The faithful are called to spend the Season of Creation in September well. Responding to the appeal of the encyclical, Laudato Si’, we should go the extra mile to care for the common home of humankind, our environment, and the least of our brothers and sisters.
Laudato Si’ is the “ecological encyclical.” It is an encyclical for society. In it Pope Francis emphasises that as people rebuild their relationship with the world, they should give preferential care for the poor. “The principle of the common good immediately becomes, logically and inevitably, a summons to solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters” (158).
“Let us not only keep the poor of the future in mind but also today’s poor, whose life on this earth is brief and who cannot keep on waiting. Hence, ‘in addition to a fairer sense of intergenerational solidarity, there is also an urgent moral need for a renewed sense of intragenerational solidarity’” (162).
Laudato Si’, stresses that caring for the poor is an urgent task. The faithful should be far-sighted, stay by the poor through their times of anguish, establish a spirit of solidarity and fraternity, and motivate others to take on this mission.
The mid-Autumn Festival saw many parishes hand out mooncakes and food to the grassroots, bringing festivities and reminding the faithful to care for those in need.
Charity should not be limited to festive days. It should permeate regular parish activities so people can develop friendly relationships with the community’s grassroots. In Yuen Long, members of Ss. Peter and Paul Church regularly visit the homeless and poor within the parish territory to show their care and to provide them with the resources they need. They also set up a Five loaves & two fish cabinet at the church entrance to share resources with needy people, including food and face masks. The parish sets out to be a caring base for the community.
Although Covid-19 has restricted social activities, the faithful are actively exploring ways to offer charitable services to the community. In response to the suspension of voluntary pastoral visits in hospitals, parishes began working with the Commission for Hospital Pastoral Care and Caritas Services for the Elderly. They offer training to support the elderly and the sick within their communities by enhancing their faith knowledge and caring skills. As a result, the diocese enhances the faithful’s responsibilities. Alternatively, it can bring together people who share the same goal, motivating and supporting each other along the long path to providing care for others.
It can be seen that institutions and parishes work systematically to help the faithful equip themselves and form groups to ensure that charitable services can be continued and sustained.
St. Francis of Assisi, the patron of ecology, cares especially for Creation and accompanies the poor and the abandoned. He is a role model for people in providing charitable services during the Season of Creation. Let us follow in his footsteps and hear the voice of God, nature and those who are poor and sick. Let the seeds of love and charity sprout and flourish in our hearts. SE
