Celebration: 16th – 24th May 2020
Our parish video:
Please see our parish video below, showing the #LiveSimply actions of our parish members.
Background:
Pope Francis has written an ‘encyclical’ or letter to everyone asking us to ‘Care for Our Common Home’. This month we celebrate the 5th birthday of this letter by asking all in Holy Apostles and Martyrs Parish to act and share their actions in a special video or iMovie. We are delighted to have over 70 responses: prayers, songs, poems, photos, many ways of being creative.
It’s lovely to see so many parishioners involved. Many thanks to Fr Phil, Mick and Hannah for putting it together and for all who helped and all who contributed. We are able to provide a DVD for those not able to view it online. Please email ham.creation2020@gmail.com for more information.
In the encyclical Pope Francis explained the sacredness of everything in creation and spelled out why each one of us has a responsibility to respect, cherish and safeguard all the earth. The Holy Father says, “St Francis … invites us to see Nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness.” The encyclical is addressed to all people, not just Catholics or Christians and has been used by faith leaders and politicians to change the political agenda in favour of the poor. Now more than ever this is needed. Our celebration is part of a global interfaith celebration
The Laudato Si’ celebration iMovie is another action in our parish #LiveSimply plan. The plan has nine actions in the themes of Living Simply; Living Sustainably and Living in Solidarity. The Lenten Actions and Environmental Actions in the newsletter were our first actions. The plan will be published very soon and shared here and in the newsletter.
Our video included various poems, some written by parishioners, some a bit more famous!
Tiny Things by Frank Nance
Sets smaller than my fingertips,
Set in the good ground invisible.
Now onions sprout tall, green.
Another life begins.
Seeds smaller than a pin head
Set in the good earth unseen.
Sun, water, wind, a row of radishes.
Another life begins.
Seeds smaller than a pin point
Set in the dark, unfeeling ground.
Sun, warmth, some wet, then tiny carrot tops.
Another life begins.
Pollen like dust, specks in the air
On the legs of bees, on wind, to blossoms carried.
Rain, water, wind and sun, a tiny pear.
Another life begins.
Autumn in Royden Park by Julie Lamin
There was a robbery last night.
Explosions ripped through river banks
And blew open the wood’s vaults.
Nature’s riches glitter,
Litter the ground:
Golden guineas, bronze pounds
And birches’ silver scattered
By the empty-handed, would-be thief,
The wind.
Nature exerts her economy.
Her wealth re-invested
In banks of sodden soil,
Her high yield, six-month account
Repays with interest
In spring.
Laudato Si‘ by Sadie
The perfection of life could not be unending,
We see the light of truth but we still go pretending,
Ignorance is bliss- ignorance is pure,
But now we’ve lost the privilege to rightfully ignore,
This page from which I write on, this page that I may use, has brothers being wasted, and sisters being abused,
Although the world may listen to those who may impact, these listeners are burdens, if they refuse to act,
So please don’t be misguided, a person to applaud, then redirect your mindset and continue wrong and flawed, so now more than ever for everything it’s worth, we are called to come together to redeem our shared earth.
Morning Thanksgiving by John Drinkwater
Thank God for sleep in the long quiet night,
For the clear day calling through the little leaded panes,
For the shining well-water and the warm golden light,
And the paths washed white by singing rains.
For the treasure of the garden, the gilly-flowers of gold,
The prouder petalled tulips, the primrose full of spring,
For the crowded orchard boughs, and the swelling buds that hold
A yet unwoven wonder, to Thee our praise we bring.
Thank God for good bread, for the honey in the comb,
For the brown-shelled eggs, for the clustered blossom set
Beyond the open window in a pink and cloudy foam,
For the laughing loves among the branches set.
For earth’s little secret and innumerable ways,
For the carol and the colour, Lord, we bring
What things may be of thanks, and that Thou hast lent our days
Eyes to see and ears to hear and lips to sing.
A truly lovely exposition of who we are and what our Parish is doing.
Sadie’s poem says it all. If we really want to care for our common home, right here and right now we have the opportunity to keep moving on, and don’t turn back to the old pre-pandemic ways of living.
What a wonderfully inspiring presentation thank you for all the time and work that went into putting it togethe