Sustainability News

Today is the beginning of the Season of Creation. This year’s theme is “Listen to the voices of creation.”

Season of Creation runs throughout September and ends on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology. Pope Francis calls us to make the care for our common home a priority and to focus on the role we can and must play in the flourishing of all beings on our earth. Taking action during the Season of Creation is living out our Catholic faith. To work for the common good means to commit to a more sustainable,  just, supportive, communal and peaceful future for all. We are invited to do this as individuals and as a school community through prayer, sustainability projects and advocacy.

Listen to the voices of Barmah Lakes below recorded on Tuesday - just amazing! Can you recognise some of the voices? We truly live in a very special place.

HOT OFF THE PRESS: River Red Gum wins Australia’s favourite native tree countdown

“It twists and turns as it gathers water from deep underground, reaches for the sky and sends generous branches in improbable directions… And for millennia it's been a hardware, a pharmacy and much, much more for Indigenous Australians. Its fresh wood is a famously vibrant red, and the same chemicals make its smoke a natural antibiotic. 

You may have dangled beneath a river red gum on a tyre swing, or hitched a boat to its trunk. Even in the absence of any visible moisture, you've probably seen it lighting up the country's hidden waterways in cool, shady green.

Thank you to Peter Phillips for the YouTube clip and this stunning photo of the majestic River Red Gums at Barmah Lakes.

Keep your ears open and eyes out for more information, activities and actions on SIMON, facebook and in our newsletter over the next two weeks. 

Get involved. “Everyone’s talents and involvement are needed to redress the damage caused by human abuse of God’s creation.” (Pope Francis, LS 14).

Together we pray: 

God of Knowledge and Virtue, assist us to "grow in solidarity, responsibility and compassionate care." 

May we work together to help restore “harmony within ourselves, with others, with nature and other living creatures, and with God.” Amen

Ruth Phillips

Sustainability