Renewing the Oikos of God
1 September marked the 6th annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church. In 2015, Pope Francis decided to set up this annual celebration and announced it in a letter released on 6 August that year. The Orthodox Christian churches have celebrated this day for many decades and Pope Francis’ decision to establish this practice within the Catholic Church can be viewed as an act of solidarity in ‘caring for our common home’. This day also begins what is now called the Season of Creation which runs from 1 September until 4 October which encourages prayer and action for the environment. This is an example of Christian unity or ecumenical action, bringing together Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians around the world. To launch the season the leaders of these Christian variants signed and made public a joint statement calling on all people to respond to the “spiritual commission to care for God’s creation” because “our children’s future and the future of our common home depend upon it”. The full statement, “A Joint Message for the Protection of Creation” can be found online following this link. The following paragraph demonstrates the significance of such a message for our community today,
“This is the first time the three of us feel compelled to address together the urgency of environmental sustainability, its impact on persistent poverty and the importance of global cooperation. Together on behalf of our communities, we appeal to the heart and mind of each Christian, every believer and every person of good will…Again, we recall Scripture: ‘Choose life, so that you and your children may live (DT30:19)’. Choosing life means making sacrifices and exercising self-restraint”.
The theme for 2021 is “A home for all? Renewing the Oikos of God”, Oikos being the Greek word for home or household. In Genesis God set a dome over the Earth. The word “dome“ is where we get words such as ‘domicile’ and ’domestic’ — in other words, God puts us all — all people, all life — under the same domed roof — we are all in the house, the oikos of God. God gave humans the ministry to take care and cultivate this oikos of God. As Christians we believe the world belongs to God but was entrusted to us as a gift to be cared for as stewards. All people around the world are to share in this gift, its resources and the responsibility that comes with God’s trust in us. This year we are called to seriously reflect on this and question, is Earth a home for all? What can we do to renew the household of God? Given the current issues facing us with the global pandemic and climate change, we must talk about a way forward and pray that our leaders make the right decisions for the future of our common home.
A guide for communities and individuals can be found here.
Louise East - Religious Studies Coordinator