Ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East; earthquakes in multiple South American nations; famine in Sudan and Gaza; wildfires in vast European and U.S. regions and catastrophic disasters flooding entire villages in Nepal and Tibet. The heartbreaking news from just the last few months offers a painful reminder of the critical concerns that compelled Pope Francis to launch a worldwide initiative in 2015 to care for creation.
His encyclical, “Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home” and the subsequent establishment of the annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will be in full focus Sept. 1 when Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., leads the Diocese of Trenton’s observance of this special initiative. The Bishop will celebrate a Mass for the Care of Creation in Our Lady Star of the Sea Beach Chapel (part of St. Denis Parish, Manasquan) beginning at 7 p.m. Catholics and all people of good will from around the Diocese of Trenton and beyond are encouraged to gather with Bishop O’Connell at the Jersey shore to pray for the Care of Creation.
The celebration revisits the Diocese’s inaugural Mass for the worldwide initiative, which Bishop O’Connell celebrated in the beach chapel in 2015. Father William Lago, pastor of St. Denis Parish, will again welcome the Bishop back to the shore faith community as he did for the first Mass in 2015. The worldwide call by Pope Francis came just a few years after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 devastated the Mid-Atlantic region and nearly destroyed the beach chapel, located just one long block from the Atlantic Ocean. A plaque marking the height of the water that had filled the house of worship remains posted at the entrance, ever reminding the congregants of the travails they had experienced that October and months, even years later.
In his inaugural homily, Bishop O’Connell stated, “Pope Francis is sounding the alarm, the warning. We cannot, we must not remain unprepared for this storm of our own making.”
Since then, many parishes throughout the Diocese of Trenton have established their own annual observances of the Season of Creation, celebrated each year beginning Sept. 1 and continuing through Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis. Ministry groups dedicated to the care of creation year-round have also been established in about a dozen parishes of the Diocese.
For the 2026 observance, Pope Leo XIV has dedicated his message to the urgent need to bring ongoing wars to an end. He has taken this year’s theme from Scripture (Isaiah 2:4): “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” The Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said the Holy Father’s message emphasizes the relationship between armed conflict and environmental degradation, noting that such destruction is both a serious violation of humanity’s responsibility to care for creation and a long-term threat to the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
Our Lady Star of the Sea Beach Chapel is located at 554 E. Main Street, Manasquan.