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Taking Action

JPIC COmmuniqué JPIC - October 2021

11/5/2021

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JPIC Communiqué JPIC - October 2021

Where To Begin?

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​OFS Canada

JPIC Communiqué JPIC
October 2021

The book, Climate Generation, Awakening to Our Children’s Future by Lorna Gold, 2019 focuses on the climate crisis we are currently facing. This article takes several passages from the chapter titled Embracing the Earth. We pass on these thoughts, now in the light of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. Over the next several months Franciscan Voice Canada will endeavor to highlight the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and help Secular Franciscans focus on “Calling for a new way of thinking, feeling, understanding and living.” This has been the message of Pope Francis that was particularly poignant in Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti encyclicals.
We begin with the reporting that if we continue to live the way we are living, we would require up to five planet earths to give everyone a standard of living like ours. As an environmentalist, member of Trócaire, and vice-chair of the Laudato Si’ Movement, Lorna Gold names Pope Francis as her hero. The Earth is our common home and like a sister with whom we share our life, a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. It is with this image that could hold the power to heal the deep Boy walks on garbage fracture we feel between ourselves and the beautiful earth we live on. We have forgotten the utter dependence we all have on the earth often living with the myth that we are its masters. But we remain dependent on our one small planet made of the same elements we are made of. If we continue to destroy its life support system in our quest to master our fate, then in the end we also lose.

We need to allow ourselves the time and space to rediscover ourselves as part of this earth and to be deeply grateful for it. We are less likely to destroy something we love deeply, something we see as part of ourselves. We can look to St Francis of Assisi who had a deep bond with all of creation. We need only look at his Canticle of the Creatures to see the right relationship we should have with creation.   The parts of creation are our sisters and brothers! There is far greater happiness in being than in having, to free ourselves from excess and to realize what is ‘enough’. It is in cultivating that deep gratitude for all life especially the natural world, a precious gift in itself. As Pope Francis tells us, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise, Laudato Si’.
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Where to Begin? We begin where Laudato Si’ tells us that we must repent of the ways we have harmed the planet, to acknowledge our contribution to the disfigurement and destruction of creation. Only then can we begin our ecological conversion to ask the earth, my mother for forgiveness where we neglected to protect her and forgotten to notice and appreciate her beauty.

Download Complete PDF Document Here

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Well4Africa May Update

5/6/2020

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May 6, 2020
​

OFS Canada
JPIC Communiqué JPIC   May 2020  
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Here is the link to the latest Well4Africa May Update
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   Women collecting dirty water for a long walk back to their homes!

Read the JPIC Communique JPIC 

                CLICK HERE


If you wish to receive the Well4Africa newsletters directly, subscribe by sending
​us an email requesting to become a subscriber. 

​
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Development & Peace - COVID-19

3/22/2020

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Despite this situation, we will continue with our Lenten journey of solidarity through a virtual Share Lent campaign. Many resources are already available on our website and in the coming days, we will provide additional activities that let you experience the spiritual renewal of Lent online and express your solidarity with those who need it the most. - D&P
              LEARN MORE
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10 Things to give up for Lent other than chocolate

2/26/2020

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Start the slide show

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No Harm to Creation Subcommittee

4/10/2019

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April 10, 2019
​​ Felician Sisters of North America
​
​
Monday, April 22, is Earth Day. The No Harm to Creation Subcommittee has created Morning and Evening Prayer for that day. To access the prayers, click here (Morning) and here (Evening). 
 
To learn more about Earth Day and the theme for this year, "Species," click here
.
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Earth Day 2019 - April 22

4/8/2019

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​Earth Day 2019
This year reflect on how you can live the Gospel way of respect for creation.
Make a commitment to act on one or more of the ways listed below. When you gather with your fraternity again, share how you are living your commitment.

Make an earnest effort to be conscious of the beauty of creation by --
  • Walking in solitude with nature,
  • Planting a tree,
  • Planting a garden,
  • Feeding the birds,
  • Tending your yard with non-pesticides,
  • Recycling,
  • Enjoying dandelions,
  • Advocating for non-hazardous waste,
  • Cleaning up parks and recreational areas,
  • Researching the effects of corporate hog, cattle, turkey, and chicken confinement lots,
  • Writing Members of Parliament or Legislatures about environmental violence,
  • Volunteering at animal shelters,
  • Watching a sunrise or sunset,
  • Learning about nature around us,
  • Advocating for clean air and water,
  • Thanking God for the beauty of creation.
Edited version based on: Living like Francis Today by Marci Blum, OSF Good Ground Press, St. Paul, 2005
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Lent 2019 with Franciscan Voice Canada

2/27/2019

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A 2019 LENT for justice peace and care of creation
with Franciscan Voice Canada


Our OFS national source for justice peace and care of creation is proposing you make this a Lent of giving rather than giving up.
… a Lent for justice peace and care of creation
… a Lent for “the common  good”
… a Lent to do something new that you do not already do
… a Lent to challenge yourself, your family, your fraternity
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Remember the Gospel says, act in secret, your Father in heaven will reward you (Mt 6:3-4)
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Catechism of the Catholic Church guides us:                      
1438 The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (such as Lent)…  are intense moments of the Church's penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for ….fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works). 1460 The penance….. can consist of prayer, an offering, works of mercy, service of neighbor, voluntary self-denial, sacrifices, and above all the patient acceptance of the cross we must bear.
Make it 10 minutes a day for justice peace and care of creation…being a voice for the voiceless. 
Use Franciscan Voice Canada and the Common Good newsletter as your source for ideas and at the same time learn more about JPIC.  
​​

How can I do this? (Below embedded links from Franciscan Voice Canada will help you find some action suggestions to help your Lenten journ
ey.)​​​​
  • Be a friend to the poor, the outcast
  • Write a letter about an issue
  • Call your MP about an issue
  • Sign a petition
  • Do a caring act for the environment
  • Refuse to accept plastics
  • March for justice or peace or creation
  • Forgive
  • Make peace with an enemy
  • Do a caring act for water​
  • Live Laudato Si' Pledge
  • Reduce
  • Give away stuff from your abundance
  • Give alms to  Chalic or Share Lent D&P or similar organizations
  • Pray for  justice or peace or creation
  • Learn something new about JPIC
  • Try for 10 minutes per day
  • Read Laudato Si’ (if you have not already)
  • Think and act for Fair Trade
Use this calendar to record your progress and at the end of Lent offer it up to the Lord.   
                                              Download the calendar, page 1 and page 2.
                            Click here to see the expanded special issue of the Common Good.
                                                                                                        Share this challenge with your fraternities
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Here's an idea for fraternity action

1/6/2019

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“We can all commit to learning more about human trafficking,” .....
​..... “We can commit to helping victims of ‎ human trafficking. And we can commit to tackling the systems that enable human trafficking ‎to flourish.”
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​Recognize the Signs 
​
January 6, 2019
Are you or someone you know being trafficked? Is human trafficking happening in your community? Recognizing potential red flags and knowing the indicators of human trafficking is a key step in identifying more victims and helping them find the assistance they need.
Bear in mind that not all indicators will be present in all situations. The type of trafficking and the content or environment are all important to take into account.

          Click here to see the full list of the signs of trafficking.     Talk about it and share this in your fraternities
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