Care for the Earth. The “Season of Creation” leads our collection of items for this edition of Wisdom Wednesday. “Every creature and every inch of earth is made and approved by God.” Other topics include “what is sharia,” voting rights, Dolly Parton, and Thomas Reese confessing “why I hate the old Latin Mass.” All items are identified by source; Inclusion at auscp.org does not mean endorsement.
Season of Creation
The Season of Creation begins with worldwide prayer for our common home. From Vatican News.
Pope’s September prayer intention: ‘For the care of water.’ Pope Leo XIV invites everyone to pray for “the care of water” during September as Christians celebrate the Season of Creation. From Vatican News.
Baptist layman, poet and conservationist Wendell Berry died at his home in Port Royal, Ky., Aug. 31 at age 92. The Kentucky farmer became a sort of patron saint for iconoclastic Baptists, of which he was one.
Wendell Berry’s vision of a sacred world: Experience, reading, and the daily rounds of farm work taught Wendell that scripture is correct: Every creature and every inch of earth is made and approved by God. From the Christian Century.
The Plane Tree: Barbara Molinari Quinby recalls the Aesop fable: “Two travelers, walking in the hot sun, sought the shade of a large tree to rest. . . . ‘How useless is the Plane!’ said one of them, ‘it bears no fruit whatever . . . .’ ‘Shame on you, ungrateful creatures. You come and take shelter under me from the scorching sun, . . . and you call me good for nothing!’”
Dolly Parton
Country music icon Dolly Parton, quoted by Religion News Service, to say, “I am a person of faith,” died Tuesday, a week ago. She credited her faith for her career, which crossed religions, races and politics — and the philanthropy that followed.
Dolly Parton was more than a musical idol – for some fans, she was a spiritual icon, reports Religion News Service. “The legendary singer took on a saint-like aura for some fans.”
Laurel Clothe writes a personal reflection for Baptist News Global. “This week has been full of reading stories of and tributes to Dolly Parton, moments when her life connected with theirs. What a treat! I’ve also been replaying my own life choices this past week, because I said no to Dolly.”
Voting rights
The March on Washington last week renews focus on voting rights after the “Supreme Court gutting,” says Religion News Service. “The fact that we still have to fight to maintain and renew voting rights in this country is beyond abysmal and a truly national disgrace,” Martin Luther King III said Friday.
Two from columnist Thomas Reese
“Why I hate the old Latin Mass: A confession.” From Religion News Service. “The old Latin Mass is like a zombie. We thought it was dead, but it keeps coming back.”
“If you want to adore Jesus, don’t go to Mass, go to Benediction.” From Thomas Reese at Religion News Service.
What is sharia?
Muslims and Texas Republicans have very different answers. From Religion News Service. Islamic scholars and Muslim Texans say fear and political opportunism distort the meaning of sharia.
Antisemitic backlash hits Amy-Jill Levine
From the Associated Press and Religion News Service. While some questioned why the Catholic Biblical Association would appoint anyone who wasn’t a Catholic, much of the criticism was infused with anti-Jewish statements. They come at a time of rising antisemitism in the country.
Christian nationalism
The Museum of the Bible seeks to unite people of faith from various life experiences and convince them that modern political efforts to ‘reestablish’ a Christian America are rooted in America’s founding. From Religion News Service.
Oklahoma primary runoff answered a question about anti-Christian nationalism. Religion News Service says the answer shouldn’t please church-state separationists.
Doug Wilson, a Christian Nationalist pastor in Idaho and a self-described “paleo-Confederate,” wants to strip the citizenship of anyone who voted for New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Wilson is leader of the denomination that includes Pete Hegseth. From Word&Way.
Samaritan’s Purse turns down $300M
Franklin Graham, one of President Trump’s most stalwart evangelical allies, did not offer any reasons for rejecting the federal funds, which would have been used for ‘immediate life-saving assistance to people affected by natural disasters.’ From Christianity Today.
‘Our immigrants are invisible’
For years, the Rev. Eduardo Fabian Arias, a Lutheran pastor in Manhattan, has ministered to immigrants. Now, much of his work takes place inside and around Federal Plaza immigration court in Midtown Manhattan. From Religion News Service.
Israelis leaving Israel
More Israelis are leaving as war, economy and political divisions reshape the country, reports Religion News Service. Emigration has always been part of Israel’s history. What is different now is that some are leaving because they lost faith in the country’s direction, said Yossi Klein Halevi of the Shalom Hartman Institute.
CIA and Vatican visits converge in Moscow
From Religion News Service. As the CIA director quietly carried warnings to Moscow, Pope Leo’s foreign minister arrived offering dialogue and humanitarian cooperation — two contrasting missions that one Vatican expert likened to a ‘good cop, bad cop operation.’
Betting analysis from Baptist News Global
The conclusion: Expanded sports betting is harming student athletes.
HHS says, no such thing as a transgender person
Baptist News Global offers a news report and an opinion piece. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently issued a report created by a Focus on the Family affiliate that claims transgender medical procedures have no basis in fact. “A vast medical fraud.”
“The government did not commission a study and publish the findings. It took the pamphlet and lent it the [white medical] coat.”
Apple settles a discrimination lawsuit
Apple Inc. will pay $150,000 and update its religious-observance policies to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, involving Apple’s refusal to grant a Jewish employee time off for sabbath observances. From Baptist News Global.
Pope Leo XIV
Yet three months after the encyclical’s release, Magnifica Humanitas continues to gain traction among tech leaders and policymakers alike. And now, public backers of the pope’s vision on safeguarding humanity in the age of artificial intelligence include Microsoft founder Bill Gates. From National Catholic Reporter.
Pope Leo XIV Takes Part in Historic Marian Procession on Lake Albano at Papal Summer House, from National Catholic Register. “The Holy Father was the first pope to travel across the waters of the lake in the 400-year-long history of Castel Gandolfo as a papal summer residence, according to the Vatican.”
Pope to women religious: “The world needs generous women.” In an address to consecrated women taking part in their General Chapters and a group of Carmelite nuns from the Holy Land, Pope Leo XIV praises religious women who respond to God’s call, and highlights the witness of Discalced Carmelites in the Holy Land, with their constant prayers for peace. From Vatican News.
Pope: Faithful cannot be passive: To experience true relationship with God in the liturgy, faithful’s participation cannot be passive, pope says. From USCCB News.
Bishop Sheen pilgrimage
In the days leading up to Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s Sept. 24 beatification, more than 40 pilgrims will trace the places, traditions and experiences that shaped his life and priesthood — offering a deeper look at the man behind the famous television bishop. From National Catholic Register.
Interview: Archbishop Wenski
Interview from National Catholic Register: Archbishop Wenski Reflects on 50 Years of Priesthood, Haitian Ministry, and Serving Miami.
A scholar’s reflection
From Black Catholic Messenger: “Why Black Catholic Musicians Should Study Gregorian Chant.” Dr. Darrell St. Romain, a scholar and organist, reflects on studying Gregorian chant and its potential to enrich Black Catholic worship.
What Gen Z knows about the church
It’s not that they know nothing; it’s just that we don’t like to talk about what they know. From the Christian Century.
USCCB News
Vatican scholar unearthed a Jesuit’s role in informing the Holy See about Nazi crimes. Originally published in 2023, an uncovered Vatican archival letter suggests Pope Pius XII received detailed reports about the Nazi extermination of Jews in occupied Poland during World War II.
Bishop Zaidan Calls for Prayer and Expresses Hope for Success of Peace Agreement in Gaza. “Alleviating the suffering of the Gazan people is not only a vital moral imperative but is also necessary for the consolidation of peace in the Holy Land and the entire region.”
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