Dear First Name,
We all know that next Wednesday is a big day. But let me begin by passing on a bit of recently-earned wisdom: I strongly advise against trying to use mandatory fasting and abstinence (Ash Wednesday) as an excuse for not presenting something modest to your beloved on Valentine’s Day.
That said, we also know that Lent, this time of fasting, almsgiving and penance, is at the core of who we are as Christians. Self-denial and spiritual discipline can help us become both more grateful and loving. What can fill the void of an empty stomach? Perhaps a meditation on those who are lucky if they eat one meal a day. What happens when we repent of our sins? We realize how utterly dependent we are on the mercy of others and on the grace of God. What lessons do we draw from service to others? We see clearly how much abundance we truly have. And what happens when we silence our hearts in prayer before God? We understand the greatness of God’s love for us and for all of humanity.
The Covenant staff, board, and partners will hold you in prayer this Lenten season so that, together, we can find the discipline we need to grow in love, compassion and mercy towards our common home and towards God’s beloved community.
In Peace,
Dan
Dan Misleh
Founding Executive Director
Catholic Climate Covenant
Action of the Month:
Clean Power Plan Proposed Repeal: Deadline Extended and Three More “Listening Sessions” Scheduled
COMMENT DEADLINE EXTENDED! Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will repeal the Clean Power Plan (CPP) and introduce a replacement rule. (The CPP is the nation’s best existing mechanism to reduce carbon pollution.) As the EPA repeals and replaces this Obama-era rule, it is required to seek public comments. Catholic Climate Covenant (and many of you) provided comments during a public hearing held on November 28-29 in West Virginia. The deadline for comments has been extended till April 26th, 2018. Please continue to submit your comments! Ask EPA to create a replacement rule that meets or exceeds the CPP’s public health and carbon reduction goals, and for the existing CPP to continue until the replacement rule becomes operational.
CPP Repeal Listening Sessions:
EPA will hold three listening sessions on the proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan and we encourage you to testify if you are able:
- February 21, 2018 – Kansas City, MO
- February 28, 2018 – San Francisco, CA
- March 27, 2018 – Gillette, WY
If you are interested in attending one of these listening sessions and providing comments please let us know!
RELATED: January Webinar Recording Available!
If you missed January’s Protecting Health and Life: A Catholic Response to Proposed Clean Power Plan "Repeal and Replace" webinar, you can watch it here! The webinar featured Lyndsay Moseley Alexander, Assistant Vice President and Director of the American Lung Association's Healthy Air Campaign, and Jose Aguto, Associate Director of Catholic Climate Covenant. The recorded webinar can help you learn more about what’s at stake with the repeal of the CPP and how to respond effectively. It will also help you act on the Trump Administration's proposal to “repeal and replace” the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). As noted above, stakeholders have until April 26th to comment on the proposed repeal.
Catholics Leading the Way
Communicating Climate Change to People of Faith
Join us on Feb. 20th at 1:00 pm (Eastern) for a one-hour webinar featuring Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a renowned climatologist and faith-community creation care leader, and Dr. Dan DiLeo, a Catholic Climate Covenant consultant, theologian and director of Justice and Peace Studies at Creighton University.
In this webinar Dr. Hayhoe and Dr. DiLeo will explore:
1) How to communicate successfully about climate change within our own faith communities.
2) Key narratives and messaging strategies that work.
3) The unique challenges and strengths within the Catholic community for successful climate change communication.
Register to Receive the 2018 Earth Day Program
The 2018 Earth Day Program,Beyond a Throwaway Culture: Reduce Waste-Grow Community, is being finalized! Register now to receive the program in your inbox during the week of February 26th. The one-hour program includes prayers, readings, a short video, and action ideas for individuals and communities. It will help you inspire, equip, and mobilize your local Catholic community to reduce the amount of disposable plastic it uses and switch to sustainable alternatives. Watch the promo video here and register here. Share the video with others in your community!
Watch the Earth Day promotion video!
REGISTER FOR EARTH DAY PROGRAM
CATHOLIC ENERGIES: Helping Catholics Take Action to Reduce Energy Waste
- Lower energy costs for Catholic facilities to enable them to redirect resources back into their core missions.
- Provide education & resources to engage Catholics to live their faith authentically, including our common call to be stewards of God’s creation and to seek justice for our vulnerable sisters and brothers.
Faithful Action on Climate Change
Lenten Creation Care Calendar
You may wish to deepen your Lenten practice with a “Creation Care” calendar. This daily devotional, created by the Inter-Religious Working Group on Extractive Industries, will give those looking to nurture their spirituality daily prayer, educational, and action-oriented activities. You’ll strengthen your relationship with God, with your sisters and brothers, and with all creation. Get the Online Lenten Calendar here.
The Inter-Religious Working Group on Extractive Industries is a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of faith, human rights, and environmental organizations concerned about the negative impacts of extractive industries on creation, which includes both the human and natural world.
Art by Mary Button
More Lent Resources:
A variety of Lenten resources are available from our friends at GCCM, Interfaith Power and Light (IPL), and Earth Ministry.
Our partner, the Global Catholic Climate Movement, together with their partners at the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, collected the stories of 40 people around the world who live on the front lines of environmental destruction.
You can take a daily action during Lent to fast from causing harm to creation. Using the Lenten Fast Calendar online for each of the 40 days of Lent. Each day includes an impacted person’s story and a prayer/reflection.
A full print version is available and it includes:
- A one-page Lenten creation fast calendar to use as bulletin insert/flyer
- 40 days of witness from people around the world
- 40 tips to reduce your environmental harm
- 40 reflection pieces with additional context, faith statements, and scripture
- Two discussion guides for Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday
To download IPL’s Carbon Fast Calendars and Prayer and Action Guide, go here.
Earth Ministry offers a variety of Lenten Devotions, including the 2018 Carbon Fast for Lent Calendar from St. James Cathedral Care for Creation Committee and the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center Stations of the Cross with All of Creation. These and other resources can be found here.
IPL Earth Day Climate Action Week
Interfaith Power and Light invites you to join them for “Faith Climate Action Week” (the week leading up to Earth Day). This year’s theme is Charged with Faith: Leading the Way to a Clean Energy Future”. Sign-up to receive information on how to participate in a whole week of creation celebration and carbon-cutting activities.
For questions or more information, please contactprograms@interfaithpowerandlight.org.
Check Out These Creation Care Books!
All Creation Is Connected: Voices in Response to Pope Francis's Encyclical on Ecology
Edited by Catholic Climate Covenant Consultant Daniel R. DiLeo.
The volume explores why we should care about the environment and how Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ answers the question: “Because all of creation is connected.” The book features a collection of essays presented during All Creation Is Connected: Voices in Response to Pope Francis’s Encyclical on Ecology , a 2015 conference sponsored by the Catholic Climate Covenant, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America. Order the book here.
Teaching Kids to Care for God’s Creation, Reflections, Activities and Prayers for Catechists and Families, by Sr. Mary Elizabeth Clark, SSJ, The Pastoral Center.
Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark, a Catholic Climate Ambassador, offers thirty lessons that will engage children, catechists, and families in the good work of keeping our planet livable and sustainable for generations to come. Inspired by passages in Laudato Si’ (On Care for our Common Home), the lessons and practical activities are fun and thought-provoking. The reflections and prayers in each lesson help connect our practical actions to the Gospel and deepen our spiritual sense of our common home. With activities for everything from conserving water to developing a greater awareness of all of God’s creation, this book is a great resource for catechists and families.
Go here for more information.