Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate  United States Province

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May – Heartfelt Reflections from OMI Novices, Reflection 2 May 8th, 2025

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

La Vista joins all those on our planet who are feeling the great loss of Pope Francis who heard the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor and acted on what he heard in a most remarkable way.

This Novitiate year we have been immersed in his words as they come to us in his encyclical Laudato Si. As we ended our time together here at Immaculate Heart of Mary Novitiate in April, the Novices offered to share their thoughts about ecological conversion as described in Laudato Si. May their words honor the memory of Pope Francis.

Ecological Encounter by Br. Michael Katona

I grew up in Colorado, and unsurprisingly I’m a fan of hiking and find spending time in nature to be enjoyable, comforting, and fulfilling. Exploring the woods on our property, I’ve often found empty drink cans, coffee cups, and fast-food boxes signs of people treating Earth as nothing more than a place to enjoy, wreck, then expect someone else to take care of. I’ve also seen evidence of people treating Creation as something valuable, as something to be preserved and cared for. In addition to the folks who root out invasive honeysuckle, remove trash or help facilitate controlled burns, I am particularly moved and impressed by the person (or people) who placed thumb tacks as trail markers to help others find their way to the Cross overlooking the bluffs. I can’t help but think they had a special connection to this trail and wanted to share it with others.
 
In his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si , Pope Francis uses the phrase “ecological conversion,” which has served as the basis of our monthly classes with Sr. Maxine Pohlman. He describes part of this conversion as allowing the effects of our encounter with Jesus Christ to become evident in our relationship with the world around us (#217). To me, it seems rather straightforward: if we want real “ecological conversion,” we need real “ecological encounter.” I question if the folks who leave their garbage in the woods have had a meaningful encounter with Creation – a time we become aware of just how precious and comforting and magnificent Earth really is, and how at-home we are when we’re close to her. I’m thankful for these ecological encounters in my life, and I’d be willing to bet most folks who subscribe to this newsletter are, too.
 
We’ve received a piece of the Good News through these encounters, and I’d pose to you the same question I ask myself:
How can we, just like the person putting up those trail markers, help others find their way to their own meaningful encounter with Earth?

READ E News and Eco-spirituality Calendar NEWSLETTER
 
Visit La Vista Ecological Learning Center‘s Website
 
(Stay tuned for Reflection 3 by Br Eliakim Mbenda)

New Resource! Practical Ways We Can Help Pollinators August 14th, 2023

Actions to Support Local Pollinator Biodiversity

BACKGROUND

At the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in 2022, countries agreed to return 30% of land and 30% of the oceans to nature. Seizing this momentum, in June 2023, Irish Bishops called for conservation of nearly a third of church property to become havens for pollinators and biodiversity.

The bishops’ initiative responds to:

  • Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si, on Care for Our Common Home,”
  • the impending loss of biodiversity
  • and agreements made at COP15 in December 2022.

Integrity of Creation as an integral part of evangelization was re-affirmed at the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate’s 37th General Chapter in September 2022.

The OMI Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation has adapted some ideas from the Irish Bishops’ resource Faith Communities Actions to Help Pollinators and complied them as possible actions for people to take.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

 


2023 Creation Care Calendars for Lent February 22nd, 2023

We invite you to join us this Lent to take actions to help preserve God’s great gift of Creation.

Our friends at Interfaith Power & Light, in partnership Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake and EcoLatinos, have produced downloadable calendars that can be adapted for your community & with different actions you can take during Lent.

Invite your communities to distribute them as bulletin inserts during worship on an upcoming Sunday. Each year, these calendars go up on refrigerators and bulletin boards across communities, and open many conversations about environmental stewardship and climate action.
 
SAMPLE ACTION


Ways to eat for good

“Christians have fasted from meat during Lent for generations. Try eating vegetarian today and check out Oxfam’s Eat for Good resource online for other ways to use your fast to bless others”: bit.ly/eat4good


Visit their website to download the calendars:

 ipldmv.org/lent 

“May this season serve as a reminder of our interdependence and our call to care for our common home.”

 

 


Powerful US Bishops/United Methodist Church Statement Marks Earth Day April 26th, 2012

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the United Methodist Church (UMC) marked Earth Day 2012 with the release a joint statement on the Eucharist and the environment. The statement, Heaven and Earth are Full of Your Glory, affirms that both Methodists and Catholics believe their celebration of the Eucharist helps them to see God’s glory in all of creation and therefore leads to greater care for the environment.

The document says: Jesus chastises the Pharisees for being able to interpret the appearance of the skies while being unable to interpret the signs of the times (cf. Mt 16:3). In our time the appearance of the skies has become a sign of the times. The threat of climate destabilization, the destruction of the ozone layer, and the loss of bio-diversity point to a disordered relation between humankind, other living beings and the rest of the earth (emphasis added).

The elements of nature—grain for bread and grapes for wine—become part of salvation through the Eucharist and that salvation itself is an act of God at work in all of creation and all creation encountering God.

Additionally, the document call[s] both Methodists and Catholics to participate more deeply in the Eucharist by recognizing its intrinsic connection with the renewal of creation.

Bishop William Skylstad, retired bishop of Spokane (and honorary chairman of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change) and Methodist Bishop Timothy Whitaker of the UMC Florida Conference co-chaired the dialogue.


Read the entire statement here.

 

 

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