From the Director

Lenten Reflection:  Dependence on God
by Dan Misleh

The daffodils we planted over Max’s grave are poking through the soil.  Max, our Golden Retriever, was put to sleep at home right before Thanksgiving, 2009.  He was a good old dog but was suffering from what was likely cancer.  Our family still misses him even though we now have a funny little “replacement” dog named Stretch, pictured here.

I love it when Max’s daffodils come up in late February.  They rise just as Lent begins and offer a foretaste of spring and the hope for new life.  But they are also a reminder of life’s sorrows.  We had a hard time letting go of Max until it became clear that our pets are dependent on our decisions made in their best interest.  In many ways, we do play God for our dogs: they offer us unconditional love and we provide them basic care and direct their behavior so they can thrive.  This Lent, I hope to see Max’s daffodils as a reminder to love unconditionally (particularly hard for us humans) and to foster dependency on God’s plans for me to thrive.

Coalition In the News

The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media

The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media recently published an extended article titled The Catholic Church and Climate Change.  The piece points out that The Catholic Church hierarchy, beginning with the Pope more than two decades ago, has framed climate change as a moral issue involving ‘the future of God’s creation’ and one best viewed through four principles guiding Catholics’ worldview . . . acting with a sense of prudence in the face of uncertainty; protecting the poor and most vulnerable; working toward a common good; and promoting human solidarity — with one another and with future generations.

The article describes how scientists need the faith community to reach ‘minds and hearts’ and spotlights the Coalition in its section on Climate Activism in the U.S.  The piece quotes Dan Misleh and Catholic Climate Ambassador Anthony Strawa, Ph.D., who is also an atmospheric scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and chair of the Catholic Green Initiative in the Diocese of San Jose, CA.

NEW University Partner

Mercyhurst University takes the St. Francis Pledge

The Coalition is proud to announce that Mercyhurst University (founded in 1926 by the Sisters of Mercy in Erie, PA) has become a Catholic Climate Covenant Partner by endorsing the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor.   

In a University press release announcing the Partnership, Mercyhurst President Tom Gamble said, By becoming partners in the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, Mercyhurst continues a longstanding commitment toward sustainability and environmental stewardship in a way that is consistent with our mission and a Catholic value system that focuses on the impact of climate change on the poor and vulnerable in our world.

Mercyhurst is well known as a leader in sustainability among U.S. colleges and universities. Besides academic initiatives, like a new major in sustainability studies, Mercyhurst maintains ongoing projects in the areas of recycling and energy conservation, including the use of wind power to meet 100 percent of its electric needs.
In 2007, Gamble joined several hundred college and university presidents in signing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which obligates Mercyhurst to a goal of carbon neutrality.
Learn more about Mercyhurst’s extensive Catholic mission-based sustainability efforts here.

NEW University Partner

Saint John’s University takes the St. Francis Pledge

The Coalition is proud to announce that Saint John’s University (Collegeville, MN) has become a Catholic Climate Covenant Partner by endorsing the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor.  Founded in 1857, Saint John’s University (SJU) is an all-male Benedictine institution which works in close partnership with the all-female College of Saint Benedict (St. Joseph, MN).  The College of Saint Benedict (CSB) recently became the first Catholic college in Minnesota to become a Catholic Climate Covenant Partner.

Assistant to the President Patti Epsky, who said in The Record, SJU’s school newspaper: The values and goals described in the St. Francis Pledge mirror those that are so much a part of the heritage of Saint John’s.

St. John’s also contributed to the publication of the Coalition’s collaborative resource, Sustainability and Catholic Higher Education: A Toolkit for Mission Integration. Learn more about SJU’s broad Catholic mission-based sustainability efforts here.

International Voices

FROM OVERSEAS: New Creation Care Resource

The Diocese of Westminster in London, England has published a new resource to help the its 214 parishes more fully care for God’s Creation.  On its Justice and Peace webpage, a leaflet, ‘Our Environmental Mission,’ provides suggestions on how Catholics can learn more about the Catholic faith and its message for creation. It also includes a range of practical ideas on caring for the natural world through living simply and sustainably.

Fr Joe Ryan, Chair of the Diocese of Westminster’s Justice and Peace Commission says, Our Environmental Mission’ provides a succinct summary of the theology concerning care for God’s creation as well as some easily achievable activities which parishes can carry out.  The leaflet includes suggested actions for the diocese, for our parishes and for individual parishioners. Also included are links to other resources and websites which will allow parishes to work for the common good of God’s creation and learn more about the Catholic Faith and its message for caring for the Earth, our home.

The resource is available for free download at the Diocesan Justice and Peace webpage (scroll to bottom).

FROM A PARTNER

The National Catholic Student Coalition

The Catholic Sentinel, official publication of the Archdiocese of Portland, OR, reports that the National Catholic Student Coalition (NCSC) has elected Fiona Corner, a senior international affairs major from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, as its next chairperson. 
Ms. Corner previously served as the NCSC’s West Region Chairperson, and was instrumental in NCSC’s co-sponsorship of the collaborative resource Sustainability and Catholic Higher Education: A Toolkit for Mission Integration.  Shortly after the Toolkit was published in September 2011, Ms. Corner and outgoing NCSC President Joe Ewing sent a letter to NCSC members encouraging them to implement and promote the Toolkit and the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor.

As collegiate student leaders in the United States of America, the National Catholic Student Coalition strives to empower students to further the mission of the Catholic Church through spiritual, educational and leadership opportunities.  NCSC strives to aid students to form their identity as Catholics and strengthen its role as the voice of Catholic collegians to the bishops, Church, and world at large.  Learn more here.

LENTEN RESOURCES

Lent 4.5 and CRS’ Operation Rice Bowl

As we celebrate Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, the Coalition continues to recommend CRS’ Operation Rice Bowl and Lent 4.5.

Catholic Relief Services invites you to do something more during Lent, by offering simple but powerful ways to help us return to a right relationship with God and bring our Catholic faith to life. Through CRS’ Operation Rice Bowl, you can pray, fast and give alms for the poor around the world who are served by CRS while living out our call to serve the hungry, the poor, and the lonely.
*Read daily reflections and weekly stories from beneficiaries of CRS’ programs in the Lenten Calendar.
*Prepare one of the recipes of simple, meatless meals from different countries each Friday during Lent.
*Sign-up to receive the Weekly Reflections each Monday for a deeper experience during your Lenten journey.
If you would like more information about CRS’ Operation Rice Bowl, visit orb.crs.org and LIKE them on Facebook.


Lent 4.5 takes advantage of people's desire to do something more for Lent: encouraging participants to pray and learn about ways to protect God's creation, embrace Gospel justice, and nurture their own spirituality. The seven-week Lenten program provides your parish or congregation with a new approach to the traditional Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  Check out the video (scroll down to bottom of their website) explaining the program, and LIKE them on Facebook.