Earth Day is almost here! This annual celebration of caring for our common home is Thursday, April 22.
Our Social Justice Ministry is hosting a 1-hour virtual program about the Holy Father’s encyclical – Laudato Si’ – and our Catholic responsibility to unborn generations. Please join your parish community to learn how we can answer the call.
OLG Earth Day 2021 – Care for Our Common Home
Thursday April 22, 2021 6:30 – 7:30 PM
On April 22 join the Zoom program directly:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86561933985?pwd=MEhEMHYrSHpwOUxNaFgycW43T3UzUT09
If the link does not work, you can go to https://zoom.us/join and use the login info below:
Meeting ID: 865 6193 3985
Passcode: 857147
Recall that St. Francis of Assisi, renowned for his love of nature, was declared the patron saint of ecology by Pope John Paul II. The famous Francis poem (Canticle of the Creatures) has the refrain Praise be to You or Laudato Si’, praising God’s creation of the natural earth, or as Fr. Paul described in the 2021 Easter beach Mass, the cathedral built by God.
As the first pope to adopt the Assisi saint as a papal namesake, Pope Francis authored the encyclical “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home”. Pope Francis says instead of viewing humanity as having dominion over the earth, we must see how everything is interconnected and all creation is a “universal family”.
This calls to mind the naturalist John Muir saying “when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” Pope Francis further explains that social and environmental challenges are one complex crisis that must be solved holistically.
OLG’s Social Justice Ministry includes resources illustrating how care for the environment is in perfect harmony with Church teaching and a culture of life. Further information, useful links and reference material is with the OLG Social Justice page.