As Christian communities around the world celebrate the Season of Creation this month, some green-thumbed members of the Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province are proving that caring for creation can begin with small actions, close to home.

The Season of Creation is an annual ecumenical celebration of prayer and action to protect creation, beginning on September 1, the Day of Prayer for Creation, established by Pope Francis in 2015 and running through to October 4, the Feast of St Francis, who is the patron saint of ecology in many traditions. This year’s theme is ‘Let Justice and Peace Flow’.

Fr Truc Phan SVD is parish priest of Emerald Parish in central Queensland and even though his parish takes in four church communities spread hundreds of kilometres apart, he still finds time to tend an impressive vegetable garden.

“I’m a practical man,” Fr Truc says. “And I enjoy gardening. It’s relaxing.”

Fr Truc, who comes from a farming background in Vietnam, planted a garden at the presbytery when he arrived in Emerald, which now provides green vegetables and citrus fruit all year round. With the help of assistant priest Fr Francois d’Assise Andrianihantana SVD, the garden is well-tended and highly productive.

“When we have enough to eat from the garden, we give some to our parishioners as well,” he says.

“And they give us other things, like rice and meat, so we exchange and then we don’t have to spend a lot on shopping.”

Fr Truc says that apart from the practicalities of living a sustainable lifestyle, his time in the garden also has spiritual value.

“When I am in the garden I see the beauty that comes from God,” he says.

“I can see how God takes care of creation. I take care of my part and leave the other part to God. It’s a kind of a contemplative life.”

Fr Truc says he enjoys living in a rural setting and being a part of a community where farming is a big part of the local economy.

“I enjoy the countryside and being with people who live lives of simplicity and warm hospitality,” he says.

“I was born and raised up in the highlands of Vietnam. My family are mainly farmers, growing coffee and peppers, so it feels very natural to me to grow things and to share them.

“I think the Season of Creation is a good time to stop and think about God’s gift of creation and how we can play our part, no matter how small.”

Meanwhile, on Palm Island, situated off the coast of Townsville, Fr Manh Le SVD has also planted a vegetable garden and builds a sustainable lifestyle through his love of fishing.

With no supermarket chains or green grocers on the island, the garden provides Fr Manh and others with some of the healthy staples of life.

“It’s about survival really,” Fr Manh says. “Fresh fruit and vegetables are very limited here, so we eat what we can grow. And I fish and eat that too.

“Fishing is enjoyable for me and a part of my work in a way. It’s linking in with all creation.”

SVD student Thuc Nguyen, who is currently assigned to Palm Island, during his time in the SVD AUS Province as part of the Overseas Training Program, helps Fr Manh tend the garden.

“Gardening held a unique and cherished place in my heart during my formative years,” Thuc says.

“Sadly, the demands of city life left me with little time and space to nurture this passion.

“However, my time on Palm Island is giving me the chance to rekindle my love for gardening.

“In this idyllic setting, I have not only cultivated a variety of vegetables and fruits but also nurtured a profound connection with the natural world.”

Thuc says that by immersing himself in gardening he has come to understand that stewardship of nature is an essential aspect of his responsibility.

“Using the land to grow crops not only ensures a means of sustenance but also plays a pivotal role in safeguarding our shared home, particularly amid the alarming backdrop of rampant pollution that plagues our world,” he says.

Fr Manh, who also comes from a family of renowned gardeners, says that recently when Sr Mere Ranuku SSpS asked him if he had any of the root vegetable, cassava, he was able to pull up three large ones, weighing in at 15kg and give them to her.

“From little things, big things grow,” he says.

“Gardening and fishing are something so simple, so ordinary, but when we realise it is all part of God’s gift of creation to us, and we can take part in that, something very ordinary becomes extraordinary.

“With the Season of Creation, Pope Francis is calling us to get back to simple again so we can all live on the earth together.”

PHOTOS

TOP RIGHT: Fr Truc Phan SVD in his garden at the Emerald Parish in Rockhampton Diocese.

MIDDLE LEFT: The lemon tree provides enough fruit to share with parishioners as well.

MIDDLE RIGHT: Fr Manh Le SVD tends the vegetable garden on Palm Island.

BOTTOM LEFT: Sr Mere Ranuku SSpS enjoying some of the harvested cassava vegetables.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Thuc Nguyen SVD says that helping in the garden on Palm Island has helped him rekindle his love of gardening and is an important part of caring for God's gift of creation.