In previous emails we asked that you raise your faith-filled voices in support of international climate solutions. The recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changeand the National Climate Assessment heighten the need for urgent action and ambition to protect vulnerable peoples and our shared future. This week, the world’s nations are concluding their negotiations in Katowice, Poland, on the international climate accord known as the Paris Agreement. Our Church - including nearly 800 US Catholic institutions through the Catholic Climate Declaration - strongly supports these efforts. We ask that you echo this call by considering the following actions:
- Post your faith-inspired support for COP24 on social media using the hashtags: #catholicclimatedeclaration #catholicsarestillin #wearestillin #americaspledge #COP24 [See social media messaging suggestions]
- Send an op-ed or a letter to the editor of your local newspaper [See “How to Write LTE’s and Op-eds Toolkit)
- Call your member of Congress and the White House voicing your concern about our nation’s commitment to the Paris Agreement
I wish you and yours a blessed Christmas and a very happy new year,
Blessings,
Paz
How will you take action?
Reflect
Creation Prayer
God our Father, you created the world and sent your own Son to live among us, made of the same stuff, breathing the same air, marveling at sunrise and sunset just as we do. Help us to participate in the life around and within us as your life, as you living in us and we living in you and in each other. God of love and life, restore us to your peace, renew us through your power and teach us to love all that you have created and to care for the earth as your gift and our home.
- - The Earth Community: In Christ through the Integrity of Creation
Act Together
Ten Minutes
Contact me! It’s that time of the year again. Time to set up a time to have individual conversations with Creation Care Teams. If you are a CCT leader, let’s talk about what your Team is doing and how I can assist you. I value these conversations as they grow our community and help me share the good news of your work. Email me so we can set up a time to talk!
Earth Day Registration: Now is the time to start planning for Earth Day 2019. The Earth Day Network, the organization that leads Earth Day worldwide, has chosen as the theme for 2018 "Protect Our Species". To complement the theme, Catholic Climate Covenant will provide you with a one-hour educational program, "All Creation Gives God Praise: Protecting Biodiversity in a Time of Climate Crisis".
You can pre-register to receive the program in early March. The program will include prayers, readings, a short video, and suggested activities.
Pre-Register to Receive Earth Day 2019 Program
NOTE: Since Earth Day 2019 (April 22nd ) will fall on the Saturday before Easter, we are recommending that you celebrate Earth Day on another day during the Easter season (or any date that fits your community’s schedule). Register to receive the 2019 Earth Day program in early to mid-March.
Half Day
Are you planning any Advent and/or Christmas programs? Here are some resources:
From our partner the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM):
1. GCCM’s 2018 Advent Resource Kit: Contains a creation-themed Advent calendar, How to Green your Christmas, Kids Coloring pages, and Advent Novena
2. Pathways: Hope for the Journey: A weekly Catholic Advent resource weaving together the Sunday scriptures with creation themes. Produced by the Columban Mission Institute’s Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice (Australia).
3. Eco-spirituality Advent Resources: Reflection material for individuals and groups based on excerpts from the appropriate Sunday Scriptures by Sr. Terri MacKenzie, SHCJ
4. Consider the Origins and the Personal Costs of Consumerism: Reflection questions and an examen from the Critical Concerns Committee of the Sisters of Mercy.
5. Practice the Advent pause: To break our consumerist habit, we need to become aware of the internal energy to buy more, eat more, do more, than necessary. Learn more about this contemplative practice here.
Twelve days of Christmas Recycling: From our friends at the Evangelical Environmental Network, a list of ideas to green your holidays.
Planning a Holiday party? Here are tips for a waste-free party.
Ongoing
A great list of ideas to get your schools involved in creation care activities: Plan an All School Activity: Plan an All-School “Creation Care Fair”, by Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark, SSJ
A fantastic program for high schools: Ignatian Carbon Challenge . Join the Ignatian Carbon Challenge: A Call to Reduce Single-Use: Unite with other high schools to respond to today’s environmental crises and Pope Francis’ call to be responsible stewards of creation by learning, praying, and acting. Implement an Environmental Action and Planning Week in spring of 2019.
Check out these free printable resources from Sadlier to educate children about environmental issues and guide them to become stewards of creation: Caring for Creation; 8 Printable Resources to Use with Children, Families, and Adults (available in English and Spanish)