Laudato Si’ Action Plan Newsletter for August 2026, No. 17
Welcome to the seventeenth edition of the Laudato Si’ Action Plan Newsletter of the Carmelite PCM Province. This electronic newsletter is intended to inform the members and partners of this province on our collective commitment to living the values of Laudato Si’ –hearing and responding to the cries of the earth and the cries of the poor. It is prepared by Laudato Si’ Action Plan Coordinator, Dennis Kalob.
A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL OF YOU:
We are in the process of revising and updating our province’s Laudato Si’ Action Plan. We wish to include in this new report the progress made by the various Carmelite ministries and communities since they first submitted their individual plans last year.
If you or a member of your ministry or community submitted a plan that was included in our province’s report, we ask that you review it, continue to take steps to fulfill your goals, and begin to consider how you will update your plan later this year. We will be looking for updates by October 4, which is the Feast of St. Francis.
We further ask that you consider adding new goals to pursue in 2027 and beyond. Remember, these action plans are meant to be dynamic, not static, documents.
PLEASE NOTE: If your community or ministry did not have an opportunity to submit an action plan last year, you may do so this year and you will be included in the updated provincial report. We have already received a couple NEW plans! Keep them coming!
You can find the current PCM Province’s Laudato Si’ Action Plan here. Please send questions and comments, as well as new/revised action plans to me, Dennis Kalob, Laudato Si’ Action Plan Coordinator: LSCoordinator@Carmelites.net.
Thank you most sincerely for all that you have done and will continue to do to live the values and vision found in Laudato Si’!
LET’S CELEBRATE THE SEASON OF CREATION!
The Season of Creation beings on September 1, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
A special invitation to all of us to celebrate the Season of Creation: Click here for the 19-minute special video message. The theme of this year’s season is “living water.”
For more information, including some great resources to help you, your community and ministry celebrate the season, you can check out this dedicated webpage from our friends at Catholic Climate Covenant:
https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/resources/season-of-creation-2026/
World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, September 1
“They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Is 2:4). That is the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV for this year’s World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.
“The Holy Father’s Message for the upcoming World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation… highlights the connection between armed conflict and environmental degradation. Such degradation constitutes both a serious violation of our duty to care for creation, as well as a long-term threat to the lives of hundreds of millions of people. The now widespread awareness of the impact of war on natural resources has not led to the creation of adequate institutions or to responsible decisions aimed at preventing conflicts and resolving disputes peacefully. The title — a passage in which Isaiah prophesies the transformation of weapons into agricultural tools — is an explicit invitation to prioritize development and sustainability over violence and destruction” (Bulletin of the Holy See, 2 June 2026).
Special Jubilee Year in Honor of St. Francis
October 3, 2026 will mark 800 years since the death of St. Francis of Assisi. In honor of this special date, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed an extraordinary Jubilee Year (which concludes on January 10, 2027). Click here for the Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary on the occasion of the Eighth Centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Feast of St. Francis and the final day of the Season of Creation: October 4
The following is from the Spirit of Francis website, https://www.spiritoffrancis.com/feast-of-francis/
Each year on 4 October, Christians and many others around the world celebrate the Feast of St Francis of Assisi- the joyful friar whose life of simplicity, compassion, and kinship with all creation continues to inspire, eight centuries on.
Born in Assisi in the late 1100s, Francis turned from wealth and ambition to follow Christ in poverty and joy. He lived among the poor, cared for the sick, sought peace in times of conflict, and taught that every creature is a brother or sister. His friendship with Clare of Assisi and his tender love for the natural world still speak powerfully today.
The Feast is a day to say thank you for this vision of hope – to remember that faith is about relationship: with God, with one another, and with the Earth itself. In October 2026 we will mark 800 years since St Francis’s death – not as a moment of mourning, but of renewal. The anniversary invites us to walk again in his footsteps: to live simply, act justly, rebuild what is broken, and recognize Christ’s presence in every person and every part of creation.
As we approach this milestone, we celebrate not only the memory of a saint, but a living movement of peace, reconciliation, and joyful love that our world still needs today.
Indeed! Let us live simply, act justly, rebuild what is broken, and recognize Christ’s presence in every person and in every part of creation, during this Season of Creation and always.
“Let us care for one another and let us be loving custodians of creation.”
–Pope Francis