On April 16, 2024, the Environmental Society led the Jesuit community in the Care for Creation Prayer Service. Echoing one of the Catholic Social Teaching’s tenets, this prayer service seeks to reinforce one’s duty to caring for nature. Specifically, students and teachers are called to protect the planet and exercise sustainable practices in light of increasing environmental challenges imposing Earth.
“I appreciated how the Environmental Club shared valuable information about the environment while urging everyone to take a moment to appreciate their surroundings on a daily basis. Viewing the campus, particularly the Anderson Lot, as a ‘habitat’ for creatures other than humans was a great approach to help everyone gain perspective and create an authentic connection between nature and community members.” – Dr. Kirby
Brief Recap
Beginning the prayer service, Alex de la Cerda ’25 reminded the Jesuit community to turn their attention back to the Earth, connecting it with the previous week’s solar eclipse prayer service. Citing Romans 8, Alex discussed Christians’ duty to ecological conservation, elaborating that the Christian faith demands its followers to maintain God’s creation.
Following the brief call to worship and a video of Pope Francis addressing sustainable living, I was given the honor of reading Genesis 1-2. This passage discusses the story of God’s creation of the Earth and human life, reverberating the continual need for Christians to care and cultivate God’s nature.
Then, Casimir Kenjarski ’24 delivered a reflection on his views of environmental issues and how to better care for God’s creations. Bringing up a variety of geographic locations, Casimir ties in how each individual of the Jesuit community is accountable to care for the environment.
“It is my goal today to share with you why I find caring for the environment meaningful, aiming to get you to ask yourself, what does it mean to you.” – Casimir Kenjarski
Expressing his objective, Casimir discusses the seemingly daunting task of pursuing environmental change, leading many to rather let the environmental issue solve on its own. Therefore, one is called to take on simple acts in order to care for God’s creation. Culminating his call to care for God’s creation, Casimir expresses his hope that Jesuit students and faculty find time to appreciate our ecosystem daily. By doing this, Casimir states that we can fulfill the Profiles of the Graduate and Catholic Social Teaching.
This reflection is followed by sophomore Kevin Nazareth’s reflection questions. These questions call on students and teachers to examine the degree to which they preserve the environment and how they can improve daily. Finally, William Spicer ’24 concluded the prayer service through the Prayers of the Faithful and Prayer for Generosity.
“The environment means so much to me as our home so to be given the chance to educate and inform my peers on ways to make a change mean a lot to me, by working together we can make a change.” – Kevin Nazareth ‘26
Insights from Mr. Wood
Following the prayer service, I had the opportunity of asking Mr. Wood, the faculty moderator of the Environmental Society, what he believes students should learn and apply to their daily lives. Below are Mr. Wood’s insights:
1) “Being an active steward of the environment is, in fact, a Christian value.”
2)” Doing our part to improve the earth for our future and our children’s future is something affecting people now. It is not a problem for later.”
3) “Taking action does not necessarily have to be joining big movements. How we spend our money and our daily activity at work and home already makes a big difference.”
Stay tuned to The Roundup for more community and prayer service news!
