A Season with Laudato Si
Lexington Theological Seminary and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, invite all parishioners, students, faculty, staff, alumni, members of the Kentucky Council of Churches, and friends to a month-long series of engagements with Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Laudato Si (Praise be to You): On Care for Our Common Home, for the Season of Creation, Sept. 1 – Oct. 4, 2022.
Laudato si panel discussion
The “Season with Laudato Si” began with an online panel discussion on Thursday, September 1, 2022. The panel was co-moderated by Vicki Wenz and Rev. Dr. Leah Schade, featuring panelists Fr. Robert Dueweke OSA, former NGO representative to the United Nations on human rights and climate refugees at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); Dr. Theresa Yugar, a Peruvian American scholar teaching at California State University, Los Angeles, in the Chicana/o & Latina/o Studies Department; and Elaine Tanner, founder and program director of Friends For Environmental Justice, a community organizing group fighting to protect land, water, and people in Appalachia. Together, they discussed the implications of Laudato Si for today’s pressing environmental justice issues. To view the video for this event, click the button below.
READING LAUDATO SI
The communities of both LTS and the Diocese are invited to read or listen to Laudato Si throughout the month of September. The Encyclical can be accessed any number of ways for free:
- Read the PDF online here.
- Access the book at the LTS Library here: https://lextheo.on.worldcat.org/oclc/913562616
- Listen to a recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bck4z8nVs8w
- Your local library will also have both print and audiobooks available.
sMALL GROUP DISCUSSION OF LAUDATO SI
We encourage churches, youth groups, and other affinity groups to meet and discuss the Encyclical. Members of the LTS Green Task Force and the Diocesan Laudato Si Commission will host a one-hour online discussion opportunity on Wed., Sept. 21, with options for either 12noon or 7 p.m. Eastern. To join the discussion, click here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87591482428. Discussion questions for those who wish to discuss Laudato Si in their own groups can be accessed here: https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/environment/upload/laudato-si-discussion-guide.pdf.
sUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
To put our faith into action, we will invite participants to make contributions to an environmental charity called Water with Blessings, based in Louisville, Ky., which raises money to purchase water filtration systems to provide clean water for impoverished communities around the world, including Ukraine, Navajo Nation, Africa, Haiti, Guatemala, and eastern Kentucky. To make a donation to their work, visit this link: https://waterwithblessings.org/.
lAUDATO SI ART CONTEST
Youth and adults are invited to create artwork celebrating clean water as part of our Laudato Si emphasis. Winners will receive cash prizes. All artwork will be featured in the worship service on Oct. 4. For information on both the adult and youth contests, click here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12Vw48yuYc_JdQh1lge-g4TU1pvZ0zgau?usp=sharing
Worship Service Celebrating Earth,
Our Common Home
There will be joint online worship service designed by a team from the LTS Green Task Force and from the Laudato Si Commission on Oct. 4, 7:00 p.m., the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi. We will liturgically honor what we have learned about Creation Justice through the Laudato Si discussion groups, celebrate the ecumenical partnership between LTS and the Lexington Diocese, and make an offering of the money raised for Water with Blessings. The worship service will feature artwork from the contest celebrating Laudato Si, and winners will be announced. To register for this worship service, click the link below.