Prayer
On January 5, at 6:00 PM, the Franciscan Action Network and Light 4 America will host a prayer vigil for peace on the eve of January 6. Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., and Sr. Carol Zinn, SSJ, Executive Director of the LCWR will lead the vigil. They will be joined by Rabbi Stephanie Crawley, Associate Rabbi at Temple Micah, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, President & CEO of Interfaith Alliance, Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Director of the Kairos Center for Religion, Rights, and Social Justice, and Imam Dr. Talib M. Shareef, USAF-Retired, President, Masjid Muhammad, The Nation’s Mosque. Music will be provided by Wordsmith. You can register to watch the live stream from the US Capitol grounds here.
The Human Trafficking prayer calendar is available through the links in both English and Spanish for January 11 through the Feast of St Josephine Bakhita on February 8. I hope you will include these short prayers in your day.
Advocacy and Action
Remember that voting bill we called Ohio state legislators about in December? Well, it passed. However, Governor DeWine has not yet signed it. Can you contact them and ask him not to? You can call his office directly at 614-466-3555, or send an email here. Phone calls are always better, but an email has an impact too. The email link above has information to remind you (if you’ve forgotten) why this bill is so damaging to us and to our immigrant population.
Education
- January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, as decreed by the presidential proclamation. It is also known as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. It is a key time for us all to educate ourselves about human trafficking and to learn to spot the signs of trafficking. You can act on the call of the USCCB to urge the Senate to pass H.R. 6552, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act.
- Are you interested in learning more about the results of the COP 27 conference in Egypt? Here are two opportunities to do so: Join the Adrian Dominicans in their conversation this Monday, January 9 at 6:30 PM. Dusty Farnan, OP, will report on goals and accomplishments from COP27 Climate Change as well as COP15 Biodiversity meetings. You can access the livestream here.
- The Catholic Climate Covenant will host The Future of Catholic Climate Advocacy: IRA, COP27, and a New Congress on Tuesday, January 10 at 1:00 PM. You can register here.