“We are part of a whole, the Earth does not belong to us, but is a shared gift, a common home that we must protect with tenderness and commitment.”
During the Month of Creation, which we experience from September 1 to October 4, from the American continent we unite as Vedruna Family to a profound invitation: to contemplate, thank and take care of God’s work.
This special time reminds us that we are part of a whole, that the Earth does not belong to us, but is a shared gift, a common home that we must protect with tenderness and commitment.
Inspired by the charism of Joaquina, we feel that caring for creation is also a way of loving concretely. In every daily gesture – recycling, reducing consumption, respecting life in all its forms – we make visible that incarnated spirituality that seeks to transform the world from simplicity and compassion.
This year’s theme invites us to “hope and act with hope,” recognizing that every small change can open paths of life. This month was for our communities a time of reflection, prayer and action: a joyful commitment to justice, peace and care for the Earth.
And it was manifested in concrete gestures, such as that of the Vedruna Sisters of Brazil, who took clove seeds from the plant of their community to a meeting of ecclesiastical communities (September 24-26) in Belo Horizonte to distribute among the participants (sisters and priests). The idea was that those who wanted to take this present with them could plant it in their communities so that the fruits would multiply.
In Puente Alto (Chile), the “Water Project: your water, my water, our future“, in which the school’s students were able to learn more about the importance of water, its care and how it is contaminated.
From the Dominican Republic, one of the teachers of our Vedruna schools, delighted us with images of his avocado plant, inviting us to take care of the environment.
Meanwhile, in Argentina, at the Nuestra Señora del Carmen School, children from the kindergarten level worked on the “Bichos y Bichitos” project, searching for insects in the school’s playground and bringing them from home to start learning more about the little animals and their importance for the planet and their normal development. At the secondary level, the 2nd year students worked on a compost project, a process in which organic waste (food scraps, leaves, branches) is transformed into a natural fertilizer rich in nutrients for the soil.
On October 4, the saints’ calendar celebrated St. Francis of Assisi, who taught us that caring for our common home is part of our faith. As the Vedruna Family we ask that our prayers, celebrations and actions allow the Spirit of God to make the desert bloom, and that we may truly be ‘seeds of peace and hope’ for our wounded world.
Francisco Jáuregui, Communication, Prophecy and Care of Creation VedrunAmerica
