Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate  United States Province

OMI logo
News
Translate this page:

Recent News

News Feed

News Archives


Latest Video & Audio

More video & audio >

Latest OMI JPIC News


Oblates Daily Prayer March 20th, 2025

Every day the Oblate Community and Family in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales publish a short reflective morning prayer video, created by members. Please join in daily from where you are.



Visit their Youtube channel for more videos: https://www.youtube.com/@TheOblates 


Preserving Nature: Ecosystem Restoration in Action at Oblates Woods Nature Preserve March 18th, 2025

(Contributed by Sr. Maxine Pohlman, SSND, Director La Vista Ecological Learning Center)

In mid March, staff from the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, HeartLands Conservancy and the Habitat Strike Team joined with several of our volunteers for a prescribed burn on 10 acres of the Oblates Woods Nature Preserve.
 
This crew of 15 spent a long day overseeing a successful burn, which is a maintenance technique restoring health to an ecosystem dependent on fire.
 
It reaps many benefits such as: removing old vegetation to promote growth of native trees and wildflowers; improving habitat for threatened and endangered species; recycling nutrients back into the soil; consuming excess fuel, reducing threat of wildfires.
 

World Water Day 2025 Focuses on Glacier Preservation March 13th, 2025

Contributed by: Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI (Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of San Angelo)

Clergy in maroon robe Green, gold, red diocese logo

In 1993 the UN General Assembly designated March 22nd as World Water Day (WWD). This observance is one of the largest international days. Each year the UN selects a theme for World Water Day, and the theme chosen for World Water Day 2025 is Glacier Preservation.

In this article I share much information from UN.org and UN Water. A glacier is a river of ice often covered in snow, slowly moving down a valley from a mountainous area, with its melting waters flowing downstream. The UN points out that glaciers are critical to the water cycle. They provide essential supplies of fresh water for drinking water, for sanitation systems, agriculture, industry, clean energy production and healthy ecosystems. We are told that glaciers are melting faster than ever before.

Perhaps it is a little surprising that World Water Day focuses on glacier preservation, as glaciers are believed to be thousands of miles away from where we live. But we are learning the important part they play in the bigger picture of the importance of water on planet Earth. Water Day is a day to remember that water is an essential element for all life on planet Earth.

First and foremost, on Water Day we should thank our loving God and Creator for giving us this wonderful life-giving gift. In the first book of the Bible, we read how and why God gave us the gift of water in His plan for all of creation. World Water Day is a time to ask how we can better appreciate and use the water we deal with day by day. We start in our homes, asking the question how are we using the wonderful gift of water, or sadly perhaps abusing and wasting this gift.

And we then look at the sources of water that are closest to us like ponds, rivers and lakes and what we should do to keep them safe and clean. Because water is necessary for all of us, we need to take strong action, individually, in our families, in our schools, in our churches, in all our communities, in our workplaces, and in all levels of government about how we can better protect and provide water for our lives, and for all people on planet Earth.

WWD is about accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis beginning with the place where we live. As water is necessary for all life it is considered a human right for all people throughout the world. But sadly, on this World Water Day we are faced with the reality that 2.2 billion of our brothers and sisters on planet Earth live without access to safe clean water which has devastating impacts on the health and very life of whole societies. Some may ask: Why do people live in places without clean water? Most of these people do not have much choice in where they live. Many reside in the same communities they were born in – which they have called home for generations.

READ FULL ARTICLE: https://bit.ly/3R8utfb 

 

 


Reflection on February’s Ecological Conversion Field Trip with OMI Novices March 4th, 2025

Contributed by Sr. Maxine Pohlman, SSND, Director, La Vista Ecological Learning Center

(L to R: Christine Ilewski-Huelsmann, Alfred Lungu, Gary Huelsmann, Eliakim Mbenda, Edwin Silwimba, Mike Katona)

“Cry of the earth, cry of the poor” is a central theme in Laudato Si and was also the theme for our February field trip. The encyclical reminds us: “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” Our field trip introduced us to two Oblates, Padre Lorenzo Rosebaugh and Father Darrell Rupiper, whose lives expanded in remarkable ways as they responded to both cries.

 
In the morning we were deeply moved to learn that Padre Lorenzo lived on the streets with the poor of Recife, Brazil, and considered that to be “perhaps the greatest grace of my life.” Lorenzo was known to scavenge street vendor stalls, using a cart to pick up discarded vegetables which he cooked over and open fire to feed the poor. Once, accused of stealing the cart, he was thrown in jail, beaten and starved for days. He wrote, “I am asked what good did it do for me to live on the streets? I answer: witnessing me follow my conscience drew others to seek their own values and make important decisions to serve the less fortunate.”
 
We visited Christine and Gary Huelsmann who became Lorenzo’s good friends while he lived at the Novitiate and wrote his memoir, To Wisdom Through Failure. Christine is an artist who had asked Lorenzo, “What am I to do for the poor?” He encouraged her to do what she does best, and it would become clear. After Lorenzo was tragically shot to death in 2009, Christine initiated the Faces Not Forgotten project which invites artists to create portraits of young children who have died from gun violence with the goal of giving dignity to the victims by putting a face to the tragedy, providing comfort to their families and raising awareness about gun violence in the United States. These portraits are given to the families of the children depicted and copies are then added to quilts which are displayed around the country to raise awareness of gun violence.
 
We also heard from Gary Huelsmann who has been a member of the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Committee for the OMI US Province for over 20 years. He is the CEO of Caritas Family Solutions, a non-profit organization that reaches out to people in crisis, such as abused children, struggling families, pregnant women, low-income seniors, and adults with developmental disabilities, offering them the opportunity to experience a loving environment and a path to self-sufficiency. Both Gary and Christine honor Father Lorenzo’s memory with their work for the marginalized.
 
In the afternoon our focus shifted to the life of Darrell Rupiper, OMI, who considered himself an ecological missionary toward the end of his life. He passionately conducted parish eco-missions, initiating teams to carry on the work of Earth care in the parish. Father Darrell evolved into his ecological vocation after serving the poor in Brazil and speaking out against the death penalty, racism and nuclear weapons. He wrote about his own unfolding: “In the midst of this enlarged perspective I have been assigned to a new ministry. This involves my inviting others to COME HOME to Earth.” Father Séamus Finn, OMI, joined us by Zoom, sharing stories about his good friend and colleague in caring for our common home. Father Salvador Gonzalez, one of the formators at the Novitiate, also joined us since Father Darrell was his novice master years ago. Father Sal shared precious memories of Father Darrell’s impact on his own life.
 
All the people we met on this field trip live or have lived their lives in a large way as they listen to both the cries of the earth and of the poor and as the universe unfolds its beauty and creativity through them.
 

Fr. Valentine Talang, OMI, Engages in Key UN Civil Society Events February 20th, 2025

Fr. Valentine Talang, OMI recently attended multiple civil society events at the United Nations, including:

  • The  3rd Session  of the Preparatory Committee for the upcoming 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, which takes place in Seville, Spain from June 30 to July 3, 2025.
  • The 63rd Session of the Commission for Social Development. Attendees at the 63rd Session of the Commission for Social Development, came together under the Priority Theme Strengthening solidarity, social inclusion, and social cohesion to accelerate the delivery of the commitments of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development as well as the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

 

« Older Entries

Return to Top