Bulletin Boards

  Reflection/Quotes "There is no separation between God and creation, no separation between God and us.  Every moment of our seemingly ordinary life reveals that God is present and continues to be born in us, healing our hearts!"  by Fr. Richard Rohr    Eco-Challenge Each day this month concentrate on one element of creation and give thanks for it:  maybe the birds, or trees, or the air we breathe.  Perhaps the sunshine or the stars of the night.  Choose one thing each day this month and know that it and you are part of creation and therefore part of God is in us.   Facts/Education  I consider it essential to insist that “to seek only a technical remedy to each environmental problem which comes up is to separate what is in reality interconnected and to mask the true and deepest problems of the global system”.  It is true that efforts at adaptation are needed in the face of evils that are irreversible in the short term.  Also, some interventions and technological advances that make it possible to absorb or capture gas emissions have proved promising. Nonetheless, we risk remaining trapped in the mindset of pasting and papering over cracks, while beneath the surface there is a continuing deterioration to which we continue to contribute. To suppose that all problems in the future will be able to be solved by new technical interventions is a form of homicidal pragmatism, like pushing a snowball down a hill. #57 Laudato Deum  

photo: pexels.com/photo/a-couple-holding-their-hands-4746779/     March Eco-challenge    Reflection/Quotes We have made “impressive and awesome technological advances, and we have not realized that at the same time we have turned into highly dangerous beings, capable of threatening the lives of many beings and our own survival” (28), Laudato Deum.   Eco-Challenge Spend some time reconciling with Creation at all levels.      Facts/Education The climate’s current situation is volatile and headed toward catastrophe, and Laudate Deum clearly identifies this reality. “Our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point,” he writes. Pointing to overwhelming scientific evidence that climate change is the result of human activity, Francis describes how the last 200 years of pollution and extraction have led the world to this crisis point. The disastrous situation is already apparent in deadly natural disasters, collapsing ecosystems, and rising temperatures worldwide. Still, many continue to deny the climate crisis or look the other way in favor of profit and productivity. In the face of that neglect, Pope Francis calls on all to remember the connectedness of everything and that salvation is communal.

image: https://sjspwellesley.org/adult-faith-enrichment/care-for-creation/   January 2025 Reflection/Quote What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?  When we ask ourselves what kind of world we want to leave behind, we think in the first place of its general direction, its meaning and its values. Taken from Laudato Sí, #160   Eco-challenge What is the purpose of our life in this world? Let us take some time to write down our answer to this question. All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.  Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty. Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one. O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth. Laudato Si Movement Prayer book   History In Laudato Sí, Pope Francis implored and guided us to pay much more attention. We humans should pay attention to our relationships to each other and to all the rest of the created order as well as to God. Since June 2015, when Laudato Sí was published, millions of people have responded to this plea.  People have acted in practical ways to improve our relationships with the earth and with each other.                                                                             Laudato Sí Movement Prayer book

image: Dangjin Newspapers   Reflection/Quote We pray that the Trump Administration, in consultation with both scientific experts and faith-based communities, will find pathways to promote environmental sustainability and secure justice for future generations.  Climate change is not a partisan issue — it is a human and moral issue that requires the commitment of all people of goodwill across political lines to protect God’s creation and care for the future of our common home. Text taken from Catholic Climate Covenant Eco Challenge Let us speak up for the people in need and give them a save place in our community. Enlighten those who possess power and money that they may avoid the sin of indifference, that they may love the common good, advance the weak, and care for this world in which we live. The poor and the earth are crying out. O Lord, seize us with your power and light, help us to protect all life, to prepare for a better future, for the coming of your Kingdom of justice, peace, love and beauty. Praise be to you! Amen.                      Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, 2015  

image: pexels.com November Reflection/Quote: “Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.”  --Pope Francis, Laudato Si, p. 217                                                                  Eco Challenge: Take some quiet contemplation time each day this month to ponder the sights and sounds of creation around you.  Hear the “hymns of praise” of other creatures.   Facts/Education St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure and many others taught that God wrote two sacred books:  the book of Scripture and the book of Creation.  It is important that we use both.

  image: https://laudatosimovement.org/news/laudato-si-part-2-an-ongoing-dialogue-of-the-signs-of-the-times/   September Reflection/Quote Consider the proverb popular in Kenya: “you must treat the earth well.  It was not given to you by your parents.  It is loaned to you by your children.”               Fr. Joseph Healey, MM   Eco-Challenge Read Laudate Deum, the Apostolic Letter by Pope Francis, on humanity’s obligation to the environment and act on it—both individually and in a communal way.    Facts/Education When it comes to climate change and global warming, the people living in Africa are very vulnerable.  Kenya is on the equator.  Countries in Eastern Africa are presently alternating between terrible drought and excessive flooding, resulting in mud slides.

Creation Day: A New Liturgical Feast? The role of Catholic organizations in the process   Online and in person in Rome, in the headquarters of UISG - Piazza di Ponte Sant'Angelo, 28 Throughout this past decade, many of us have enthusiastically celebrated “Creation Day” on September 1 (also known as “Feast of Creation” or “World Day of Prayer for Creation”), which opens the larger “Season of Creation”. Inspired by the day's ancient symbolism as the commemoration of the creation of the world (in Orthodox tradition), an ecumenical process is currently underway to elevate Creation Day to become a new feast in the liturgical calendars of various churches. This event, addressed to leaders of Catholic organizations and congregations (e.g. president, superior general, others with governance or executive roles, JPIC coordinators, etc), will share more background about the proposed feast, its theological foundations, and ways for Catholic organizations to contribute to the process.   DATE: 30 September 2024, 3pm - 4.30pm (Rome time) ORGANIZED BY: Laudato Si' Movement, JPIC, USG, UISG, Laudato Si' Research Institute   IN COLLABORATION WITH: Focolare Movement, Inter-Franciscan Commission Roman VI, International Catholic Conference of Scouting, Order of Augustinian Recollects (Arcores), Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, Society of Jesus (SJES), Society of Mary, and World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations   LANGUAGES: English, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese   more information:  https://www.uisg.org/en/meetings/126/Creation-Day-New-Liturgical-Feast/

image: https://www.pexels.com/search/coffee%20farmer/   Reflection/Quote Let us choose life.  Let us choose the future.  May we be attentive to the cry of the earth, may we hear the plea of the poor.                                                                        Pope Franics   Eco-Challenge Buy coffee beans, chocolate, produce, and more from a fairtrade certified company. Fast from overconsumption.  Refrain from shopping one day a week and use the money to support your civic community in some way.   Facts/Education Farming is the single largest employer in the world.  Fairtrade supports a fair deal for the farmers and workers who grow our food.

  Image: https://pixabay.com/ko/images/search/local%20veggies/   July Reflection/Quote If one thinks of tilling the ground as a form of service, one is led to envision a relationship to the Earth involving service or caring for, as opposed to ruling over it.  Let us take time to evaluate our service to God’s earth in the individual practices of our life and in our collective efforts in the realm of public policy.                                                         Sr. Helen Graham, MM   Eco-Challenge Commit to buying local, in-season produce.  Locally produced food grown during natural seasons is fresher and requires less energy to produce and transport.   Facts/Education Air pollution in the U.S. still remains a public health issue.  For 50 years, the Clean Air Act has driven dramatic improvements in air quality across the country.  The law requires the federal government to place limits on harmful air pollution, including greenhouse gases that cause climate change.  We need to stop the oil and gas industry that violates limits on toxic air pollution.

  Image: https://pixabay.com   June Reflection Quote “We will recover our sense of wonder and our sense of the sacred when we appreciate the universe as a revelatory experience of that numinous presence whence all things came into being.” Thomas Berry   Eco-Challenge Several times this month take time to gaze at the stars, the moon, the night sky—and thank God the Creator for this wonderfully made universe.   Facts/Education In the past several decades we have become increasingly and painfully aware of how we have failed as a human race to serve and care for God’s earth. We witness extreme weather events including devasting floods, prolonged droughts, raging wildfires, violent storms, and deadly heat waves. We are seeing species extinction due to the effects of climate change and our inadequate response to the urgent needs of our day.