Cardinal Tobin joins Msgr. Turro to celebrate Season of Creation at Our Lady of Mercy

In celebration of World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and Season of Creation, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, was the main celebrant at a Mass at Our Lady of Mercy on Sept. 17.

In addition, the cardinal’s visit included the blessing and renaming of the Gathering Space in honor of Msgr. James C. Turro. He is the oldest and longest-serving priest in the Archdiocese of Newark. Msgr. Turro recently celebrated his 75th anniversary of ordination as well as 73 priestly years at Our Lady of Mercy Parish. Parishioners truly felt blessed to have him with them.

The Creation Care Team placed a garland representative of the Earth — “God’s gift to us” — on the St. Francis statue and displayed Cardinal Tobin’s pragmatic newsletter of June 23 to all Catholics calling for “Action, Responsible Stewardship of God’s Creation.” In his “Rejoice in the Lord” newsletter, Cardinal Tobin wrote: “Although it is a prophetic statement with many challenges for us to consider, Laudato Si’ is also a song of hope and joy inspired by the ‘Canticle of the Sun’ written by St. Francis of Assisi as a hymn of praise to the Lord of all creation. ‘Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day and through whom you give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears a likeness to you, Most High. Our world is confronted with serious challenges—social, political, economic, and environmental—that the pope tells us are, in reality, one crisis of ‘integral ecology’.”

At the Parish Picnic on the same day, eco-friendly and sustainable reusable water bottles themed: “Do Something Drastic – Cut the Plastic” were sold. Proceeds from the sale were donated to the church’s capital campaign in support of future “green projects.”

Virginia Millard, Chair of Social Justice and Peace Ministry at OLM Season of Creation Table at the picnic (left). Patricia Dellosso, Leader, Creation Care Team at OLM Picnic with Poster displaying Cardinal Tobin’s letter (right). (Our Lady of Mercy)

This year’s theme for the Season of Creation is: “Let Peace and Justice Flow.” Prophet Amos cries out “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5: 24). We are called to join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity.