"Laudato Si' in the Desert" Circle to be launched


Coming in 2019
Pope Francis is calling for action.

It’s time to respond.
Join us on a journey to pray
for creation, live simply, and
advocate for our common home. 

Have you been inspired by Laudato Si' ?

Are you active in fostering
Care for Creation activities
 . . . in your parish ?
 . . . in the Diocese of Tucson ?
 . . . as an individual ?

 Are you feeling a call to pray more deeply
about what you are doing
in fellowship with others?

Stay turned for more information about
the planned
  Laudato Si' 
in the Desert Circle

Questions?  Please contact:
 Katie Hirschboeck
Catholic Climate Ambassador 

and a facilitator of Laudato Si' activities sponsored by the
 Global Catholic Climate Movement



Season of Creation Event: Laudato Si' Mini-Retreat + Tree-Ring Lab Tour


A Season of Creation Event

 Your are invited!
(Registration will help, but is not required)
DOWNLOAD OUR FLYER
Contains directions and parking information

 Saturday September 29th
9 am - Noon
Laudato Si'
Morning of Reflection / Mini-Retreat
on the theme: 

"THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE
FOR A TREE"


You are invited to a truly unique morning of celebrating God’s Gift of Creation with TREES!  This mini-retreat, titled  “There is Always Hope for a Tree,” will include prayer, scripture, a short tour of the University of Arizona’s Tree-Ring Lab, quiet reflection time outdoors, interactive exploration of what tree rings reveal about the environment, and concrete ways we can make a difference in caring for Our Common Home.

Sponsored by:  The Care for Creation Initiative
of Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Parish

Facilitator:  Katie Hirschboeck, PhD
OMOS Parishioner, Tree-Ring Lab Emeritus Faculty,
& National Catholic Climate Ambassador

to be held at:

The Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
University of Arizona
LTRR.arizona.edu

Contains directions and parking information


(Registration will help, but is not required)
 To register or ask questions?
Email: katie@LTRR.Arizona.edu
or leave message at 621-6466

The Season of Creation Begins Today!




THE 2018 SEASON OF CREATION
BEGINS TODAY!



Today we pray for our world in a special way on the annual World Day Of Prayer For The Care Of Creation.  This special day of prayer begins the Season of Creation, the period from September 1 to October 4, when Christians are asked to set aside time to deepen our relationship with our Creator, each other, and all of creation.  

World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
September 1st 

The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation offers, “individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live."   1 

A PRAYER FOR THE WORLD DAY OF PRAYER
 FOR THE CARE OF CREATION  2

O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, who are so precious in your eyes… God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth, God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness and convey your mercy throughout our common home.   Praise be to you!   Amen. 

During the coming weeks we will reflect on God’s gift of creation and reflect on how we are caring for it through quotes from Pope Francis'  Laudato Si’ encyclical: On Care for our Common Home, beginning with this one:

“God’s love
is the fundamental moving force
in all created things.” 

(Laudato Si’ #77]





EARTH DAY EVENT!

LIVE LAUDATO SI' !

Care for Our Common Home

EARTH DAY EVENT 2018


Find out what YOU can do about
Ongoing Challenges in Caring For Creation!

Are you concerned about the environment and how God’s gift of creation is being treated? Join us for this two-hour program.  Together we will:  view a video message from Pope Francis, learn about a devastating pollution problem and how to solve it, discover practical ways to reduce our personal impact on Planet Earth, be inspired by what others are doing . . . and more!

Our Mother of Sorrows Parish
1800 S Kolb Rd  Tucson AZ

Sunday April 22 1:30 – 3:30 pm
Parish Activity Center Auditorium (Bldg # 7)

This Earth Day event is co-sponsored by:
 Our Mother of Sorrows Care for Creation Initiative
and
Our Mother of Sorrows Hispanic Commission
  The program will be bilingual!


Día de la Tierra 2018 

¡Descubre lo que TÚ puedes hacer sobre
Los Continuos Retos para Cuidar la Creación!

¿Estás preocupado por el medio ambiente y por la forma en que está siendo tratado el regalo de Dios, La Creación?  Acompáñanos a esta sesión de dos horas donde:  verás un mensaje del Papa Francisco; aprenderás sobre el destructivo problema de la contaminación y cómo resolverlo; descubrirás las formas prácticas en que puedes reducir tu propio impacto sobre el Planeta Tierra; serás motivado por los que otros están haciendo . . . ¡y más!


Our Mother of Sorrows Parish
1800 S Kolb Rd  Tucson AZDomingo 22 Abril 1:30 – 3:30 pm
Auditorio PAC (#7)

Este evento “Día de la Tierra”es co-patrocinado
 por  la Iniciativa para el Cuidado de la Creación
y por La Comisión Hispana.

La sesión será bilingüe!


Care for Creation Film on Water and the Common Good


Join us for a Lenten Care-for-Creation Film on

 Groundwater:
To Enact a Law For the Common Good

Friday March 9 @ 6:30 pm
Our Mother of Sorrows Parish
1800 S Kolb Road
Parish Activity Center Dining Room
(PAC, Building #7)


 “Groundwater: To Enact a Law For the Common Good” is a 26-minute film which tells the intriguing story of the remarkable effort that led to the passing of Arizona’s 1980 Groundwater Management Act, a landmark law for protecting our State’s precious water resources. It includes humor and touching interviews with those involved in the achievement, and its message still resonates today when so much of the world is struggling to stop the depletion of finite groundwater supplies.

 The film will be followed by discussion and reflection 
on WATER, our precious life-giving resource. 

This event is sponsored by the OMOS Care for Creation Initiative and will begin at 6:30 pm in the PAC dining room. Come directly to the PAC for the film and discussion, or if you like, you are welcome to stop by the OMOS Parish Hall at 6:00 pm to enjoy delicious soups at "Soup and Sacrifice" before coming over to the PAC for the film!  

 If you missed the showing of this film in February, here's another chance to see it !
For more about the film watch the Trailer and read about the film's Producers.

Peace & Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change



Peace & Nonviolence
in a Time of Climate Change

An Evening  with Father John Dear on his new book:

They will inherit the Earth:
Peace & Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change



Fr. John Dear, a longtime peace activist, 
will discuss connections
between war and climate change
 and the relationship
between nonviolence and care for creation.

Monday March 5, 2018
at 6:30 pm
St. Frances Cabrini Parish Hall
3201 E Presidio Road, Tucson
(520) 326-7670

Theology Uncorked
is a periodic gathering that includes:

 Theological Reflection | Good conversation | Delicious Wines
| Great Popcorn |

Caring for Creation Ideas: Two Great Local Organizations

Caring-For-Creation Ideas:
Two Great Local Organizations

"There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions . . ." 
Pope Francis, Laudato Si'  [211] 

 To get a host of ideas for daily actions you can take to be a better steward of God's gift of Creation, visit the websites of  these two local organizations:


tucsoncleanandbeautiful.org 

Just a few of the things you will find at Tucson Clean & Beautiful:

Find out where to recycle just about anything
 in the Recycling Directory

Learn about the Importance of Shade Trees
and the "Trees for Tucson" Program




www.sustainabletucson.org

Just a few of the things you will find at Sustainable Tucson:

Personal LifeStyle: 10 Sustainability Steps


"We must not think that these efforts are not going to change the world."
They benefit society, often unbeknown to us, for they call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread. Furthermore, such actions can restore our sense of self-esteem; they can enable us to live more fully and to feel that life on earth is worthwhile.
- Pope Francis. Laudato Si'  [212] 


Monday Feb 19th: Theology Uncorked: Groundwater film & discussion


Can we move from fighting over water to protecting it 
for the Common Good?
Come and see!


presents:

"Whisky is for Drinking, Water is for Fighting!"


WATER WARS

 & THE COMMON GOOD

a screening of
"GROUNDWATER:To enact a law for the common good”

Monday February 19, 2018
at 6:30 pm
St. Frances Cabrini Parish Hall
3201 E Presidio Road, Tucson
(520) 326-7670
“Groundwater: To Enact a Law For the Common Good” is a newly released film which tells the intriguing story of the process that led to the passing of Arizona’s Groundwater Management Act of 1980, a landmark law in the history of the American West. This 26-minute documentary features present-day interviews with many of the principals involved in the to-and-fro, and heated negotiations in search of compromise nearly forty years ago. It still resonates today as Arizona and so much of the rest of world struggles to curtail the depletion of precious groundwater supplies.   
Watch the Trailer and read about the film's Producers.
After viewing the film our guide for discussion, questions and answers will be Gregg Garfin, PhD. Gregg is an associate professor in climate, natural resources and policy at the University of Arizona’s School of Natural  Resources and the Environment. For the last 17 years he has worked to bridge the science-society interface through dialogues between scientists and decision makers. His research is focused on climate variability and change, drought, and adaptation to a changing climate. 
Gregg’s experiences as deputy director for science translation and outreach in the University’s Institute of the Environment will provide for an excellent discussion of this fascinating documentary, and the vital issues it  examines, past, present and future. 
The film will be introduced by Katie Hirschboeck, PhD., Catholic Climate Ambassador with the Catholic Climate Covenant and emeritus associate professor climatology in the UA’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, with joint appointments in Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, the School of Geography and Development, and Arid Lands Resource Sciences.
Theological Reflection | Good conversation | Delicious Wines
| Great Popcorn |
If you’d like, bring a snack or a bottle of wine to share.

A St. Valentine's Day visit to a Landfill

A reflection form Pope Francis:

Human beings too are creatures of this world,
enjoying a right to life and happiness,
and endowed with unique dignity.
So we cannot fail to consider
the effects on people’s lives of
environmental deterioration,
 current models of development
and the throwaway culture.
(Pope Francis:  Laudato Si' #43)


An alternative way to demonstrate care for creation
 was offered on St. Valentine's Day in Tucson
Watch the video:


Oscar & Diana Harper, Creation Care advocates
at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Tucson are seen in the video.
They joined this tour to see where our area's waste ends up!

Learn more about the Los Reales Landfill  

For additional info and learning opportunities
about recycling and waste go to: 

Environmental Services Education 

where you can also find out how to arrange a tour
to the Los Reales land fill for your parish, school or group


ASH WEDNESDAY 2018



" . . .we are but ashes and shall return to dust . . ."
(phrase from the Blessing and Distribution of Ashes)
Each year we begin the Lenten season with this sobering reminder.  How might it relate to our call to "Care for Our Common Home?"

 One way is by opening our eyes to people and places that are subject to wildfires around the globe today  (see: fires.globalforestwatch.org/map/) and to remember those who have lost their homes, livelihoods and lives to fire. 

 It is easy to despair in the face of such destruction.  But ashes can also contain a glimmer of hope and renewal in dark times, as in the legend of the phoenix, a mythical bird used in Christian symbolism.

 A poem to begin our Lenten journey:

Phoenix
Are you willing to be sponged out, erased, cancelled, made nothing?
Are you willing to be made nothing?
dipped into oblivion?

If not, you will never really change.

The phoenix renews her youth
only when she is burnt, burnt alive, burnt down
to hot and flocculent ash.
Then the small stirring of a new small bub in the nest
with strands of down like floating ash
shows that she is renewing her youth like the eagle, immortal bird.

(the author is none other than D.H. Lawrence)





2018 LENTEN CARE FOR CREATION CALENDAR

Travel through Lent 2018 with the
Holy Ground, Common Ground Blog's 
 
CARING FOR GOD'S CREATION CALENDAR

Lent 2018 Caring for God's Creation Calendar for the Tucson Region 
Click HERE for a PDF of the calendar with active links!

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Older pre-2018 posts . . . .
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