In the month of September, and concluding on the feast of St Francis on October 4, many people focus on creation. A great starting resource for Christians and people of goodwill is the encyclical of Pope Francis, Laudato Si’. For Christians, creation is not merely an academic discussion about evolution or not – it is now, much more, seen as an essential part of mission, in partnership with others who share concern for “our common home”.
Here are resources from the Anglican Communion Environmental Network.
And from the Church of England Environment Programme.
This site is committed to the three year lectionary (RC) and its derivative, the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). Rather than departing from that lectionary, resources have been provided on this site for a “creation reading” of our shared biblical texts. Here are creation reflections for this year, Year B. [This site also has such creation reflections for Years C and A].
The lectionary for year B (2018, 2021, 2024,…)
A creation reading of the lectionary for the Sunday between 28 August and 3 September:
Song of Songs 2:8-13 Nature and its beauty is the primary metaphor here: the mountains, the hills, a gazelle, a young stag. winter, the rain, flowers, the earth, turtledove, land. The fig tree, the vines, and blossom.
Deuteronomy 4:1-9 The strong connection between the land and God’s will for us.
Psalm 45 More images of the beauty of nature and of beauty as described in comparison with nature.
Psalm 15 A hill that is holy…
James 1:17-27 Again, the primacy of nature in imaging our life: first fruits, produce, implanted…
Mark 7:1-23 our relationship with nature, with creation, with food, and how this expresses our deeper realities.
The additional value of using the agreed, shared texts of our three-year lectionary, rather than abandoning the lectionary to pick other, “convenient”, creation proof-texts using a concordance, is that by staying with the lectionary texts we demonstrate that creation is an integral thread woven through the whole Bible.
Liturgy for the Creation Season
Please add, in the comments below, any further creation insights from the lectionary readings, as well as other creation resources that will be useful this month. Some of these ideas will be added to the Creation Season resource page which I encourage you to also check out.
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