​Racism is the temptation white people have yet to overcome

June 6, 2020, NCR
by  Joan Chittister, a Benedictine sister, Pennsylvania

...No, this generation didn't buy slaves to pick cotton. Instead, this generation underpaid them so they'd keep doing the servant work we don't want to do...
...We've done our share of racism while we blame it on the racist generations that went before us. Maybe just apologizing for our own sins against a people would be a start...

      ...READ MORE
As good Canadians, are we guilt free? - FVC
A protester in Boston screams after being affected by a chemical agent used by metro police May 31. (CNS/Reuters/Brian Snyder)

​Statement of Solidarity: A Catholic Response to COVID-19 Behind Bars

June 1, 2020
Statement of Solidarity: A Catholic Response to COVID-19 Behind Bars.
This is a USA initiative with Canadian connections. The initiative originated with Pope Francis and the concern exists in our Canadian prisons. Note the call to urge (our) politicians to make all efforts to ensure the health, safety, and spiritual well-being of those inside, including correctional and detention staff.  - FVC

Season of Creation spotlights threats to biodiversity

September 5, 2019 - NCR - Brian Roewe
Sun rays shine through trees in a forest in late September 2018 near Biere, Switzerland. (CNS/Reuters/Denis Balibouse)

Wildfires rage in the Amazon rainforest and other parts of the globe. Up to one million species face extinction, in large part due to human activities. This has formed the backdrop for the annual Season of Creation, timely tuned this year to the theme of biodiversity.

The Season of Creation begins on Sept. 1 with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and runs until Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. This year's Season of Creation is focusing on "protecting the web of life in all its variety, because each species reveals the glory of the Creator."

"Everywhere we turn, we see new initiatives, new resources emerging at every level of the Church," said Christina Leaño, associate director of Global Catholic Climate Movement. She added, "And especially in the midst of our current climate crisis, the fires in Brazil and across Africa, it is incredibly inspiring to see the Holy Spirit igniting this prayer and action for creation."
                 READ MORE.....

Canadian Christian leaders issued a collective call to climate action

April 26, 2019
Created by the Canadian Council of Churches, KAIROS, and Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ)
On Earth Day 2019, Christian leaders from across Canada joined together to issue a call to climate action. Their collective message is clear: the global climate crisis has reached a critical stage and requires an urgent moral and spiritual response.                   See the full newsletter here
7 ways youth (and the rest of us) can reduce our ecological footprint
  1. Cover the Basics: water, waste, transportation, electricity
  2.  Reduce use of Electronics
  3. Eat Less Meat
  4. Think Before You Spend
  5. Invest in Sustainable Fashion
  6. Get Involved in Local Environmental Action
  7. Educate and Advocate
                LEARN MORE.......... 
Youth helping youth
FOUNDATIONS YOUTH CORP! Finally a way to connect all our locations! The foundations youth corp gives youth an opportunity to connect spiritually and prayerfully with all of us! The FYC want to follow Jesus in the "peaceful" way of St. Francis of Assisi by living the Prayer of St. Francis and wearing the armour of God every day! A great way to find "peace" in yourself and think about others!!    Learn More
From their vision statement: The VISION of the San Damiano Foundation, is that by living the prayer of St. Francis, there would be storefronts, shelters/transitional homes and retreat places accessible to all people in every community in our areas and that through the provision and maintenance of these “places” all who come to any of our “places” will not be hungry or thirsty, sad or alone and that every person would come to know they are of value and loved. It is our vision that all people, in particular youth, will receive respect and give respect and that in our safe and secure places there will be growth of individual confidence, kindness and strength of character. 
​
    The long time president of the foundation, Colleen MacAlister, ofs is a Secular Franciscan.
"Solidarity highlights in a particular way
the intrinsic social nature of the human person,
the equality of all in dignity and rights and
the common path of individuals and peoples towards an ever more committed unity."
COMPENDIUM OF THE SOCIAL DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH
Solidarity is seen as a social principle and a moral virtue which must determine the order of any and all institutions necessitating the creation and / or modification of laws, market regulations, and juridical systems to underpin it.

The authentic moral virtue of solidarity is not a “feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good." We are our brother's keeper and all humankind is our brother, deserving of the recognition of his divinity, made in the image and likeness of His creator - to give to in total love and service beyond any individual interest.
Solidarity recognizes that we are debtors of our society and that we have a duty to pass forward the gift of God's measureless and transcendent love for the benefit of present and future generations.
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