SEPTEMBER 2022
RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH
“Holy Spirit, the life that gives life: You are the cause of all movement.
You are the breath of all creatures. You are the salve that purifies our souls.
You are the ointment that heals our wounds. You are the fire that warms our hearts.
You are the light that guides our feet.” - St. Hildegard of Bingen
I
t sounds like a bad sitcom. In the span of a week, the apple tree in our back yard started to fall over, our air-conditioner needed to be replaced,
our lawn mower stopped working, and—just for good measure—my exercise bike fritzed out on me. Everything seemed to be failing at once. And can I mention that all this happened right before my husband went out of town for a week?
My domestic trials pale in comparison to the reality of our world today for many. But you know that feeling of being completely overwhelmed—at your wits’ end— and not knowing if you can manage to take that first step to help make things better? Yeah, I felt that.
On September 1, we celebrated the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, established by Pope Francis in 2015. In many ways, the earth is in dire
“ As stewards of God’s creation, we are faced with the difficulties of climate change.”
straits. As stewards of God’s creation, we are faced with the difficulties of climate change and the uncertainty of the future of our common home. What steps can we, as pastoral musicians, take to help make things better?
In this issue, you’ll find an engaging and informative interview on the care of creation with Anna Robertson from Catholic Climate Covenant. Remi Bauer offers her advice on self-care and renewal, both at work and at home. Touching on the realm of liturgical environment, Joseph Wittman addresses the challenges of optimizing your church’s space for music ministry. We introduce a new feature called 'Looking Back, Looking Forward,' which highlights a past article from the Pastoral Music archives in the hope of offering a renewed perspective on pastoral ministry today. And whether or not you experienced this year's Convention (in person or virtually), be sure to take a look at our exciting recap of Convention 2022!
How does my home repair story end? I told my husband that my goal was to “have the house put back together” by the time he got home. With some help from the Holy Spirit, I learned that I’m more capable of making things happen than I thought: tree removed, new AC installed, lawn mower repaired, exercise bike reset. If only the care of creation were that simple . . .
Come, Holy Spirit, and renew the face of the earth!
Nancy Douglass Managing Editor
lseditor@npm.org
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