Dorothy Stang Initiative for Laudato Si' Platform Blog

Meatless Monday

Have you heard of Meatless Mondays? It is a concept that was started in 2003 by Sid Lerner, the Founder of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

Sustainable Valentine with paper confetti

I think someone broke the calendar! Ash Wednesday on Valentine’s Day? How did we let that happen? We will have to enjoy our treats on Tuesday, I suppose. Wait! That fits in well. Tuesday is Mardi Gras.

Protect the rainforest with FOREST Act (Fostering Overseas Rule of Law and Environmentally Sound Trade) Act

God our Father, you created the world and sent your own Son to live among us, made of the same stuff, breathing the same air, marveling at sunrise and sunset just as we do. Help us to participate in the life around and within us as your life, as you living in us and we living in you and in each other.

Protect the rainforest with FOREST Act (Fostering Overseas Rule of Law and Environmentally Sound Trade) Act

Creator God, Out of chaos you brought order. Out of nothingness you brought life. In the middle of all life stands the tree. Trees provide the air that nurtures all your creation. Birds make them their homes. Cats climb them for protection. Trees recycle life that has come before. Bless the trees of this word, loving God. Remind us to serve as their caregivers and protectors. Give them long limbs and long life. The gift of their breath is as special to us as the breath of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Hands holding a gift wrapped in beige linen fabric on blue background

Living God, you call us to be good stewards of this earthly home, strengthen us to care for your creation; forgive us when, through our greed and indifference we abuse its beauty and damage its potential.

Image of plastic mountain with the text, "Systemic problems can only be addressed by systemic solutions."

God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Image of plastic floating in the ocean with the quote "We pray for the environment and all of creation, the sky, land, sea, and all living creatures."

We pray for the environment and all of creation, the sky, land, sea and all living creatures. May you protect all ecosystems and natural habitats, freeing them from harm and inhumane actions.

Image of plastic floating in the ocean with the quote "We pray for the environment and all of creation, the sky, land, sea, and all living creatures."

We pray for the environment and all of creation, the sky, land, sea and all living creatures. May you protect all ecosystems and natural habitats, freeing them from harm and inhumane actions.

Image of a growing tree with an abstract of green earth, with a quote from Saint Julie Billiart saying, "Courage! The more crosses you have, the more your soul will grow. Let the good God act."

The 2023 Season of Creation comes to a close on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, next Wednesday, October 4. We have spent the last few weeks renewing our dedication to the work of caring for creation through prayer and action.

Image of a growing tree with an abstract of green earth, with a quote from Saint Julie Billiart saying, "Courage! The more crosses you have, the more your soul will grow. Let the good God act."

The 2023 Season of Creation comes to a close on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, next Wednesday, October 4. We have spent the last few weeks renewing our dedication to the work of caring for creation through prayer and action.

Image of a growing tree with an abstract of green earth, with a quote from Saint Julie Billiart saying, "Courage! The more crosses you have, the more your soul will grow. Let the good God act."

We continue in the Season of Creation with the theme Let Justice and Peace Flow. It is a time to pause and find anew our purpose for the work of caring for creation. We will center prayer in our journey to continue developing an eco-spirituality.

Image of a growing tree with an abstract of green earth, with a quote from Saint Julie Billiart saying, "Courage! The more crosses you have, the more your soul will grow. Let the good God act."

We continue in the Season of Creation with the theme Let Justice and Peace Flow. It is a time to pause and find anew our purpose for the work of caring for creation. We will center prayer in our journey to continue developing an eco-spirituality.

Image of a growing tree with an abstract of green earth, with a quote from Saint Julie Billiart saying, "Courage! The more crosses you have, the more your soul will grow. Let the good God act."

Today, we begin The Season of Creation with the World Day of Prayer for Care of the Earth. Pope Francis added this day to the Church calendar in 2015 and has since released an annual statement.

Image of a growing tree with an abstract of green earth, with a quote from Saint Julie Billiart saying, "Courage! The more crosses you have, the more your soul will grow. Let the good God act."

On September 1st, we begin the Season of Creation. This annual celebration – from September 1st through the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on October 4th – is a global ecumenical effort to “renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together.

Image of colorful plastic waste product surrounding a white chalk drawing of the globe on a blue background. In the center there's a text saying "Plastic Free July."

Dear Lord, May you guide us to care for this earth and treat it with the love with which it was created. Allow us to preserve it for future generations. To reduce our plastic consumption. To reuse what we already have. To recycle what no longer serves a purpose. May we do this for a better world so that we can fulfil our purpose as stewards of the earth and the animals within it. Amen.

Image of colorful plastic waste product surrounding a white chalk drawing of the globe on a blue background. In the center there's a text saying "Plastic Free July."

Please give us the strength and determination to help protect the world you have created for us. As we continue to care for this world, we hope that as children of God, we can make our air, water, and food cleaner. Amen.

Image of colorful plastic waste product surrounding a white chalk drawing of the globe on a blue background. In the center there's a text saying "Plastic Free July."

Thank You for our oceans, rivers and land. We thank You for the beauty of the earth and all its natural wonders. Give us strength to help us to strive for a cleaner, more sustainable and healthier world.

Image of colorful plastic waste product surrounding a white chalk drawing of the globe on a blue background. In the center there's a text saying "Plastic Free July."

Laudato Si’ Week starts this Sunday, May 21. Many suggestions are coming from the Holy See as to how we can celebrate. This week is meant for us to connect to the Spirituality of Creation, which is one of the seven goals of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform.

Image of colorful plastic waste product surrounding a white chalk drawing of the globe on a blue background. In the center there's a text saying "Plastic Free July."

Dear God, Let us pray for our earth. Currently, it is not the perfect place that you meant it to be. Give us the guidance to cultivate and nurture it, as stewards of Your creation. Give us the power to cease polluting our waters with plastic, so that we can sustain the lives of our beautiful and diverse ocean creatures.

Image of a droplet with earth shadow in front of a detail view of a green leaf

Laudato Si’ Week starts this Sunday, May 21. Many suggestions are coming from the Holy See as to how we can celebrate. This week is meant for us to connect to the Spirituality of Creation, which is one of the seven goals of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform.

Let us pray for an end to t“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” No truer words… This YLBG is a response to one of the informational items on our Earth Day table: false solutions to the plastics problem. This is the last in this YLBG series! This week let’s talk about the so-called solution of downcycling.he waste and desecration of God's creation, for access to the fruits of creation to be shared equally among all people, and for communities and nations to find sustenance in the fruits of the earth and the water God has given us.

Let us pray for an end to the waste and desecration of God's creation, for access to the fruits of creation to be shared equally among all people, and for communities and nations to find sustenance in the fruits of the earth and the water God has given us.

As we are called to see ourselves and each other as vessels that hold God’s presence and bring God’s gifts to the world, so too, this very world and all that is above, around and within it are earthen vessels – just as easily shattered, just as much in need of our loving attentiveness and support. May our hands align with God’s in caressing and shaping these vessels.

“Keep rowing upstream” is one of Sister Dorothy Stang’s saying that resonates with me as a community organizer. I believe that each one of us can make a difference, through our small choices. On April 24, 2013, the world was rattled by the Rana Plaza disaster in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which housed five factories. 1,132 people were killed and over 2,500 were injured.

Your Little Bit of Good April 1 2023

Make connections! Connection is so important when we are engaged in the work of justice and caring for the earth. We cannot do this work alone. And we can find inspiration in the work of those sisters who have gone before. Earth Day is coming up on April 22. Catholic Climate Covenant’s theme this year is God’s Abundant Vision for Life. Engage with their activities. Connect with Just Earth – Cincinnati, a new organization Sr. Judy Tensing helped create as her ministry at Venice on Vine was coming to an end. heir mission statement: “Just Earth educates and facilitates action among residents of the Cincinnati region to address the intersecting crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental injustice.”

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