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News Archives » Cry of the Earth


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.
 

Spring into Healing Earth Day Celebration May 4th, 2022

By Sr. Maxine Pohlman, SSND, director of La Vista Ecological Learning Center

For fifty-two years, Earth Day has been commemorated on April 22nd since Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson initiated the event out of his deeply felt concern for our deteriorating environment. Interestingly, he elicited the cooperation of a Republican congressman to be his co-chair. Together they launched an effort that has gained momentum and branched out as its significance deepens during our present climate crisis.


This year our Earth Day celebration took place inside the Buckminster Fuller Dome on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville which provided the perfect ambience.  As I looked up at the continents etched into the dome and then around at the participants drumming and dancing underneath, I felt a deep gratitude for being alive, and isn’t that what an Earth Day Celebration should evoke?

Others felt equally moved.  One woman commented, “I felt blessed!  I enjoyed sharing thoughts and memories, catching up with old friends, meeting new ones. And the drumming and dancing was awesome!” Another participant wrote a thank you saying, “What an uplifting blend of celebration, inspiration, education and call to action. It was perfect for the Easter season of hope and renewal!”

This event was offered by the Confluence Climate Collaborative, of which La Vista Ecological Learning Center is a member.  We had just read and discussed the book All We Can Save: Truth Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, and during the afternoon we shared our favorite quotes, thoughts, and poems. One that especially touched me was by Geneen Marie Haugen: In our time of disturbance and radical change, we are crossing a threshold, a portal, or an unseen bridge from one world to another.  It could be said that the bridge is either collapsing beneath us, or being made as we walk together, in the long twilight hours when one civilization gives way to another.

I truly felt that we were making the bridge together as we shared ourselves during the afternoon.  And being together ignited my hope that one civilization really is giving way to another, to one that believes in solutions to the climate crisis that hear both the cry of Earth and the cry of the poor. I also felt blessed!

 

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