Social Justice

The Season of Creation, 1 September - 4th October 2021

Help us in our endeavour to gift a ‘Shelter Box’  

The Season of Creation is an ecumenical (all Christian churches) celebration held annually  between the dates for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (1st September) and the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi (4th October). 

This year’s theme for the Season of Creation is, ‘A home for all’. The theme is inspired by the story of Abraham’s tent found in the Book of Genesis, in the Old Testament.  The story tells the tale of three unusual guests who passed by Abraham as he was sitting at the entrance to his tent. It was a hot day and the passers by were unknown to him but Instead of turning the three men away Abraham invited them to rest under a tree out of the heat of the day and prepared them a meal.

The story is a significant one and it is often used as an example of hospitality and welcome. During this Season of Creation in 2021 the symbol of Abraham’s Tent, ‘signifies our commitment to safeguard a place for all’ and calls upon us all to pledge to a renewed vision for sustaining and stewarding God’s creation; the Earth so that this home of ours will be able to sustain all of us in the years to come.

As part of our commitment to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si Action Platform, we are promoting his call to all people from across the globe that they might, ‘pray for and with creation, live more simply, and advocate for the protection of our common home’.

To show our support for people who have suffered as a consequences of Climate Change we will be conducting an online fundraising project to raise money to purchase a Shelter Box.  

The Shelter Box project was conceived and developed by Tom Henderson, a Rotarian from Great Britain. Struck with the urgent world-wide need for a self-contained emergency shelter unit and related supplies when disaster occurs, Tom designed the Shelter Box. 

The Shelter Box is now distributed around the world by Rotary International. Each box costs $1000.

We had originally planned to host a Footy Colours Day in the last week of term. We are not confident that this event will take place. But, we would still like to undertake social action during the Care of Creation that will make a difference.

We have sent an email to all families via Operoo. This Operoo Letter provides the opportunity for you to make a donation to our Shelter Box Project.  Any donations will be greatly appreciated. 

All Shelter Boxes are numbered and tracked. We certainly don’t want any disasters to occur but if one does we will know where and when our contribution to the Shelter Box program has made a difference - we will keep you informed!

For more information about the Rotary International Shelter Box watch this clip:  

An introduction to the Shelter Box

St Joseph’s College Faith Team