Earth Day
HOW TO CELEBRATE EARTH DAY?
YOUR HELP NEEDED!
More than one billion people around the world will observe Earth Day on April 22, the 40th anniversary of this celebration. It was on this day, one year ago, that 24 national Catholic organizations helped the launch of the Catholic Climate Covenant: The St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor. This initiative continues to gain momentum and we urge you to reach out to neighbors and friends, other parishes and schools and ask them to join you in taking the St. Francis Pledge-AND to register their Pledges.
Register their Pledges at www.catholicclimatecovenant.org Or use the tell-friend-page to invite them to sign up.
For the Catholic community, Earth Day began with Genesis and is renewed today in a special way through the words and teaching of Pope Benedict XVI! in his World Day of Peace message. Bulletin insert and study guide from USCCB about the World Day of Peace message, "To Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation" here.
Earth Day Resources
Earth Day falls on a Thursday this year. But you are encouraged to integrate themes of stewardship and ecological awareness in your parishes on either the Sunday before or after Earth Day.
From the Archdiocese of Hartford
This Earth Day, the Environmental Justice Team of the Office for Catholic Social Justice Ministry of the Archdiocese of Hartford-long a leader in applying Catholic teaching on the environment to local issues-is focusing on peace, justice and care of the Earth, with activities taking place in many towns. And they have produced an excellent Earth Day Packet for those planning Earth Day celebrations. The Packet contains:
• suggested songs and Prayers of the Faithful
• bulletin quotes on Church teaching
• a bulletin insert/handout page (copy back to back, pg 4-5)
• web links to Church teaching and resources.
• homily ideas for April 17-18
Download the Earth Day Packet (PDF) for your parish.
From the Catholic Climate Covenant
As a reminder, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change developed a one-pager: Ways to Celebrate Earth Day
The resource has links to:
-the St. Francis Pledge and Prayer card
-the "Whose Under Your Carbon Footprint" poster
-a bulletin insert, and
-Catholic Climate Covenant clip art.
For Youth from the Franciscan Action Network
Youth and young adults are increasingly engaged in Christian stewardship. The Franciscan Action Network recently helped build on this enthusiasm with a webinar to encourage youth groups to use Earth Day as an opportunity to "transform the world." The webinar shares models from Franciscan parishes on how they approach environmental stewardship in the spirit of St. Francis. To view the webinar, go to
http://www.franciscanaction.org/earthday2010