Our community partners at St. Leo’s Parish in Tacoma have taken on a beautiful project in their creation care work by caring for honeybees across Pierce County. Pastoral Assistant for Social Justice, Rick Samyn, shares a little bit about the project with us and invites the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community to join St. Leo’s Parish in this project with the message below.
“To care for Creation, the first step is to fall in love with Her. For the past 12 years, St. Leo staff and parishioners have cared for the humble, hardworking honeybee. This creature, among the humblest of God’s Creation, is easy to admire for her industry – providing humankind with the sweetness of honey and the purity of her wax. She is lovable in her complex beauty and resourcefulness. Her contributions to human society are so immense for such a small creature. Most lovable indeed!
Of all God’s creatures, she goes about her work, caring for her family and providing sweetness and light to the world without causing any harm. She is a wise teacher, if only we would listen to the lessons of her kind, we could be wise in the eyes of God and God’s Creation.
At the L’Honey Project we labor to care for and manage about 43-48 hives at five different locations in Pierce Country. We partner with L’Arche Farm & Garden, Franklin Pierce School district, Care for Creation Network/Archdiocese of Seattle, Earth Ministry, Jesuit West Province, and others to find meaningful ways to use our connection with the honeybee to promote care for Creation. We strive to help others discover the beauty of Creation, to fall in love and care for Her.
One way we reach out to others is through the sale of our hive products that we make at the parish. We also offer educational presentations to the community and volunteer opportunities which also helps us to discover ways we can all get involved to preserve our planet and advocate for her care.”
For more information or to explore ways to partner to protect our planet, please contact Rick Samyn at: Voice/text (253) 229-4114 or email: larchelhoneybeekeeping@gmail.com
