By: Bp José Luis IMC (Bishop of Manzini)
At the beginning of the Season of Creation we gathered at St Theresa’s Clinic thanking God for the gift of the recently installed solar panels
Below is my address and the prayer we shared
Click HERE for photos of the event
“In 2015 Pope Francis wrote an encyclical letter called “Laudato Si” about the care for creation, our common home.
He writes:
Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. Yet we are called to be instruments of God our Father, so that our planet might be what he desired when he created it and correspond with his plan for peace, beauty and fullness. The problem is that we still lack the culture needed to confront this crisis. We lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths and meeting the needs of the present with concern for all and without prejudice towards coming generations. (53)
We are gathered here today to bless the very first initiative of our diocese regarding renewable energy: the installation of solar panels at St Theresa’s Clinic and Hope House. It is a sign of our commitment, as the Diocese of Manzini, as Catholic Church, towards a better care of our common home. We chose these two Catholic institutions aware of the service they offer to the whole country.
We are grateful to the “Papal Foundation” who accepted to finance this project.
The Catholic Church will continue to look for funding to continue installing solar panels in other places like the Catholic Centre, Caritas, our schools and other Catholic institutions in the Kingdom of eSwatini.
I invite you now to pray together with Pope Francis’ prayer in this encyclical letter Laudato Si
Prayer
All-powerful God,
you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.
* * *
– Launching the Season of Creation in our Diocese –
