ZAMBIA: Season of Creation: An Opportunity to Renew Relation with the Creator-Bishop Mulandu

Mwenya Mukuka

The Bishop director for Pastoral Commission at Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) says the Season of Creation is a time to renew relationship with the Creator.

Rt. Rev. Edwin Mulandu has added that the Season also offers an opportunity to renew the human relationship with all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment.

Bishop Mulandu said this when he opened a Webinar on Season of Creation held on 17the September, 2021 under the theme ‘A call for Ecological transformation- Creating an integral web of relationships that Sustain the well-being of the Earth’.

Commenting on this year’s Season of Creation logo which is ‘Abraham’s Tent’, Bishop Mulandu said that by creating a home for all, Abraham’s act of radical hospitality became a source of great blessing.

“Abraham’s tent is a symbol of an ecumenical call to practice care as an act of radical hospitality, safeguarding a place for all creatures, human and non-human, in our common home, the household (oikos) of God,” he said.

“Further, the tent represents a place of shelter or refuge. It links us with the homeless, refugees, and all who are on the move and displaced by the effects of climate change. Psalm 84 reminds us that in God’s house (oikos), even the sparrow finds a home to build a nest and lay her eggs. In the Gospel of John 1:14, we read that “the Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us,” bishop Mulandu added.

During the 2021 Season of Creation, the Catholic Church in Zambia has lineup several activities that Bible study on the biblical basis of creation and its care, pastoral reflections, planting of tree or a garden, pilgrimages to an ecological site of beauty, while praying a Rosary, advocacy; campaigns for ecological restoration through radio, TV and social media, among others.

Season of Creation is an annual ecumenical season whereby Christians and other people of good will pray and act together as a family for their common home.