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5th Anniversary of Laudato Si’

This week is the 5TH anniversary of Laudato Si’, and it begins a yearlong celebration of “Laudato Si‘, on care for Our Common Home.”

In early March, Francis invited the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics to take part in Laudato Si’ Week, saying, “I renew my urgent call to respond to the ecological crisis. The cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor cannot continue.” He went on to say “it’s our responsibility to care for our “common home.” Protecting the natural resources, we depend on is a moral obligation the Holy Father wanted us to acknowledge and act on. It is a fundamental obligation recognized by religions everywhere, and the pope was reminding us of our individual responsibility to our friends, our family, our neighbors — and our collective obligation to embrace this challenge together.

The Benedictine Sisters invite you to join us in celebrating this very important anniversary. We have a couple of links below where you can read more about this week. We are sharing the prayer that all are asked to say on Sunday, May 24! “I would hope that the day could be a chance to remind all of us that we cannot take our world for granted. We must speak up, stand up and act up if we hope to protect the people we love and the places we live. We must demand our right to clean air, safe drinking water and healthy, safe places to live, work and play”. Gina McCarthy Let us raise our voices as we pray together for more solidarity among our brothers and sisters throughout our world toward this effort!

As we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord, let our souls ascend to a new awareness of how important saving our earth for the generations of the future. Our Native American brothers and sisters knew this well. “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

Sincerely in Christ,

Sister Frances Briseño
Prioress

The Vatican’s peace and justice office is inviting Catholic communities across the world to join a grassroots movement to gradually work toward “total sustainability” in the coming decade. The goals are included here.

The seven Laudato Si’ goals address a range of areas related to sustainability and ecological conversion:

  1. Response to the cry of the Earth: work toward carbon neutrality through greater use of clean renewable energy and reduced fossil fuel use; support efforts to protect and promote biodiversity and guarantee water access for all.
  2. Response to the cry of the poor: defend human life from conception to death and all forms of life on Earth, while giving special attention to vulnerable groups such as indigenous communities, migrants and children at risk of trafficking and slavery.
  3. Ecological economics: sustainable production, fair trade, ethical consumption and investments, investments in renewable energy, divestment from fossil fuels and limiting any economic activity harmful to the planet or people.
  4. Adoption of simple lifestyles: reduce use of energy and resources, avoid single-use plastics, adopt a more plant-based diet, reduce meat consumption and increase use of public transportation over polluting alternatives.
  5. Ecological education: redesign curricula around integral ecology, create ecological awareness and action, promote ecological vocation with young people and teachers.
  6. Ecological spirituality: recover a religious vision of God’s creation, promote creation-centered liturgical celebrations, develop ecological catechesis and prayers and encourage more time in nature.
  7. Emphasis on community involvement and participatory action around creation care at all levels of society by promoting advocacy and grassroots campaigns.

Here are some links where you can read more information, as well.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/heres-what-expect-laudato-si-week-popes-ecology-document-turns-five

https://www.ncronline.org/feature-series/earthbeat/laudato-si%27-at-five/stories

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