One of the seven goals of the Laudato Si' Action Platform is "ecological education." How can we teach about ecology and care of the Earth?
"Called "the coolest summer camp in Louisville," Camp Odyssey at the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center in Louisville, immerses children entering grades 1-6 in the three main aspects of the Earth & Spirit Center mission: spiritual practice, compassion for others, and connection to the Earth. As they explore the woodlands and meadows of our 27-acre nature sanctuary, work and play with our artists, garden and environmental educators, chefs, yoga and meditation instructors, and musicians, kids come to understand how ecosystems work, where their food comes from, and how to be more mindful and compassionate toward themselves, others, and their surroundings. " Read more and explore Camp Odyssey https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/camp-odyssey-summer-camp-series/
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Links for Laudato Si' Lenten series and "Ecological Way of the Cross" For those who were unable to participate in the April 2, 2021 Ecological Way of the Cross and the preceding Lenten series on Laudato Si', we offer the following links for the resources. The link for the Way of the Cross is here. The videos from the complete Lenten series (including the stations) are in a single folder here. These may be helpful for those doing Laudato Si' formation in your own circles and communities. If you would like to also have the Powerpoint slide decks for these sessions, please let us know. Image with permission: Melanie Weidner, ListenForJoy.com The new website of St. Paul of the Cross province is full of good news. The website coincides with the announcement of a major project that presents a creative and exciting movement for the province and its retreat center in Jamaica, NY. On February 26th, ground was broken for Thomas Berry Place. As the Passionists celebrate our 300th Anniversary year, the province reimagined the former Bishop Molloy Retreat House into a new Passionist Center that fulfills their re-focused mission, creates new partnerships, and offers new, mission-based utilization of the renovated physical spaces to meet the needs of our greater community. See more about Thomas Berry Place and the capital plan to fund it here. You can view the groundbreaking ceremony on that page as well. Walking with the Crucified - Thomas Berry Place will include the Reconnect Brooklyn ministries founded in Brooklyn to engage young people looking for a positive life change, the program creates social enterprise business to employ youth and teach life skills as well as assisting with next steps in life. Reconnect now resides and is expanding into our Jamaica, NY retreat house located in the Passionist’s Thomas Berry Place in order to deepen the impact on young people’s lives. Here they will not only continue to expand their external business endeavors such as their printing and graphics shop, reopen the Reconnect Bakery but also be part of "fabric" of the renewed retreat house. Here they will tend to the organic and hydroponic gardens, help maintain the house and grounds and be part of live retreats. Justice for the Earth - St. Gabriel’s Church in Toronto is designed on the principles of Fr. Thomas Berry, C.P. It was constructed in 2006, the church is the first in Canada to receive LEED Gold certification. The church has also created a community garden that supplies other ministries with fresh produce. The Passionists in Toronto are also engaging in a Synodality process that will help define and grow the mission and work of the Passionist Family there, with focus on Laudato Si' and integral ecology. Passionists embrace solar power This fifth anniversary year of Laudato Si’ has been a time of reflection and accountability. Father Jim O’Shea, CP, provincial for the Passionists of the St. Paul of the Cross Province, and Page Gravely of Catholic Energies, recount their collaboration to plan and implement a series of major solar power installations at Passionist properties in the continental United States and Puerto Rico. Fr. Jim explains, “Our legacy will include the visual witness that we tried to do something about climate change. The Passionists have now created their own story about acting on our beliefs, a story we hope will only motivate others as well.” Read the full story here. Click here if you are interested in learning more about solar power and Catholic Energies, a program of the Catholic Climate Covenant that works with Catholic organizations to implement solar energy. The Laudato Si' Vision Fulfillment Team has been busy working to engage Holy Cross Province following the call of Pope Francis to create a culture of sustainability, care of the earth and integral ecology for all. Team Co-Chair, Lissa Rommel sent the following reflection as part of an update for the province. The PSN is a strong supporter of this initiative and urges everyone in the North American Passionist Family to dig deeply into the beauty and powerful call of Laudato Si'.
"...the beautiful thing is, we, as a Passionist family, are already in motion, already responding to Pope Francis’s call to “hear the cry of the Earth” and the 'cry of the poor.' From the rain garden at St. Paul of the Cross in Detroit to the food ministry at Mater Dolorosa in California to the Waking Up Conversations on Race on Zoom, we have been engaged in reading the 'signs of the times' and actively birthing together what the Laudato Si’ Anniversary website describes as 'a new way of living together, bonded together in love, compassion and solidarity, and a more harmonious relationship with the natural world' and each other. "This ultimately is the charge of Laudato Si’—from the Pope, from the General, and from our Provincial. To remain rooted in the love of Christ crucified. To be prophets of this love. From this, all action flows. ... And we, on the Laudato Si’ Vision Fulfillment Team, offer ourselves as yeast and a resource for the Passionist family, individually and collectively, to meet this charge—and are grateful for the opportunity." Read Lissa's full reflection here. Image credit: International Civil Society “She (the Church) must above all protect mankind from self-destruction.” This remarkable statement caught my attention on re-reading Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si. He was quoting Pope Benedict (XVI)’s encyclical, Caritas in Veritate. It is remarkable to me because I had never considered this to be ‘the’ primary mission of the Church – to save humanity from itself. Wow!" I mean, I do recognise that it is what I have been engaged in from the beginning of my vocation, though I couldn’t have named it in these terms. In my teenage years, when I first took my faith seriously thanks to a profound religious experience, I would have understood the Church’s primary task as that of saving souls from eternal damnation. From this perspective, the self-destruction I understood myself fighting against was the human tendency to sin and so put his or her eternal life at risk. I would have understood things from the point of view of personal morality and our weakness that leads us to sin, despite the eternal consequences. Wow! Read the full post from JPIC Australia |
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