RALEIGH, N.C. — The Diocese of Raleigh shared its Laudato Si’ Action Plan Oct. 11 at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Raleigh. Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama celebrated the 9 a.m. Mass with the community, which included parishioners, visitors, Father Chris Koehn, pastor of St. Francis, Deacon Frank Bandy, a deacon in residence at the parish, and Father Joseph Ita-Sam, C.M., assistant to the bishop for liturgy.
Laudato Si’ is an encyclical letter written by Pope Francis in 2015. Its title translates to “Praise be to you, my Lord” and is taken from a canticle by St. Francis that reminds people that the Earth is “like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.”
In his homily, Bishop Luis said, “We are offering the Mass for the gift of creation” and thanked Father Chris for inviting him to preside.
Bishop discussed how Jesus gives himself as a gift. “We come together searching for and waiting for the gift of Jesus Christ. He wants to be part of our daily life,” said Bishop Luis. “He likes for us to know how much he loves us.”
The Prayers of the Faithful included intentions for living wisely within creation, heeding the call to care for the environment and committing to actions that address the needs of Earth.
A reception was held after Mass and people were encouraged to visit the information table for North Carolina Catholics Caring for Our Common Home, or N4CH, a ministry that includes parishioners from numerous Catholic churches and aims to inspire people to care for the Earth.
In addition to buttons, conversation and ideas for ways to care for the Earth, the group gave people containers of green and gold groundcover, which is a perennial native to North Carolina, to take home and plant.
Monica Kleimeyer, a member of N4CH, was instrumental in creating the action plan, which includes seven goals from ecological spirituality and education to responding to the cry of the poor and the Earth as well as adopting a sustainable lifestyle. Additional ministry members are listed in the acknowledgements on page 29.
Using her loom, N4CH member Pam James repurposed old sweaters into two green stoles for the priests to wear at the Mass. The weaving project began in mid-September and about 16 ministry members met her at St. Francis to help weave.
“As my nephew said when he was little, it’s just ‘over, under, over, under, over, under,’” she smiled, noting that she enjoys weaving projects and repurposing materials in unique ways.
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