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Caring for Creation and Each Other In His Presence
Laudato Si‘
“If we believe that when two or more gather, He is among us, then my job is to bring together our parishioners to care for the earth and one another as Pope Francis has asked us to do in Laudato Si’.”
– Susan Varlamoff, Laudato Si’ Initiative, St. John Neumann Creation Care Team
When Susan Varlamoff kneels in the dirt, planting and watering St. John Neumann’s parish garden in Lilburn, she is in His presence. As a Catholic biologist, she has spent her life caring for God’s creation. When Pope Francis released the encyclical called Laudato Si‘: On Care For Our Common Home, she was inspired to work with a colleague to develop a plan for parishes to combat climate change and create a culture of caring for creation and each other.
Since 2016, St. John Neumann, the Archdiocese, and the world have implemented this Laudato Si’ parish action plan, giving those who are eager to make a difference, tangible ways to contribute toward an ecological conversion. At St John Neumann, where she leads the Creation Care Team, large steps have been made to reduce energy and water usage, but it is the small creative ways that people have responded, stepping forward with new solutions and ways to do things, that have caused a conversion of more simplicity and more compassion that will create change in the world.
As we gather in His Name, to do the sacred work of caring for our common home, we feel God’s presence among us and our connectedness to each other and the earth.”
– Susan Varlamoff, Laudato Si Initiative, St. John Neumann Creation Care Team
We are committed to caring for creation and our community not only through the Laudato Si’ initiative but also through ministries including the Life, Dignity, and Justice and Intercultural Ministries, Child and Youth Protection, the Metropolitan Tribunal, and more.
