We celebrated Laudato si' week

from Pakistan

Community of Sialkot

Laudato Si’ Week honors the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical on care for our common home. The theme of the week was “everything is connected.” Following Pope Francis’ invitation to join Laudato Si’ Week, the community organized this week in a very creative way.

The Book of Genesis Chapter 1 on Creation was our theme. Each day we read the days of creation and placed symbols according to that day.

During our Vespers we read a paragraph from “Laudato Si” that was related to the Book of Genesis on creation.

On the third day we planted a tree in our garden to join in celebrating “care for our earth”.

Laudato Si’ Week was concluded with a prayer service in the Community Room. Psalms and hymns related to creation were visualized on the television with time given for reflection and sharing. The sharing was simple and inspiring and all were grateful for this time spent in reflecting on our common home.

“Heed the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” Pope Francis

During Laudato Si” Week we came to know about some families living in Pasrur 15 Kilometres away from Sialkot who have no means of feeding their families during this lockdown due to Pandemic COVID 19. Henceforth we were very worried and concerned about them. Thus we got some food bags ready and sent them with our Office Staff members.  Most of the families living in this area are Christian, uneducated and have no proper jobs. The families were very happy and grateful for the help given to them.

21st May 

There are many Christian families in the villages where we go regularly for our pastoral work, they are uneducated thus no jobs and depend absolutely on daily wages. Hence we were very happy to help them with food bags. We feel they are the most deserving families living in dire poverty and also it is part of our community project. The families were extremely grateful for our generosity and we will continue to help those who are most needy and deprived.

“O God of the poor, helps us to rescue the abandoned” Pope Francis

On 22^nd May, our Parish Priest, Fr. Ashraf Gill and Fr. Abid Albert, requested to help some most deprived families with food, living near the border between India and Pakistan in Sialkot.  These families depend on daily wages, as their only income is from wedding celebrations and due to the current situation, are not able to feed their families.  Thus the Priests were able to go to this area which is far from the city of Sialkot and gave the food bags to the respective families. All of them were very happy and grateful for the food given to them and ensured the Sisters of their prayers.