September-October 2017

Yes to another day!

Each day every day we say our YES . . .
- to life
- to love and care for creation and each other
- to be open and be grateful to God’s beauty around us and within us
- to His invitation to share in Christ’s mission here on earth
- to our commitment to live out our faith in joy and thanksgiving

Painting done by Jason Antiquera
Jason is a Columban priest assigned in Korea.

The month of September has been designated by the Catholic Church as the Season of Creation, to remind us of our responsibility to care for and nurture our planet and each other. Many groups have taken initiatives to care for the earth and address the challenges confronting our environment. This is not only the concern of some groups. This is our concern, as individuals and as a society. We are called to say our YES every day, to do what we can to respect and preserve our ecosystems and to prevent further devastation to our environment. The Earth is our only home. What we do to it, we do to ourselves.

Nature springs out from the goodness of God. We can show our appreciation and gratitude to God’s goodness by being responsible stewards of His beautiful creation. As Pope Francis expressed his prayer in a tweet @Pontifex: “Lord, teach us to contemplate you in the beauty of creation and reawaken our gratitude and sense of responsibility.”

Annunciation to Mary by Cathy France
Thanks to Cathy for allowing us to use this image.

When Mary said YES to God’s plan of salvation, she said YES to be part of everything that God has designed, with gratitude and faith in her heart. The month of October reminds us of Mary’s role in our Christian faith. Like Mary, we are invited to say our YES everyday as we live out the teachings of Christ in our life, by the words we say and not say, and the acts we do and not do, to each other and to all of creation.

Mary, as a mother, treasured God’s graciousness and love in her heart and from it her obedience, humility and constancy in faith and care. May we emulate Mary’s kind of YES, the kind that brings peace and healing to our wounded world.