This Sunday marks the last Sunday in the Season of Creation, and our readings and liturgy come from suggested texts for the Season. The season ends this Tuesday on the Feast of St Francis.

Thanks to all those who have already responded to Theresa Kilb's appeal letter for the replacement of our parish facilities' roofs. We are on our way to meet our goal. It is the season when we begin to reflect on our gifts and the needs of our church community. This year our theme is "More Than Enough".  Reflections and thoughts will be shared in the coming weeks.

It isn't even Halloween, but......we have already begun planning for the St. Nicholas Day Fair,(December 3), and vendors are signing up. Last year we ran out of cookies at the walk, and could have sold more. There are some types that freeze well, and the church has a large freezer just for that purpose, sooooooo.. think about it. :-)

Collect for St. Francis Day

Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may, for love of you, delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Creation Collect for the Day

All-loving and timeless God, you are always more ready to give than we are to receive: Pour upon us your abundance of contentment with simple, faithful living; through Jesus Christ the Wisdom of Creation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen..

FIRST READING          Galatians 6:14-18

Brothers and sisters:

May I never boast except in the cross

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

through which the world has been crucified to me,

and I to the world.

For neither does circumcision mean anything,

nor does uncircumcision,

but only a new creation.

Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule

and to the Israel of God.From now on, let no one make troubles for me;

for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,

brothers and sisters. Amen.

The Response

 The Canticle of the Creatures         Francis of Assisi, 1225

Most High, Almighty and All-good Lord! All blessings, praise, all glory and honor are Yours!

Only to You, Most High, do they belong, And no one is worthy to say Your Name.

:Be praised, my Lord, through all Your creatures! Brother Sun is the first. With him, you give us light of day.

For he is beautiful and radiant, he is full of splendor; He is the symbol of You, Most High!

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon and all the Stars! You placed them in the sky; And made them bright and lovely and fair.

Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Wind and Brother Air, Cloudy, clear and all weather, By which You nourish all creatures.

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water! How useful she is, how humble; She is precious and chaste.

Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire, With him, You make bright the dark! He is beautiful, he is merry, He is powerful and strong.

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Earth! She is the mother who governs us and gives us food. For us, she makes all kinds of fruits; All colors of flowers, and sweet herbs.

Be praised, my Lord, for those who forgive because they love you; For those who bear sickness and trials.

They are happy, who accept all in peace, For they will be crowned by You, Most High!

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Death! No mortal can escape her kiss.

Woeful are those who die in mortal sin. But happy are those who do Your will, For the Second Death will not harm them.

Praise and bless my Lord; Thank Him, And serve Him with great humility.–

The Second Reading is A Reading from Kallistos of Diokleia:

We humans are bound to God and to one another in a cosmic covenant that also includes all the other living creatures on the face of the earth: ‘I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground.’ We humans are not saved from the world but with the world; and that means, with the animals. Moreover, this cosmic covenant is not something that we humans have devised, but it has its source in the divine realm. It is conferred upon us as a gift by God Here ends the reading.

Lilies of the Field Tiffany

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke

Glory to you Lord Christ

 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?^[a] 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,^[b] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not keep seeking what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. ³⁰ For it is the nations^[c] of the world that seek all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ Instead, seek his^[d] kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Francis of Assisi  Fritz Eichenberg

Reflections on the Scriptures for the Season of Creation

IComments on Luke 12. 22-34

This gospel reading for the feast of St Francis speaks of Jesus’ delight in the abundant giftedness of creation upon which all creatures rely for sustenance. He challenges the anxiety about scarcity which so often leads us to hoard and control the creation of which we are a part. In place of ‘worry’, Jesus calls us to ‘consider’ – to gaze upon or contemplate – every creature as a sign of God’s goodness and care and to live out of the amazing generosity that we see around us. The treasure of God’s Kingdom is a miraculous discovery to be received with open hands rather than a possession to be accumulated or stored as a guarantee of safety.

Paradoxically, ‘striving’ for the Kingdom involves a letting-go of the anxiety which can prevent us from delighting in God’s creation and living joyfully in God’s economy of gift. The most creative response to the urgency of the ecological crisis faced by the world is not ‘worry’ about scarcity but attention to the simple abundance of what is immediately present to us. 

Francis of Assisi is known for his joy and delight in God’s creation and is often portrayed in art rather sentimentally surrounded by birds and other creatures. However, his wisdom regarding creation was based not on aesthetics; rather, it was grounded in his theology. He recognised, as did the earlier Church Fathers, the ‘imprint’ of God in every creature – a deeply sacramental view of creation – and his devotion to Jesus who became our brother led him into a sense of fraternity, not only with people but also with all things, animate and inanimate. Towards the end of his life he composed the ‘Canticle of Brother Sun’ in which every creature as ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ gives thanks and praise to God the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of life. The opening words of this song, ‘Laudato si’…..’, ‘God be praised through all your creatures’, was taken by Pope Francis as the title of his great encyclical on ‘Care for our Common Home’ published just before the Paris Climate Conference in 2015.

The celebration of St Francis Day which falls on the 4th October (the day following his death in 1226) presents an opportunity to expound the themes of abundant gift in the gospel reading from Luke and of kinship with all creation through the centrality of Christ which is the subject of the reading from Galatians. Francis Canticle reminds us, as do several of the psalms, that creation sings its own song of praise to God. Duns Scotus, a late thirteenth century Franciscan theologian, speaks of every creature in its unique ‘thisness’ pointing towards, or ‘doing’ Christ, who is the goal and purpose of creation, cf ‘…all things have been created through him and for him’, Col 1.16. Our own care for creation involves us seeking/desiring our true fulfilment in Christ and learning to sing in harmony with the rest of creation – rather than imposing our (often self-seeking) ‘solutions’ to the crisis which the world is facing.

Br Samuel

Br Samuel is a member of the Society of St Francis, an Anglican Franciscan order, who lives with other brothers in a friary in London. He has been involved with a project at Hilfield Friary in the UK which witnesses to St Francis’ wisdom and joy in God’s creation. He is a co-author of ‘Seeing Differently – Franciscans and Creation’, (pub. Canterbury Press 2021)