News Archives » Sierra Club
Reflection on May’s Laudato Si Field Trip June 14th, 2024
Contributed by Sr. Maxine Pohlman, SSND, Director, La Vista Ecological Learning Center
Advocacy was our theme in May, and so the OMI Novices and I, representing La Vista Ecological Learning
Center, traveled to our local Sierra Club Office where we met with Virginia Woulfe Beile, Co-director of the Three Rivers Project.
Virginia shared a guide their members use called the Jemez Principles. It occurred to us that any faith leader could also take these admonitions to heart:
– Be inclusive
– Emphasis on bottom-up organizing
– Let people speak for themselves
– Work together in solidarity and mutuality
– Build just relationships among ourselves
– Commit to self-transformation
Next, we enjoyed a Zoom session back at the Novitiate with Father Daniel LeBlanc, OMI, another advocacy hero! Father Dan has been a non-governmental (NGO) representative at the United Nations in New York for OMI and VIVAT International for twenty years.
Fr. Daniel LeBlanc, OMI US Province, Representative to United Nations
When asked what was challenging about his work with the UN, Father Dan offered this sage advice: you need patience to do this work because it takes many years to accomplish change at the UN. In response to a question about how to prepare for a ministry like his, he encouraged the novices to broaden their education, learning all they could! He is an example of this, for he speaks 6 languages and studied law while pastor of a parish of 130,000 in Peru.
To say we were inspired by his life and advocacy work as an OMI is an understatement. We all felt gratitude for our conversation with this remarkable Oblate!
La Vista Participates in Sierra Club’s River Road Cleanup March 10th, 2023
 |
 |
Caption: Alton High School Students volunteer with LaVista Ecological Center in cleanup day on River Road in Godfrey, Illinois
On President’s Day, February 20, 2023, the Piasa Palisades group of the Sierra Club hosted a cleanup day up and down the River Road in Godfrey, Illinois.
Sr Maxine Pohlman, SSND, representing La Vista Ecological Learning Center, was part of the crew and was expecting the usual small group of people to show up; however, this year was different. About 20 Alton High School students appeared, on their day off, to give their time and effort to improve the area. They didn’t look like they just rolled out of bed, either; rather, they were all smiles about the project. Their participation, attitude, and youthfulness created a spirit of hope. I was reminded of a quote from the encyclical Laudato Si’:
“Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take way the joy of our hope.” (LS 244)
