Saint Francis of Assisi Ministry

Paul

  • Top Ten Lessons of Laudato Si

    Back in 2015, Jesuit priest and editor at large of the Jesuit magazine America, James Martin, shared his top ten takeaways from Laudato Si. It’s still a great and insightful list: The spiritual perspective is now part of the discussion… Continue reading

  • The Blessing of the Animals at St John the Evangelist

    It was a dry but chilly autumn day in the schoolyard this past Saturday, as about 25 pets and their owners walked, ran, or were carried to our first Blessing of the Animals at St John the Evangelist parish in… Continue reading

  • Feast of Saint Francis

    Pope Francis begins his Laudato Si encyclical with the words of Saint Francis of Assisi: “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and… Continue reading

  • The Blessing of Animals

    In Laudato Si, Pope Francis reminds us to cherish the animals, not just as food or beasts to be controlled: Together with our obligation to use the earth’s goods responsibly, we are called to recognize that other living beings have… Continue reading

  • Laudato Si in NW Catholic

    Paul Litwin’s article on the climate crisis was published on the Northwest Catholic (the official news magazine and website of the Archdiocese of Seattle) website on the Global Climate Strike day, September 20, 2019. Continue reading

  • Humility

    The New Testament is filled with Jesus’ teachings on humility, including this passage from the September 1st gospel: For everyone who raises himself up will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be raised up. What does humility… Continue reading

  • Your Personal Season of Creation

    As I mentioned previously, Pope Francis released a message at the start of the Season of Creation on September 1: This season of increased prayer and effort on behalf of our common home begins today, 1 September, the World Day… Continue reading

  • The Season of Creation

    On September 1, Pope Francis released a message at the start of the Season of Creation: This season of increased prayer and effort on behalf of our common home begins today, 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for the… Continue reading

  • Water, the Source of Life

    I think we can all agree that water is essential to life; without it, the vast majority of life will perish, including people.  Pope Francis writes specifically about water in Laudato Si: …as the quality of available water is constantly… Continue reading

  • Is climate change for real?

    Climate change has been in the newspapers, on television news programs, and internet news sites a lot lately. Just in the past few weeks we have read about record heat in Europe, the melting of glaciers in Iceland, Greenland, and… Continue reading