24/05/2026
It has been a long and full day of celebrating Pentecost Sunday and the 11th Anniversary of Laudato Si'...from MISA to MESA to MESSAGE (Laudato Si' Mass to 1 Million Tables: LSMP Communal Plant-Based Meal to Laudato Si' Film: The Letter - A Message for Our Earth), not to mention the Laudato Si' Exhibit.
Sharing with you my message during the Mass (after Communion):
On behalf of Laudato Si’ Movement Pilipinas, I'd like to first thank Abp Ledesma for gifting us today with his holy presence, second to thank the Missionaries of St. Columban and Our Lady of Remedies Parish for your faithful support to and partnership with our Movement and above all to wish everyone a blessed Pentecost Sunday and a joyous 11th anniversary of Laudato Si'.
On May 24, 2015, also the Solemnity of Pentecost, the late Pope Francis, clearly aware of the depths and the urgency of the ecological crisis in general and climate change in particular, disclosed his encyclical letter LAUDATO SI’: On Care for Our Common Home at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. So today we are celebrating the 11th anniversary of Laudato Si’ and we are also culminating Laudato Si’ Week 2026. 11 years have passed since Pope Francis released his encyclical Laudato Si’, yet we see, in what is happening around us, that the wound of our Dear Mother Earth is getting bigger and bigger, is getting deeper and deeper, because of humanity’s irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which the Creator has gifted Her.
What a serendipity that we are beginninhg our journey into the second decade of bringing Laudato Si’ to life as on the day it was born, on Pentecost Sunday. We at LSMP invite you then to pray with the Psalmist “Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”
The theme of this year’s Laudato Si’ Week, From Hope to Action, challenges us to move from just hoping to acting in hope, to doing things for the wellbeing of Earth, our Common Home and of the entire Earth-community where we all belong, together with our non-human brothers and sisters.
Let us start our second-decade journey of bringing Laudato Si’ to life by carving in our minds and hearts the first two paragraphs of Laudato Si’:
“Laudato si’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.” LS 1
Earth now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). LS 2
It is only when we feel Mother Earth lovingly embracing us and return to Her that embrace of love as we hear Her cry that we can act with authentic and deep commitment to care for Her and our fellow Earthlings.
“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.” Let this prayer be our daily mantra. Let us keep our hope and faith that indeed the Spirit of God will renew the face of the earth. But let us not also forget that our prayers, our hope and our faith must be lived, must be put into action. We are God’s co-creators because the Spirit of God is in us. As God's co-creators, the Spirit of God will renew the face of the earth through us.
In Laudato Si’ 246, at the very end of the document, Pope Francis includes a prayer where he addresses the Holy Spirit directly, writing: "Holy Spirit, by your light you guide this world towards the Father's love and accompany creation as it groans in travail. You also dwell in our hearts and you inspire us to do what is good." Let us then journey and work together, doing what is good and renew the face of the earth with the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
Sr. Bing
