By Roselyn Rigit
LONG LAMA — From Friday to Sunday 15-17 August 2025, a Laudato Si’ workshop was conducted at Blessed Sacrament Church in Long Lama Parish in the Diocese of Miri. Invited by the Parish Rector, Rev Fr Sylvester Ngau, four members of the Creation Justice Commission of Miri Diocese made the over 2-hour road trip from Miri to Long Lama to run the workshop. The workshop brought together approximately 60 participants comprising secondary school students and teachers from the nearby SMK Long Lama and other parishioners.
The aim of the workshop was to create awareness of our current Climate Crisis and of Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’, which calls all people to care for our Common Home. The event featured a series of talks and group activities to cultivate an understanding of the current climate crisis. A summary of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’, followed by topics such as the Church’s response, the deadly impact of plastic pollution and the 7R’s solutions towards decarbonisation were shared. Participants then had the opportunity to present their response in the form of practical action plans to Rev Fr Sylvester Ngau that they can implement to transform their parish into an ecological parish.
Evening sessions included a Reconciliation with Creation Prayer ritual, during which many participants shared their personal reflections. Some shared how they came to realise that they were, in various ways, also responsible for the destruction of our Common Home and the suffering of God’s creatures on an exploited earth. This proved to be a powerful moment of awareness and spiritual ecological conversion. A participant also shared that, among all the prayer sessions he has ever attended, this was the first time he had felt a real connection to the sufferings of God’s creation caused by the humankind’s failure to protect our Common Home.
The workshop concluded on Sunday with a home composting offering participants practical skills on how to repurpose their food scraps and kitchen wastes into organic fertiliser for the garden.
Through the engaging talks, reflective prayers and hands-on activities, this workshop helped instill a stronger sense of ecological responsibility rooted in our Christian faith. Such Laudato Si workshops conducted by Miri Creation Justice Commission are one of the ecological education avenues for the Diocese. This supports the journey of the Diocese of Miri towards becoming an Ecological Diocese and Parishes in perpetuity. We look forward to the next Laudato Si workshops in Bintulu, Limbang and Lapok Parishes before the year ends.
Laudato Si’ mi Signore! Praise be to You, my Lord!
