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Celebrate Earth Day 2023 April 21st, 2023
World Water Day and World Earth Day are Linked and Flow Together – 2023
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BISHOP MICHAEL PFEIFER, O.M.I.
Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of San Angelo
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World Earth Day 2023: Invest in Your Planet (Get Inspired. Take Action. Be a part of the green revolution). The website www.earthday.org describes the history of this special day. The 1960s saw a dramatic increase in environmental concerns in the US. With several environmental catastrophes, many Americans felt the need to take a more proactive approach in the stewardship of our planet. To avoid future environmental disasters, Senator Gaylord Nelson, from Wisconsin established the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, to bring light to the issues of environmental responsibilities and transforming the public attitude. That day left a permanent impact on the politics of America. Earth Day was the push the nation needed and not long after that, Congress passed several major initiatives that would become the foundation of our nation’s environmental laws.
Beginning in 1990, Earth Day went global. A day that mobilized more than 200 million people in 141 countries to begin the fight for the environment to the global stage. Earth Day continues to grow, and more than 1 billion people took action for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010. In 2020, Earth Day marked 50 years of environmental activism and showed no signs of slowing down. Presently, there is a world-wide concern on the danger of Climate Change which affects the present and future of our entire planet. In our Planet, the United Nations has called its latest climate report a “Code Red for Humanity”.
The report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that the earth is arguably in worse shape than ever. Scientific evidence is clear that irrefutable-human activity is causing our planet to warm at an alarming rate. We need to act boldly, innovate broadly, and implement equitably. Pope Francis focuses on “ecological conversion” for decisions that can no longer be postponed. This conversion calls for new lifestyles World Water Day and World Earth Day are Linked and Flow Together 2023 3 based on development, sustainability and cooperation between human beings and the environment. Society must explore all options to identify the best opportunities to make our planet more hospitable for generations to come. It’s going to take all of us, international, national, and local governments, businesses, churches, schools, and all citizens on earth to form a partnership to protect and preserve our planet.
DOWNLOAD the full Pastoral Article
VIDEO: JPIC’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform Report September 16th, 2022
Caring for our common home is essential to Missionary Oblate’s mission to the poor, because they are the ones most affected by the devastation to the planet.
The seven-year Laudato Si’ Action Platform offers a fresh opportunity for each of us to commit to complete sustainability in the spirit of Laudato Si. Oblates JPIC is promoting the following works from Oblates and allies in the province as a step toward integral ecology.
In the Spirit of Laudato Si: Missionary Oblates Connect Communities with the Environment September 7th, 2022
In his encyclical Laudato Si’– On Care for Our Common Home (2015), Pope Francis wrote, “Whether believers or not, we are agreed today that the earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone. For believers, this becomes a question of fidelity to the Creator, since God created the world for everyone. Hence, every ecological approach needs to incorporate a social perspective which takes into account the fundamental rights of the poor and the underprivileged.” View the Vatican’s Laudato Si Action Platform online.
The COVID 19 epidemic has shown that our lives and actions are inextricably linked to those around us, including the environment. The seven-year Laudato Si‘ Action Platform offers a fresh opportunity for each of us to commit to complete sustainability in the spirit of Laudato Si. Oblates JPIC is promoting the following works from Oblates and allies in the province as a step toward integral ecology.
Watch a video introducing OMI JPIC’s Laudato Si Action Report.
Use arrows below 
to scroll through OMI JPIC’s Laudato Si Action Report.
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2022 Season of Creation: Listen to the Voice of Creation September 1st, 2022
(Photo courtesy of Jaime Reimer, Pexels)
The 2022 Season of Creation observance begins on September 1 and ends on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4, The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration to listen and respond together to the cry of Creation: the ecumenical family around the world unites to pray and protect our common home. The observance this year will unite around the theme, “Listen to the Voice of Creation.”
May this 2022 Season of Creation renew our ecumenical unity, renewing and uniting us by our bond of Peace in one Spirit, in our call to care for our common home. And may this season of prayer and action be a time to Listen to the Voice of Creation, so that our lives in words and deeds proclaim good news for all the Earth.
(READ Fr. Harry Winter, OMI’s article “Christian Unity and JPIC Bond in the Season of Creation“)
Find additional resources at these links:
- Resources from the Season of Creation ecumenical coalition.
- Download this Catholic Season of Creation social media kit and share it
- Laudato Si’ Movement
- Laudato Si’ Action Platform
- Catholic Climate Covenant
- Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate– JPIC Tips for living sustainably – download brochures in English & Spanish
Oblates Demand Corporate Leaders Adopt Responsible Climate Change Practices April 7th, 2022
By Fr. Séamus P. Finn, OMI, Director of OMIUSAJPIC and OIP
One of the most important developments in missiology, (which I understand to mean “engagement” with the world), at the institutional/organizational level over the last 25 years, has been a consideration of how the vision and mission of different religious entities reflects and integrates the call of the Gospel, the Church’s tradition and the Charism of their founders in both their policies and operations. Put more concretely, “are these entities walking the talk” and how well aligned are their operations and marketing with the religious identity and name that they embrace.
For more than 40 years the Oblates of Mary Immaculate have asked this question and worked assiduously to find ways to integrate this approach into the management of any trusts, endowments or foundations for which they are responsible. For this purpose they have developed and continue to refine a Faith Consistent Investment policy to guide those responsible for managing these funds.
Read the full article at OMIUSA.ORG.
