Season of Creation

From the bulletin – “In today’s worship, we are observing the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi. The commentary on St Francis in Holy Women, Holy Men says that “of all the saints, Francis is the most popular and admired, but probably the least imitated; few have attained to his total identification with the poverty and suffering of Christ.” The readings are those appointed for this day in Holy Women, Holy Men. The opening hymn, “All creatures of our God and King” and the prayer, “Lord, make us instruments of your peace” are texts attributed to St Francis.”

The Season of Creation year B encompassed all 5 Sundays in September, 2018 and through St. Francis Day, Oct. 4

Key ideas

1. The Season of Creation as with last year focuses on God the Creator. God Creates the world God’s sustains the earth, promotes renewal for the entire creation, gives us the ability to take action where needed in the world.

2. The final creation was not at the beginning of Genesis and left as it was. The world is in constant creation.

3. As the Pope has said many times, “We are the guardians of Creation” and “everything is connected.” We must be the stewards of our earth and be on guard for its exploitation.

4. When we choose to live in God’s new creation, we grow, and contribute to the good of the world around us, loving one another.

5. The Season of creation is about images and symbols to depict creation and our roles through scripture and the sermon. We used the sower, miracles, butterflies seeds, gardens, and mandalas to convey the meaning this year.

Under clear, but warm skies for an early October Thursday, Catherine blessed six dogs – Max, Opie, Bo, Rosie, Charlie, Koda, and one kitten–Cricket. It was a heated contest but Max and his owner came out with the $25 Pet Smart gift certificate. Elizabeth Heimbach’s mouse treats were delicious as usual and Catherine added “munchies” for all. Including Catherine there were 17 people.

We started the Season of Creation Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, five weeks in the middle of Pentecost that focuses on our relation to God and the environment. The Season of Creation is an optional liturgy in the Episcopal Church. We had different readings readings and a different Eucharistic prayer – “We Give Thanks”. It highlights the role of God as Creator and Jesus dwelling in nature as one of us to bring us abundant life. There were five Sundays in the season. The link to the Sunday is here.

It made it real with Hurricane Harvey devastating Houston, Texas, the 4th largest city in the US. We are collecting funds for its relief. As part of that, an anonymous donor has pledged to match the first $1,000 of donations. Thus we plan to send Episcopal Relief a check for $2,000 in the minimum.

This was a different St. Francis Event, 4pm-6pm, Oct. 4, 2017. In the past we have had the service around the Blessing of the Pets. In other years at Charter Day we gave out treats and had some blessings. The link to the story is here.

This year we had a variety of activities – art, a scavenger hunt, the blessing and then following it the Village Dinner.
In attendance were 7 dogs, 3 hermit crabs, a wounded vulture and 2,000 bees. The people came at different times so the service was repeated several times. Usually the people gather for one service Catherine also had “treats to go” that she gave out at the Village Dinner

Thanks to all who participated in particular for Susan Tilt’s art project, Andrew Huffman for his wonderful explanation on our bees and for gathering the bees in a separate glassed container so all could see, Catherine for the scavenger hunt (for both children and adults), the helpers with the Village Dinner and of course those who brought their animals. There was much more diversity from just having dogs.

We had about 15 dogs and 20 humans to attend the service. Festive treats were provided Elizabeth Heimbach (mouse cookies with licorice tails) and was helped by ;Terri Harrison who brought the dog biscuits. Cookie brought plants and a sweater with cats, which were luckily not chased by the dogs here. The weather was gorgeous with lots of sunshine and moderate temperatures.

We had 8 dogs with 17 people – the same number of animals as in 2012 but this blessing was characterized by the number of children which contrasted nicely with last year’s more subdued gathering. It was definitely livelier on an unseasonably warm day for this year However, one thing is constant – Elizabeth Heimbach’s mouse treats. They’re worth coming out for even without an animal.

St. Peter’s had a table this year at Charter Day and provided activities in relation to St. Francis day also on October 4 as well as selling ECW gifts. Most people did not obviously have their pets. So Catherine provided “pet blessings to go” for both dogs and cats which included a St. Francis blessing, some pet treats and information about the church. She gave out 30 dog packets and 26 cat packets, only 10 calories flavored with pumpkin and sweet potatoes to fit the season. She did bless at least 8 dogs that were at Charter Day.

Under a beautiful crisp October day, we blessed 6 dogs and 1 cat (“church kitty”). (Oct. 8, 2011).