Nov
By Clare Westwood
The ecumenical Season of Creation (SoC)was celebrated across the world from September 1 to October 4.
The theme for this year was Walking Together. Over 650 events were organised in 68 countries over six continents as registered with the Global Catholic Climate Movement! The Diocese of Penang was part of this worldwide celebration with a number of activities to raise awareness of the need to protect Mother Earth and life on it from destruction. Below are some of the activities held:
Masses
Masses for the Season of Creation were celebrated in the churches of St Anne, Bukit Mertajam and Sacred Heart of Jesus, Kulim with the theme deforestation. Forests are home to 80 per cent of all animal life on land and 40 football fields of forest are destroyed every minute. Malaysia, in particular, has cut down thousands of hectares of precious tropical rainforests over the years.
Parishioners brought a leaf each and put it into baskets during the presentation of gifts with the pledge “I promise to respect all of God’s creation.” A video on deforestation was shown and penitential prayers and prayers of the faithful incorporated facts on deforestation.
Cycling and Clean Up
Twenty-two parishioners of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Penang, cycled to the Coastal Cycle Park at the beach front near the first Penang bridge to make a message about cutting down on fossil fuel. They then cleaned up their destination sites by picking up rubbish. They collected five big bags of plastic trash and three medium-sized bags of other rubbish, all weighing approximately 150 kg.
Retreat on Being One with Creation
On September 29, several people gathered for a half-day retreat at the Garden of Bethlehem, St. Anne’s Church, Bukit Mertajam. The retreat drew on indigenous people’s songs of being one with air, water, earth and fire, and led the participants to see and feel their oneness with all the elements and to listen with their hearts to creation. The Garden of Bethlehem is an ecological demonstration food garden which showcases some permaculture designs and principles. –Creation Justice Commission, Penang Diocese
Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online
