Prayer
It is Laudato Si’ Week! This is a Prayer Along with Creation.
Caring God, the earth and we cry out to You. Along with the earth, we ask You to free us from greed, selfishness and indifference. Along with the air, the water, the land and the wind, we ask You to help us get rid of all the pollution. Along with the forest, birds and animals, give us the strength not to destroy ourselves and the delicate webs that connect our ecosystems and all life together. Along with those on the edges of society, the unheard, the powerless, the struggling and the suffering, we ask You for the strength to be just, merciful and compassionate. Along with those in power and positions of authority, we ask for wisdom to be good stewards of our common home. And finally, along with the whole of creation and peoples, we give You thanks for all the efforts to restore our sister mother earth.
Amen.
Advocacy and Action
Senator Joe Manchin has again proposed a bill that would allow fossil fuel development and other polluting projects without comprehensive assessment of environmental impact or public comment. His proposal is just slightly less problematic than House Republicans’ proposed H.R.1, the “Polluters over People” Act, which proposes to expand oil and gas drilling on federal land and eviscerate all of our longstanding and popular environmental protections. Hopefully by now, you have your Senators on speed-dial. Can you leave a comment on their phone lines telling them no new drilling! We must turn off the tap if we are to control a warming planet.
Education
BEGINS TOMORROW! Join in the fight against environmental racism. The Black Appalachian Coalition will host a summer lunch & learn series on the impacts of petrochemical development on Black communities in Appalachia. To find more details and to register, you can click here. Make sure to click all the dates you can attend. Each is a different topic.
Times noted are EST
Overview | Thursday, May 25 @12PM The sources and uses of petrochemicals, the history of the petrochemicals industry, and lost opportunities and costs. This opportunity is brought to us by our affiliation with Beyond Plastics.
ALSO TOMORROW: The Sisters of Charity of New York and others will host Who’s Earth Is it? Decolonizing Ecotheology May 25 from 6 to 7:30 PM. Jawanza Eric Clark will discuss his book, Reclaiming Stolen Earth: An Africana Ecotheology. There is connection information on the flyer attached to this email.
Detention Watch Network has published a 3-page update on developments at the US/Mexico border in light of the ending of Title 42. You can find it here. The report highlights the ending of Title 42, the ramping up of enforcement operations and the increased proposed immigration legislation in Congress. Also on the topic of migration, the Franciscan Action Network’s Root Causes of Migration webinar was recorded if you’d like to watch. You have to scroll down a bit to get to the actual recording.