Creighton will set aside an age-old rivalry to celebrate a saint who inspires sustainability on Friday.
It has long been known that the Jesuits and Franciscans uphold a friendly rivalry with each other. However, in the spirit of St. Francis, Creighton will celebrate its second annual St. Francis Day with a Mass and luncheon.
The Mass will be at noon at St. John’s, followed by a simple lunch in Lower St. John’s and the inaugural presentation of the Spirit of St. Francis Award.
“The purpose of this liturgy is to connect us to the essence of St. Francis, his life, his mission and his ministry for Christ,” Campus Ministry Liturgy Coordinator Keith Kozak said.
Molly Mattingly, Campus Ministry’s director of music ministry, explained how celebrating sustainability in conjunction with St. Francis’s feast day highlights the way his legacy impacts others.
“As in any Mass, the purpose is always to come together as a community to pray and to praise God in the Sacraments and to be sent forth to change the world,” Mattingly said. “The beauty of a saint’s feast day is that we can do so through the lens of someone who has showed us a way to live like Christ.”
According to sustainability manager Mary Duda, celebrating St. Francis Day directly
connects to Creighton’s Jesuit values.
“As a Catholic, Jesuit university, we are in a unique position to be able to tie our mission to sustainability, to show how being ‘Men and Women for and with Others’ extends to resource conservation and how our treatment of the earth and the environment affects those around us,” Duda said.
Since 2012, the Sustainability Council, a group of students, faculty and staff who work on various sustainability projects, has been celebrating sustainable efforts on campus.
As Duda explained, the St. Francis Day Mass and celebration began as a small sustainability fair in the Skutt Student Center before expanding to a Mass and luncheon. Last year, Creighton President the Rev. Timothy R. Lannon, S.J. signed the St. Francis Sustainability Pledge on behalf of the university.
New this year is the Spirit of St. Francis Award, which “identifies and recognizes Creighton University students, faculty, staff and administrators from across the university who are engaged in making an impact on, and developing a culture of, campus sustainability efforts,” the Sustainability Council website states.
Duda credits Barbara Dilly, an associate professor of sociology, with the creation of the award.
“She thought that since sustainability is becoming a larger part of the fabric of the university, it’s time to start recognizing the contributions of the people that work hard to make that happen,” Duda said. “Again, we wanted to tie the award to mission and to the St. Francis Pledge that Fr. Lannon signed on behalf of the university last year.”
Along with the Sustainability Council, the Creighton Center for Service and Justice (CCSJ) and Campus Ministry both sponsored the events. According to Cat Keating, a graduate assistant in the CCSJ, the center has involved itself in the planning process for the luncheon.
“The CCSJ hopes that the Creighton community can come together to prayerfully and intentionally approach urgent issues that are affecting our planet,” Keating said. “We hope that we can feel united in furthering and deepening efforts to care for our earth and the people on it in some impactful ways.”
Participants will spend the day celebrating the life of St. Francis and honoring those involved in sustainable efforts on campus. Members of sustainability-focused groups on campus will help serve at the Mass and be present at the luncheon. The luncheon itself will be entirely locally sourced and sustainably homemade.
“The hope is that people see that issues of sustainability affect everyone and every aspect of life,” Duda said. “Also, [St. Francis Day] shows that the Catholic Church and the Society of Jesus see [sustainability] as an important part of ministry.”