Celebrating Summer, Nature, and Our Common Home – Part 2

by OLH Staff | Sep 1, 2023 | Environment, Family Fun, Spiritual Life, Universal Apostolic Preferences

Celebrating Summer, Nature, and Our Common Home – Part 2

Back in July we wrote about the moving film, The Letter, and how it served as a call to action in many ways. Particularly, at the start of summer in Maine, we were called to notice God’s beautiful creation all around us. That sparked an idea. We invited parishioners – and friends – to make photos of places and activities where they felt God’s presence. You can read more in our July 7th post!

Congratulations to Jim and Mary, who’s names were pulled from a hat for the gift card. They submitted photos of a delicious meatless meal – and the recipe. Pictured here is a photo from Jon that brings a smile to fans of listening to baseball at camp.

If you are on Facebook, we’ve shared all the photos there. Really — watch The Letter!! It will move you to action. And, keep noticing the beauty of – and our responsibility to care for – God’s creation.

Celebrating Summer and Our Common Home

by OLH Staff | Jul 7, 2023 | Environment, Family Fun, Universal Apostolic Preferences

Celebrating Summer and Our Common Home

Kick-off summer by watching The Letter in the comfort of your own home! That’s right, the film is available on YouTube. Whether you watch from your tablet or laptop or smart TV, you’ll want to settle in for this film. The stories are beautifully told with amazing cinematography. We’ve watched it solo and in groups, and like many beautiful films there’s an added experience of watching with others. Through our group showings in the parish hall, a combined audience of nearly 40 people felt the power of the stories – and the calls to action, some suggested by each audience.

So, we decided to take the message of caring for God’s creation into our summer activities intentionally. To pay attention to the movements in our hearts when we are spending time outdoors. And to add some added fun, we thought some photos would be fun to add to the mix – specifically, your photos!! To encourage participation, we’ll have a gift card that will be drawn among all entrants.
We live in a beautiful place!

One way to celebrate that is with a bit of fun this summer. So, let’s snap some action photos (with those phones or cameras) of our care for God’s creation:
– working in the garden
– doing a good deed for someone
– a snapshot of a beautiful place in Maine you’ve visited
– a photo of where you’ve found God in nature
– even a photo of you watching The Letter
– photo of you recycling
– photo of a meatless meal (extra points for the recipe, too)

Create your own ideas!!

Email photos to ourladyofhope@portlanddiocese.org If you play at all track what you’ve done. You can drop off at the office, put in the collection basket or by mail by August 20th. Be sure your name and contact info is there. We’ll draw from all submissions for a $100 LL Bean gift card at noon on August 22, 2023.

Join Us to Watch The Letter

by OLH Staff | Mar 24, 2023 | Environment, Events, Social Justice & Peace

Join Us to Watch The Letter

On Thursday, April 27th at 7 pm, we’ll gather in the Parish Hall to watch The Letter. After, we’ll enjoy refreshments and talk it over.

Laudato Si’ is Pope Francis’ letter to us all calling for human care and intervention in the environmental crisis we are experiencing now.

The Letter is a documentary film – a reflection and story about frontline leaders traveling to Rome to talk with the Pope about his encyclical on the environment – and the environmental crisis we are in. In May of 2015 – six years ago – Pope Francis issued his encyclical letter, Laudato Si’. He opens his letter about caring for our common home by citing St. Francis of Assisi, whose name he took when he became pope.

“I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. He is the patron saint of all who study and work in the area of ecology, and he is also much loved by non-Christians. He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast. He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace,” Pope Francis writes.

You can read Laudato Si’ through this link.

See you on April 27th, we hope!

Seek Justice This Advent Season

by OLH Staff | Dec 2, 2022 | Advent, Environment, Faith in Action, Social Justice & Peace

Seek Justice This Advent Season

This Advent, commit to simplicity. In a season that can mistakenly be focused on consumption, it’s a good chance to explore ways to live simply as we prepare for the coming of Jesus and the restoration of the earth.

Here are some ideas shared by our Social Justice and Peace Commission to live a more simple and intentional life, perhaps starting now, during Advent.

______ Take some breaks from my cell phone/smart phone, computer, and other devices so that you can be really present to the people around you.

______ Establish priorities and learn to say “no” to things that are not important to you and “yes” to things that are important.

______ Keep a gratitude journal by recording the big and small blessings that come my way.

______ Get rid of junk mail by
• throwing it into a recycling bin as soon as it arrives
• stopping it from being delivered by asking to be removed from mailing lists
• going paperless for bills, opting for digital bills instead

______ Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and less meat and dairy to lower my impact on the environment.

______ Reduce use of single-use plastics.

______ If you use a cut Christmas tree, plan ahead for helpful ways for disposing of it. Ecomaine is a great resource for statewide options. Their information on recycling gift wrapping is something to consider before purchasing. “if you can rip it, you can recycle it,” they say!

Thanks to the Ignatian Solidarity Network for their leadership on this initiative. You can also sign up for the Ignatian Solidarity Network Advent calendar online here. It has daily suggestions for living more simply and in ways that help restore the earth.

Another Small Step for Our Common Home – Social Justice & Peace Commission

by OLH Staff | Oct 19, 2022 | Environment, Social Justice & Peace

Another Small Step for Our Common Home – Social Justice & Peace Commission

Protecting the Environment: A Message from the Social Justice and Peace Commission:

Having recently witnessed so much devastation due to climate change, we are challenged by Pope Francis in his Encyclical, Laudato Si’, to do whatever we can to protect the earth, our common home. To quote from Pope Francis in Chapter Six, “There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through daily actions”. He goes on to say, “Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly affect the world around us, such as:
— avoiding the use of plastic and paper
— reducing water consumption
— separating refuse
— cooking only what can be reasonably consumed.”

In the spirit of this directive from the Pope, we urge you to be aware of decreasing the use of plastic whenever possible. Silicone covers are available in different sizes. Beeswax wraps and glass containers are good substitutes for those made of plastic. Also look for household products that are biodegradable. Small actions do make a difference, and help to keep us aware of our personal responsibility to our common home.

To support this effort Social Justice & Peace is taking orders for Food Grabbers, 6 silicone disks that will keep half portions of food fresh without plastic ( onions, tomatoes, lemons, etc.), and also serve as covers for small glass containers.

These can be purchased with cash or check payable to the parish with your name and phone number or email address, dropped in the basket $15/each set of six, before November 11. They will be here in time to be Christmas gifts. You can contact members of the Social Justice and Peace Commission at olhsjp@gmail.com.

Thank you for considering this initiative!

Care for God’s Creation

by OLH Staff | Aug 31, 2022 | Environment, Social Justice & Peace, Universal Apostolic Preferences

Care for God’s Creation

Why Care About Climate Change?

In his Encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ reminds us that humanity is one inter-connected family, with the Earth as our common home. He calls on us to address the devastating effects climate change is having on that home.

Global warming is resulting in food and water scarcity, increased flooding, extreme heat, more disease, and economic loss. As climate change damages the Earth, it disproportionately affects the poor and most vulnerable members of society. Those with limited resources—such as families without the luxury of air conditioning during an extreme heat wave or the ability to relocate to avoid flood-prone neighborhoods—are unable to endure the impact of global warming.

We care about addressing climate change because Catholic Social Teaching and the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus call on us to care for our common home; they also charge us to advocate for those on the margins of society. As Catholics, we are asked to nurture a healthy environment and, in turn, help alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters around the world whose pleas for help, for respect, have been ignored. We are called to join our voices with theirs.

We address climate change to honor life, by helping enable healthy and safe lives for our brothers and sisters worldwide. Indeed, as global warming has placed life on earth in danger, addressing climate change is a pro-life initiative on a global scale!

Want to learn more or better understand the impact of climate change in the Northeast? Check out: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/municipalplanning/docs/NortheastClimateImpactsAssessment(MaineSummary).pdf

Our Social Justice and Peace Commission (authors of this post) meets on the third Thursday of each month on Zoom — you are invited to participate. Just let us know through the contact us form.