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July Eco-ChallengeImage: 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.2024.07.12 43
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June Eco-ChallengeImage: 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.2024.06.01 67
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May Eco Chanllegeimage:google.com May Reflection/Quote “The Anthropocene is a new geological epoch, which names an astonishing turning point in the history of our planet, since never before have homo sapiens lived in such an era, in which, overwhelmingly, humans have significantly altered all of the earth systems: the atmosphere, the oceans, the continents and ecosystems, the entire community of life on earth.” Cardinal Michael Czerny Eco-Challenge I will stop buying laundry detergent in plastic containers. I will purchase one container of laundry powder or laundry strips to try out and encourage others to do the same. Facts/Education Laundry detergent sheets are highly concentrated, low-sudsing, pre-measured detergent strips that you just toss into your washing machine. They come in eco-friendly recyclable paperboard packaging, and they live up to their eco-friendly credentials. Consumer Reports gave Earth Breeze Laundry Sheets a good rating, noting they are one of the most effective laundry strips at removing dirt, body oil, blood, chocolate and grass stains.2024.05.23 88
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Earth Day 2024, Prayer & ActivitiesFor Our Earth in Laudato Si’ All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light. We thank you for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace. Activities to celebrate Earth Day Organize a "clean-up." Enjoy a green smoothie. Create a "pollinator" garden (that will attract bees). Plant a tree! Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Conserve Water! Garden without pesticides. Play a nature-themed bingo game. Have an Earth Day drawing competition. Make a compost heap in your back yard.2024.04.21 54
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April Eco-Challengeimage: https://www.planetfriendlyliving.co.uk/post/top-tips-for-drying-clothes-outside April Reflection/Quote “Learning something leaves us different than we were before we knew it. Learning is our lifeline to the fullness of ourselves. We wake, if ever at all, to mystery.”. Annie Dillard Eco-Challenge Commit to saving energy by drying some or all of your laundry outside on a line when weather permits. Or use a drying rack inside. Commit to this eco challenge at least one day this month! Invite your family and friends too! Facts/Education The dryer is one of the biggest energy users in homes or apartments. We can reduce our carbon footprint by an average of 2,400 lbs. per year by hang drying instead. If drying outside is not an option, consider using a drying rack inside, or a shower rod or towel bar.2024.04.03 65
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50 Easy Ways to Protect CreationImage: https://subri.kr/ 50 Easy Ways to Protect Creation Recommended by the Ecology and Environment Committee of CBCK (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea) during the Season of Creation week, 2020 and Catholic Climate Action summarized and shares them as below: 1. Avoid using single-use products such as Styrofoam, plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic knives, plastic spoons, plastic forks, and plastic straws, etc. Use reusable shopping bags, recycle plastic containers at the grocery store No to disposable bottled water!, Yes to personal water container! Biking or walking for short distances Buy "fair trade" products made from ethical and sustainable resources No more letting unnecessary engine running when parking, even for a short time! Grow your own vegetables in a community garden, mini boxes and pots on your patio, etc. Plan and take vacations that focus on volunteering or ecological activities ......................Read the whole list, please see the attached ..........2024.04.03 70
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Laudato Si Action Platform 7- Year Plan, Year 2Laudato Si Action Platform 7- Year Plan Year 2 Congregation of the Sisters of Divine Providence of Germany, South Korea, Peru, and the United States November 2023 Commitment We, the Congregation of Divine Providence, commit to join the global Catholic community in responding to Pope Francis’ appeal to participate in a seven-year plan toward sustainability and ecological justice by developing a Laudato Si’ Action Platform. Congregational Mission Statement We, the Congregation of Divine Providence, impelled by the Spirit of Jesus, commit ourselves to co-create a world of compassion, justice and peace. Guided by the legacy of Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler and Marie de la Roche, we nurture in ourselves and in others a trust and confidence in God’s faithful presence. We further commit ourselves to making God’s providence more visible in our world. Ongoing Congregational Actions Establishment of a CDP Environment Day on the first day of each month beginning in December, 2022, a Prayer of Creation is prayed. Also each month the members of the Congregation receive a quote about Creation and sustainability, an eco-challenge action to do, and either some factual information or an educational article to read. Each member is encouraged to participate in that eco-challenge monthly. Distribution of materials throughout the congregation and beyond through the use of Global Connections Newsletter and other avenues of communication such as an article featuring the efforts of the Wampanoag Common Lands Project to preserve and reinvigorate Native culture and identity in New England. https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/08/wampanoag-common-lands-project-seeks-to-restore-former-catholic-camp-to-what-it-was-before-european-colonization.html ........................... To read the full article, see the attachment ..........................2024.03.21 91
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Laudato Si Monthly Eco Challenges, Marchimage: https://defenders.org/coexistence-overview March Reflection Quote: “We need a new ecological approach that can transform our way of dwelling in the world, our lifestyles, our relationship with the resources of the earth and, in general, our way of looking at humanity and of living life.” ---Father Emmet Farell Eco Challenge: During Lent pray the Litany of Repentance each week. (Provided) Facts/Education: Laudato Si is a spiritual and moral document. It’s not political. It’s spiritual and very moral, so the church has to be active, said Fr. Farell. We need to repent of all the ways we have not cared for our common home. Litany of Repentance (Rev. James Shri Bhagwan, General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of ChurchesGod of light, life and love, God of land, and sea and sky, Who called creation into existence and wove it into a rich tapestry, a fine mat, a web of life. Your Spirit hovered over the face of the primordial waters, and was breathed into humankind after You made us equally in Your image. Your Word was made flesh and embodied Your divine love as it took root and bore fruit in us, restoring our relationship with You. Yet we have not honored this relationship with You and the rest of Your Creation. We have disrespected the web of life. We have devalued the fine ecological mat that You wove with so much love. We have uprooted Your tree of life and sold it as logs. We have forgotten that we sweat and cry saltwater and have polluted Your oceans and rivers…oceans that cry for justice and rivers that call to righteousness. Instead of everything that has breath praising You, all creation groans in pain as trees and phytoplankton choke on carbon belched from our desire for more, and our care for less. All around we see the consequences of our ecological sin as we extract and exploit, as we defile and pillage our sister and brother creation: heatwaves and wildfires, bitter winters, droughts and floods, rising sea levels and rising ocean temperatures, more extreme cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes. God of hope and healing, may your rivers of righteousness wash away our apathy, our greed and selfishness and reveal the deep relationships You created for us with all creation. Nourish us with the water of life that restores, turning deserts of despair into oases of hope. May the waves of Your embrace transform us back into guardians of Your creation. May the currents of your justice carry us to Your lagoon of peace where all creation may enjoy life in abundance. We pray in Your name that the whole cosmos may have everlasting life. Amen.2024.03.02 127
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Laudato Si Monthly Eco Challenges - February 2024February Reflection Quote: “The Creator of all calls us to practice a new way of living, one that is ‘good, true and beautiful.’ We commit to take action together because it is urgent and necessary.” --Laudato Si 57, 205 Eco Challenge: When shopping for groceries or anything, for that matter, bring your bags with you. Try not to use plastic bags at all. Save the amount that ends up in landfills and our oceans.” Facts/Education: Did you know that non-woven polypropylene bags, often made of recycled plastic, are durable and washable? After 11 uses, they will have offset the energy used to produce plastic bags for stores. Re-usable bags over time will reduce the number of plastic bags needing to be produced. (image from Google images)2024.02.20 109
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Laudato Si Monthly Eco Challenges - January 2024January Reflection Quote: “It isn’t that our scientific, prefabricated, computerized world isn’t affecting us. The problem is that it is. Our environment shapes us, fills us, makes us more or less real human beings. The question is, Do I live in the world or in a bubble within it?” --Joan Chittister, OSB Eco Challenge: At least one day this month, put your phone away for a few hours. Shut down your computer for a few hours. Instead, ponder the glories of creation and think of how much less energy you are using just for those few hours. (image from Google images)2024.02.20 92