The Graces of Creation – A Harvest Prayer Celebration

Communications Office

Mary Theresa O’Reilly, CSJ, lighting the candles   

During the Season of Creation, we gathered on September 25 in person and via Zoom for a special Harvest Prayer. This prayer was part of our ongoing commitment to Laudato Si’ articulated in our Chapter 2023 “Pathways to Our Future”.
In early summer, sisters, associates, agrégées, and partners in mission had been invited to be mindful of Pope Francis’ request in his recent document, Laudate Deum, “…to accompany this pilgrimage of reconciliation with the world that is our home and to help make it more beautiful, because that commitment has to do with our personal dignity and highest values.”
We viewed two short videos which included photos from many of our sisters who engaged in, and contemplated, the beauty of the season as a way of appreciating more deeply God’s dream for all of creation, “that all may be one.”

There was time for reflection and sharing on two questions:

• During this summer season, what are the graces of creation you have experienced?
• For the good of all creation, how might these graces continue to be harvested within yourself and among others?

In the concluding moments we prayed, “May we be cantors of the universe, singing praise in the name of all the rest.”[i]

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[i] Adapted from Johnson, Elizabeth A. Come, Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth (p. 60). Orbis Books.