, and Assisi is the place where the Pope will sign his letter on the eve of the feast of Assisi’s well-known saint, 4th October. He will also celebrate Mass during his visit. During his time as the bishop of Rome and pastor of the whole church, Pope Francis has raised the profile of the Church’s mission and responsibility within and for creation.
This Sunday evening Sir David Attenborough will present a TV programme titled EXTINCTION – THE FACTS in which he will tell us about the one million species are threatened with extinction. Julie Siddiqi in her Thought for the Day on Thursday spoke about embracing the wider community of creation. There is a huge amount of discussion about the state of our world and what we humans are doing to damage it.
Covid-19 has taught us some lessons but we still have many more to learn and the Pope along with others are doing their very best to raise awareness of the many problems we must address as we move towards the future of Sister Mother Earth.
In our Parish community, many of us are aware of the respect we owe to nature and creation. We are also aware of our responsibility for the recycling of our waste but, sadly, we have never in recent years had a parish member who took on this portfolio so that the parish community as a whole could be informed of happenings and involved in the task of doing more and more to follow the spirit of St Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis and so many more.
I hope it’s not too late for somebody to step forward and say, “Here I am – let me be your servant, Lord” as face the challenges of the future.
I continue to think of you all at the weekly Mass for parishioners and especially our sick ones. Let us all pray for each other.
