Excerpts from a Devotional on Climate Change

/in /by

(Via Bread for the World)

This installment of Prayers to End Hunger is excerpted from Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo’s devotional on climate change in Finding Hope, Ending Hunger on Both Sides of the Border: A Bilingual Latino Devotional.

From the early scripture passages (Genesis 2:15) to the last (Revelation 11:18), we hear a call and warning to care for God’s creation (Psalm 24:1). When we disrespect this call, the harmonious order under which God created life is threatened, and all creatures suffer the consequences (Jeremiah 14:2-7). Although the story of Joseph (Genesis 37, 40-41), and the dreams of the Pharaoh of Egypt does not speak of a climate crisis like the one we face today, it certainly describes the reality of a region that will face major climate shifts.

Like Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, climate scientists today have interpreted climate data and warn us about coming fluctuations in temperatures, stronger storms, longer droughts, and floods. These are already affecting the planet’s biodiversity and the livelihoods of the most vulnerable human communities. The next few years are a critical time for the global community to adopt policies that put humanity on a path to ending hunger while averting catastrophic damage to the planet. Let us pray:

God of Creation:

In your infinite wisdom and limitless love, you created the Earth — a magnificent planet teeming with life.

Just as you equipped Joseph with the spiritual gifts necessary to protect the lives of thousands, equip us so that through our actions to protect the lives of the most vulnerable communities against climate change, the world gets to know your kindness and your glory.  Amen

Celebrate Laudato Si Week on May 17-25

/in , , /by

Laudato Si’ Week 2021, to be held May 16-25, will be the crowning event of the Special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year, and a celebration of the great progress the whole Church has made on its journey to ecological conversion.

Laudato Si’ Week 2021 will also be a time to reflect on what the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us and prepare for the future with hope.

Official Events

May 17

Laudato Si Dialogue: Critical Opportunities in 2021 to create change: call for an integral path.

This webinar will highlight key political opportunities in 2021 to create change, with a focus on the UN climate conference (COP 26) and the UN biodiversity conference (COP 15) and the need for an integral approach. We will hear from the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and from indigenous and youth leaders on the key role these conferences must play in building back better after the COVID 19 pandemic, achieving global goals, restoring harmony between humanity and nature, and building a culture of care and justice. Attend This Event

Other Events (Click here for details on each of the events listed below)

18 May – Laudato Si Dialogue on Education
19 May – Laudato Si Dialogue on Energy and Fossil Fuels
20 May – Sowing Hope for the Planet / Creation Care Prayer Network
21 May – Global Action Day for Our Common Home
22 May – Laudato Si Festival “Songs for Creation”
23 May – (Pentecost) Praying Gathering
24 May – Roundtable about WASH
25 May – Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development

NM-IPL Supports the ‘For the People Act’ (H.R. 1/S.1)

/in , , /by

Our democracy is sacred, and voting is a sacred act. In a democracy, it is the people who should have a voice, not corporate polluters. When fossil fuel polluters can buy the influence of policymakers through their campaign contributions, we the people lose our voice.

That’s why IPL is supporting the For The People Act, H.R.1 / S.1. The For The People Act will rein in corporate polluters’ destructive influence in political decision-making and give power back to the people. It is a chance to take money out of politics and focus on things that affect real people, like securing access to clean air and water.

This bill will:

  • Stop “dark money” from fossil fuels. The oil and gas industry spent about $140 million last year trying to get their preferred candidates elected, much of it through super PACs that disguise the identity of the giver. The For the People Act would bring this money into the light of day by requiring those PACs disclose the names of individuals giving more than $10,000. It would also set up a new system for public matching of grassroots donations, leveling the playing field for candidates funded by their constituents rather than fossil fuel CEOs.
  • Protect the rights of Black voters and Black churches. Over 40 states have introduced voter suppression laws already this year, but perhaps the most prominent example has come from Georgia. A new law there aims to limit voting access, including making it illegal for counties to allow early voting on Sundays—the day many Black churches hold “souls to the polls” drives. Many other proposed restrictions in Georgia and beyond target Black, Indigenous, and people of color voters, through discriminatory voter identification laws. The For the People Act would protect and expand early voting and vote by mail, and require states to have fair and equitable access to the ballot.

Make sure everyone’s vote counts. Valuing all people, not just the powerful, is a basic tenet of both our faith traditions and any functioning democracy. Gerrymandering, the process by which politicians draw district boundaries for unfair political advantage, is used by lawmakers to ensure that some communities have more political power than others. This For the People Act would prevent our neighbors having their votes diluted by ending partisan gerrymandering. A democracy is where voters choose their representatives, not the other way around!