Tag: earth

On
Laura Green, For the Catholic Herald

‘Climate Change in the Americas’ event bridges borders to care for our common home

In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis calls us to this vision: “Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.”

In this vein, “Climate Change in the Americas” hosted by the Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC) used technology to bridge borders, highlight the voices of community advocates from all walks of life, and bring people together to talk about the greatest threat to our common home and all who share it.

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Fr. Donald Lange

Earth Day and Laudato Si’

A parishioner asked his pastor, “Father, it seems that every time I read a Catholic newspaper, I read about taking care of the environment. Shouldn’t we Catholics be more concerned about taking care of the world’s bigger problems such as war, hunger, and sickness?”

The priest responded, “Haven’t you heard about Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on ecology? It is the first encyclical in Catholic Church history to focus on ecology and care for creation. In this encyclical, Pope Francis makes a connection between care for the environment and war, hunger, and sickness.”

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Kevin Wondrash

Celebrate Earth Day with St. Dennis Parish

MADISON — St. Dennis Parish is hosting its second annual Earth Day celebration the weekend of April 27 to 28 with activities and exhibits designed to demonstrate how individuals and families can take steps to reduce their carbon footprint and conserve natural resources.

At the Earth Day event, which is open to the public, participants will be able to:

• Have their carbon footprint calculated by members of the St. Dennis Care for Creation team.

• Learn about the 66-panel solar electric system, installed in 2017 to generate electricity for Saint Dennis School.

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Fr. Donald Lange

Earth Day invites us to care for our home on Earth

I gratefully recall the evening when Dad and I sat on our front lawn and studied the farmer’s green field across the road.

The sun like a beautiful orange-red host sank slowly into the chalice of God’s good earth. It was a heavenly moment of harmony between God, nature, Dad, and me.

The Earth is God’s

Dad broke the sacred silence by saying, “You know, we don’t really own anything!”

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Godspeed, John Glenn

When astronaut John Glenn made his first orbit around the earth in 1962, I was in the seventh grade.

At that time, I was very interested in space exploration. In the sixth grade, I remember writing an essay about why it was important that we discover what was happening in the “final frontier.”

First to orbit earth

It was exciting to learn about Glenn’s experiences as one of our country’s first seven astronauts. He was the first to orbit earth aboard the Mercury Friendship 7 capsule. He traveled around the globe three times in a flight that lasted just under five hours on February 20, 1962.

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Bill Dagnon

Support scientists in protecting our planet’s health

To the editor:

Thank you for publishing the December 1 article on Pope Francis’ November speech at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Pope Francis said, “I would say that it falls to scientists, who work free of political, economic or ideological interests . . . ” to build a cultural model to confront the challenge of climate change.

American Catholics must also support our scientists. U.S. bishops could hold a similar science summit. This would be an opportunity to teach Catholics and public leaders and explain the Catholic principle of stewardship of our earth in human solidarity.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Facing pope’s challenge to protect creation

It doesn’t seem possible that almost a year has passed since Pope Francis issued Laudato Si’, his beautiful encyclical on care for our common home.

Released on June 18, 2015, the encyclical touched on many of the critical issues facing our world today, including the availability of fresh drinking water, the loss of biodiversity, decline in the quality of human life, the breakdown of society, and global inequality, to name a few.

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Fr. Donald Lange

Make each day an Earth Day by respecting creation

For some astronauts, an unexpected result of their participation in the space program was a deepening of their faith in God.

Frank Borman was commander of the first space crew to travel beyond Earth’s orbit. Looking down on Earth from 250,000 miles away, he radioed back a message, quoting Genesis 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.”

He later added, “After viewing Earth from space, I experienced an enormous feeling that there had to be a power greater than any of us, that there was a God and a beginning.”

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Fr. Donald Lange

Let us make every day an Earth Day

On clear mornings from my apartment window which faces Platteville’s Mound, I enjoy watching the morning sun, like a huge orange-red host, rise majestically from earth’s chalice, inspiring me to offer a new day to God.

Beautiful sunrises deepen my respect for God’s gift of creation. Celebrating Earth Day on April 22 reminds me of my responsibility to care for this gift.

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