We know how to celebrate Advent, observe Lent, rejoice at Easter. But how might we observe the non-liturgical Season of Creation from September 1 through October 4? Leaders may plan parish-wide recommendations. As individuals and families, we can create our own traditions too. Plant a tree. Help preserve a forest. Take walks in nature. Support national parks. Shrink your carbon footprint.

Today’s gospel speaks of the cost of discipleship.

Didn’t Job get into trouble once, trying to fathom the mind of God? Anyone convinced that he or she should have a day in God’s court to cross-examine the Divinity about the ways of the world should reread Job 38-41 before proceeding.

For years I was on the faculty of the high school seminary in Chicago. Among my responsibilities was moderating the Parent’s Club, which sponsored an annual picnic in September at the major seminary where seminarians completed their studies for ordination. 

The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea is a 105-story, empty concrete shell that, when begun in 1987, was intended to be the tallest hotel and one of the largest buildings in the world. Instead, after many false starts and stops, still unfinished, it towers over the Pyongyang skyline as a testament to poor planning and lack of follow through.

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

Our possessions are not ours—God has given them to us to cultivate, that we may make them fruitful and profitable in his service.