Dear CCVI family,

In Peru on each August 30th, we celebrate the joy and radical love of St. Rose of Lima. A Limeña who has inspired so many other women and men around the world to keep a warm heart to encounter Jesus in the other, especially in poverty-impacted communities.

As a Peruvian who grew up in Lima, every August 30, I used to visit the humble home of St. Lima and drop my letter (full of hope) in her well as many Peruvians do. Among the details that I vividly recall of Santa Rosa’s little house, are her two modest windows and the large door in her tiny room. Today, those things plus her ministry and lifestyle invite me to ponder. St. Rose of Lima’s passion for responding to perceived needs and her particular connection to nature was how she lived her discipleship. Rose of Lima heeded the cry of Creation: the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor of her time. Perhaps St. Rose and Pope Francis through his Laudato Si are among those people from yesterday and today who invite us not to become inured to the climate crisis and inequalities.

The Season of Creation which begins on September 1, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi offers a timely invitation to listen and respond together to the cry of Creation. As Pope Francis asserts, “we are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature” (LS 139). During the Season of Creation, the burning bush will be the symbol that reminds us that we are a flame of the Spirit revealing God’s life sustaining presence.

Below are some links that might be helpful in finding ideas and ways to get involved in this season through prayer, sustainability projects, and advocacy. Please, if you would like to and have the opportunity to send me any message and information on how you are going to celebrate the Season of Creation be assured that I will be delighted to receive it.

• Listen to the Voice of Creation, Season of Creation Opening Event: https://seasonofcreation.org/
• Celebration Guide 2022, Season of Creation: https://seasonofcreation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/SOC-2022-Celebration-Guide-Final-English.pdf
• Season of Creation 2022, a catholic liturgical guide https://www.dominicancenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/seasonofcreation-2022-Guide-FINAL.pdf
• A Mercy Guide to Living Laudato Si’, Sisters of Mercy: https://sistersofmercy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Mercy-Guide-to-Living-Laudato-Si-2022_ENG_Final.pdf

A Peruvian hug to all the Rositas in our CCVI family and best regards to all our ministries and institutions named in honor of the Patron Saint of Americas and Philippines, St. Rose of Lima.

Thank you for your prayers,

Katty Huanuco, CCVI

Justice, Peace, and Care of Creation