Get Ready for the People's Climate March April 29

(From our friends at Franciscan Action Network)

In 2014, we stormed the streets of New York City for the largest climate march in history. 50 days from now, we'll take that message to the streets of Washington, D.C. Join us in our nation's capitol on April 29th for the People's Climate March as we gather together to make our voices heard. Sign up here to attend!

If you are not able to make it to Washington for the March, you can still be part of the action by participating in one of many sister marches taking place across the country. Visit the People's Climate March website to find a march near you.

Additionally,  the weeks leading up to April 29 will be full of faith events sponsored by the Franciscan Action Network and partner organizations.

• We're kicking off things off with Global Catholic Climate Movement's #Mercy2Earth Initiative (Register Here). A webinar on March 15 will introduce viewers to the initiative, leading into a Lenten Fast for Climate Justice on World Water Day, March 22.  For additional events and more information, please contact Christina Leano.
• Franciscan Action Network, Climate Reality Project, and Interfaith Power and Light will sponsor a Catholics of Color Climate Justice Training on March 25 at Shrine of the Sacred Heart Church in Washington, D.C. (Register Here). For more information, please contact Chiara Klein.
• If you are traveling to Washington D.C., we strongly encourage you to make the most of your time by meeting with your Senators and Representative on Friday, April 28th.  For those interested, Catholic Climate Covenant will offer anadvocacy training session on Friday morning, April 28th (Register Here). Even if you can't make the training in person, register using the link and you will be sent a recording.
• To get your energy up for lots of walking and chanting, come out to thePeople's Climate March Potluck on Friday evening before the march, April 28at the Stuart Center, in Washington, D.C. Bring your friends, bring a dish, and meet some fellow marchers. For more information and to RSVP, please contactJason Miller.
• There will be a mass on Saturday morning, April 29 at 9am, at St. Dominic Church, in Washington, D.C. Come pray with us for the transformation of hearts and minds as we prepare to demonstrate peaceful resistance.

When the oppressors come for any of us, all of us will rise up in solidarity because all of our fights - from refugee rights to Indigenous sovereignty to climate justice - are connected. 50 days from now, join us as we take this message back to the streets of DC.

We will see you on the streets of DC at noon on April 29th for the People's Climate March!

A Call to Mercy and Justice

By Jennifer Reyes Lay

Opening ceremonies of welcome and exchange

Last weekend Nov. 11-13^th I had the opportunity to attend Call To Action’s annual conference, hosted this year in Albuquerque, NM.  The theme for the Conference was “One Earth, One People, A Call to Mercy and Justice.”  Incorporating this theme into the spirit and activities of the Conference, there were many different presentations from people of various cultures, ethnicities, and parts of the world, sharing about our common work for mercy and justice.  Liturgical and prayer celebrations included song, dance, movement, and reflection from indigenous communities of Albuquerque and indigenous Latino communities.  The Conference opened with a special ceremony of representatives from one of the local indigenous communities welcoming us into their space and land, and sharing gifts of friendship and hospitality.  It then continue with women sharing stories about their ancestors, and honoring our various stories of how they arrived from Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.  The preacher for the closing liturgy was a Navajo man who helped us (Catholics) reflect on our complicity in the Doctrine of Discovery and genocide of native peoples, and call us to repentance and conversion to respect and honor all peoples and creation.   

Young adults with Fr. Richard Rohr

During the weekend there were three main keynote presentations.  Friday night’s keynote was by Fr. Richard Rohr, reflecting on the dynamic relationship of God through the Trinity, and the transformative power that has to offer the Church and the world.  He focused on how relationship, specifically a relationship of giving and receiving love, is central to understanding and experiencing our God.  We too are called to model this dynamic relationship of giving and receiving love in our lives and interactions with the whole of creation.  Saturday’s keynote was a panel of young adult Catholics, sharing about their experiences of being church, Catholic identity, and building intergenerational communities.  It was a lively and inspiring conversation that fueled a lot of hope for moving forward together as an intergenerational church committed to the work of justice and peace in our world.  Sunday’s keynote was presented by Dr. Greer Gordon, a Roman Catholic theologian, author, and lecturer known for her work in the field of apologetics, evangelization, and catechetics.  She offered a powerful witness and challenge of what is means to be the body of Christ in the U.S. today given the reality of a Trump presidency.  She spoke of her own personal experiences of being targeted by racism and encouraged all those present to not give in to fear, but to stand as prophetic witnesses, imaging Christ in the world, and being prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice just like he did if necessary.  She challenged us to reflect on and take seriously what it means to be followers of Christ in the world today, and to act accordingly, pushing the Church to do the same where it currently fails to do so. 

Members of the CTA 20/30 community

In addition to the keynote speakers, there were many workshops held throughout the Conference on a wide range of topics including our responsibility to protect and care for the environment, decolonization and shadow work, peace and nonviolence, Latina and mujerista theology, mercy and restorative justice, and interfaith perspectives among others.  The Conference also had particular spaces for me, as a young adult Catholic, to gather with other young adults in our 20s and 30s to build community and share ideas.  I really appreciated these spaces to network with other young adults inspired by their faith to work for peace and justice in the world.  They give me a lot of hope for the years ahead of us! 

Joint CTA and Strong Families Press Conference

Call to Action as an organization has also made a commitment to actively work to become an anti-racist, anti-oppressive organization and to dismantle structural racism in our church and in the world.  Part of this work involves connecting with local organizations and communities where the Conference is held to see how they can partner with them to lift up their own local work against racism and oppression.  At this year’s conference, CTA partnered with Strong Families New Mexico to hold a joint march and press conference for mercy and justice.  Strong Families is active in the Albuquerque area supporting victims of violence and discrimination and working for justice.  Together CTA and Strong Families held a march with signs stating that we stand in solidarity together, we call for mercy and justice in our communities, and that love will always trump hate and violence.  I was grateful for the opportunity to participate in this action of solidarity. 

Overall it was a wonderful weekend, full of inspiring and challenging messages of how to be the body of Christ in the world today, particularly in light of the divides and hateful rhetoric we have experienced in this past election cycle.  The message I was left with is that we have a lot of work to do, but we can take comfort in the knowledge that we do not do this work alone.  God is with us as we stand together to create a world of mercy and justice for all.  

Join the Pilgrimage Remembering CCVI History in San Antonio

A Pilgrimage Remembering Incarnate Word Sisters History and San Antonio Mission History in this Year of Mercy

For young people, for elders, and for all to learn, pray, make friends, and be renewed as we visit historical treasures in our city.

October 1, Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm

Let us recommit ourselves to mercy and to service as we visit where Franciscan priests came in 1731 and where Incarnate Word Sisters came in 1869.

Enjoy two of the Missions which UNESCO has designated World Heritage Sites and San Fernando, the oldest cathedral sanctuary in the United States.

Reflect in the beautiful Chapel of the Incarnate Word, a contemplative space which has given Sisters strength for mission and see the new Sisters Heritage Center Museum. 

Explore San Francisco de la Espada Mission where Incarnate Word Sisters taught.

Pray at Mission Concepcion where Father David Garcia, Director of the San Antonio Missions will celebrate a special Eucharist with the pilgrimage group.

Visit the San Fernando Cathedral Museum which has the chalice of Bishop Claude M. Dubuis who wrote a letter with an invitation that brought French young women to Texas to care for those in need and start the I.W. Congregation,  “Our Lord Jesus Christ suffering . . . seeks relief at your hands.” Learn of the Sisters orphanage and hospital down the street. Go through the special doors of the Cathedral praying that we might be transformed in this “Year of Mercy.”

As the number of orphan children increased in the 1800’s,  the Sisters built the downtown St. John’s Orphanage. In 1912 a terrible fire broke out. Eighty-nine orphan boys were saved, but two boys were killed. Five Sisters who were searching for the children in the fire were killed.

Seeking a place for the children, the Sisters build St. Peter’s  right across from Mission Concepcion in 1913. Children from the home, now called St. Peter-St. Joseph’s Home still attend worship in the mission.

Acclaimed Texas Historian and Chair of the initiative to document UIW’s role in San Antonio Tricentennial History, Dr. Gilberto Hinojosa will share information and insights.

Cecilia Elizondo Herrera, Global Service Coordinator in the UIW Ettling Center for Civic Engagement and a member of the San Antonio Mission Board invites you on this journey through time to open our hears to serve others. See and hear her at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wq05dpyNSI

Sister Martha Ann Kirk, University of the Incarnate Word Professor of Religious and Sister Marichui Bringas, Incarnate Word Sisters Vocation Director, invite you to learn more of the deep roots of the Incarnate Word Sisters because those can give us strength to grow, flower, and bring forth fruits of service today.                             

To register for the pilgrimage, please click here . For questions or issues, please call the Ettling Center 210-283-6423. 

To be assured bus transportation and lunch, register by September 26, 2016.  

Original Posting at: http://www.uiw.edu/eccl/pilgrimage/ 

Pope Francis' Message for World Day of Peace

God is not indifferent! God cares about mankind! God does not abandon us! At the beginning of the New Year, I would like to share not only this profound conviction but also my cordial good wishes for prosperity, peace and the fulfillment of the hopes of every man and every woman, every family, people and nation throughout the world, including all Heads of State and Government and all religious leaders. We continue to trust that 2016 will see us all firmly and confidently engaged, on different levels, in the pursuit of justice and peace. Peace is both God’s gift and a human achievement. As a gift of God, it is entrusted to all men and women, who are called to attain it.

Sadly, war and terrorism, accompanied by kidnapping, ethnic or religious persecution and the misuse of power, marked the past year from start to finish. In many parts of the world, these have became so common as to constitute a real “third world war fought piecemeal”. Yet some events of the year now ending inspire me, in looking ahead to the new year, to encourage everyone not to lose hope in our human ability to conquer evil and to combat resignation and indifference. They demonstrate our capacity to show solidarity and to rise above self-interest, apathy and indifference in the face of critical situations.

Here I would mention the efforts to bring world leaders together at COP21 in the search for new ways to confront climate change and to protect the earth, our common home. We can also think of two earlier global events: the Addis Ababa Summit for funding sustainable development worldwide and the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at ensuring a more dignified standard of living for all the world’s peoples, especially the poor, by that year.

For the Church, 2015 was a special year, since it marked the fiftieth anniversary of two documents of the Second Vatican Council which eloquently expressed her sense of solidarity with the world. Pope John XXIII, at the beginning of the Council, wanted to open wide the windows of the Church and to improve her communication with the world. The two documents, Nostra Aetate andGaudium et Spes, are emblematic of the new relationship of dialogue, solidarity and accompaniment which the Church sought to awaken within the human family. In the Declaration Nostra Aetate, the Church expressed her openness to dialogue with non-Christian religions. In the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, based on a recognition that “the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well”,[1] the Church proposed to enter into dialogue with the entire human family about the problems of our world, as a sign of solidarity, respect and affection.[2]

Along these same lines, with the present Jubilee of Mercy I want to invite the Church to pray and work so that every Christian will have a humble and compassionate heart, one capable of proclaiming and witnessing to mercy. It is my hope that all of us will learn to “forgive and give”, to become more open “to those living on the outermost fringes of society - fringes which modern society itself creates”, and to refuse to fall into “a humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine which prevents us from discovering what is new! Let us ward off destructive cynicism!”[3]

There are many good reasons to believe in mankind’s capacity to act together in solidarity and, on the basis of our interconnection and interdependence, to demonstrate concern for the more vulnerable of our brothers and sisters and for the protection of the common good. This attitude of mutual responsibility is rooted in our fundamental vocation to fraternity and a life in common. Personal dignity and interpersonal relationships are what constitute us as human beings whom God willed to create in his own image and likeness. As creatures endowed with inalienable dignity, we are related to all our brothers and sisters, for whom we are responsible and with whom we act in solidarity. Lacking this relationship, we would be less human. We see, then, how indifference represents a menace to the human family. As we approach a new year, I would ask everyone to take stock of this reality, in order to overcome indifference and to win peace.

Continue reading the full message here  

And check out this resource by the USCCB with summary and action items HERE 


PRAYER TO OVERCOME INDIFFERENCE
All too often, Lord, we turn away from the world’s many problems, which seem too big, too complex, or too far away. Forgive us our indifference. It is easier, Lord, to see only what is around us: our lives, our homes, our challenges. Forgive us our isolation. Help us to see with your eyes: eyes which notice one another and help us understand. Help us to dream your dream: of communities that reach out and dialogue and where diverse people creatively cooperate. Help us to be people of solidarity and action, so moved by prayer, encounter, and understanding that peace can become a reality. Amen.