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Center for Catholic Education at UD

Mass on the Grass

By Lindsey Bronder

With Earth Day this upcoming Sunday, April 22, now is a great time to reflect on the goodness of God’s creation. Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si emphasizes the need “to bring the whole human family together… for we know that things can change” (#13). This Earth Day, we invite you to gather together with UD Campus Ministry for ‘Mass on the Grass’, a celebration of mass outside in the student neighborhood.

This opportunity to celebrate mass outside invites us to spend time with God in prayer as we contemplate the beauty of His creation.

According to Pope Francis,

The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God. The history of our friendship with God is always linked to particular places which take on an intensely personal meaning; we all remember places, and revisiting those memories does us much good. Anyone who has grown up in the hills or used to sit by the spring to drink, or played outdoors in the neighborhood square; going back to these places is a chance to recover something of their true selves. (#84)

For UD students, the celebration of Mass on the Grass in the student neighborhood also takes on special meaning as we are surrounded by our neighbors and houses of memories. We recover something of our ‘true selves’ in the sense that we are at home in our community.

Just as Pope Francis reminds us that “Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home” (#13), celebrating Mass on the Grass in the student neighborhood is a great reminder that we still have the ability to work together in building our UD community. May we have the ability to see God’s grace in our campus and each other as made in the image and likeness of God. May we not forget that God entrusted us with the gift of his creation and renew our commitment to being good stewards to our little corner of the earth.

So as Mr. Rogers used to sing, “It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, / A beautiful day for a neighbor, / Would be mine? / Could you be mine?”

And won’t you join us this Sunday April 22, 2018 for Mass on the Grass at 4:30pm at the ArtStreet Amphitheater?

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