Feast of Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny Founder

On July 15th, Cluny Sisters from around the world 

celebrate their Founder, Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey.

Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey’s vision of children and peoples of all colors and cultures became the charism and missionary zeal of the Congregation to ‘Go Out’ to all the world and ‘Proclaim’ the Good News of the Gospel’.

Our missionary discipleship grounds us in a communal, contemplative discernment that searches ‘to know and do the Will of God’ 

in the new world of our day.

“O, how happy we are

to have so beautiful a vocation!’’

 AMJ

Anne-Marie Javouhey was born in France on November 11, 1779. In 1807, she founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny who dedicated themselves to the care of the sick and to teaching.  She wrote, 

"...There is so much resourcefulness in children, It is on them that I count

 if God wishes to use us for such a great apostolate..."

Called to minister to the colonies, Anne Marie devoted herself to the emancipation of the slaves. She died July 15, 1851.

O God, we thank you

 for the life of Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey 

and for the apostolic work 

continued by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny. 

May we be faithful to her spirit in our living today 

and in our service 

to the young, the poor, the sick, the afflicted and oppressed. 

We ask this in the name of Jesus whose gospel she so faithfully followed.

 

Amen.

Today, we are an international missionary congregation of  2,400 Cluny Sisters living in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, serving in 56 countries.  The dynamism of diverse languages, cultures and mission experiences strengthens our unity and sense of belonging.  It calls us to live more authentically our charism as missionary disciples in a new world, by participating in the Mission of Jesus to evangelize, heal and liberate all peoples, especially the poor, the least the lost and the last.  Going to the peripheries and beyond boundaries, the mission includes the whole of God’s creation.

Thank You Cluny Sisters

A Day to Remember

On the warm Saturday evening of June 25th Associates, former students, co-workers, and friends gathered for a Mass of Thanksgiving which was celebrated by Bishop Douglas Crosby, Monsignor Sheridan, Father David Avila in the historic Church of St. Mary, in Hamilton, Ontario.

“…we give thanks to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny 

for their presence and ministry in the Diocese of Hamilton.  

They have served here in the care of young people,

 mostly in the Catholic Schools and other related ministries. 

 Thank you to Sisters Ena Maguire, Genevieve-Marie Vigil, Mary Josephine Glynn for joining with us tonight as we bid farewell to the community

 and to Sister Maria Rocha, the last Sister of St. Joseph of Cluny 

to serve in the Diocese….”  Homily, Bishop Crosby

In 1957, Mother Angela Schwartz, Mother Anthony Garibaldi and Sister Ena Maguire came to Hamilton to meet with Bishop Ryan, who had requested sisters for the Diocese of Hamilton in the Province of Ontario, Canada.   

 In 1958 Sisters Angela Mannion, Josephine St. Leger, Morag Collins and Elizabeth Butler, were the first Cluny Sisters to minister in Canada. For sixty-four, (64) years thirty (30) sisters have served in the ministries of education, many of them have gone home to God.  As the population of Hamilton increased, the roots of their presence and ministry began to expand. The sisters’ presence in education grew in the elementary schools of St. Joseph’s, Christ the King Parish, and Holy Rosary Parish in Guelph. Through the years Cluny Sisters have also taught in Cathedral Girls High School and later in St. John De Breuf.

The presence of the sisters was not only in the classroom, but has also been in all areas of Parish Life—Religious Education, Eucharistic Ministry to the homebound, Hospital Ministry, Parish Ministry and support for families in many difficult and challenging circumstances.

In later years, Sister Joan Van der Zyden served as Pastoral Minister in St. Joseph’s Parish and in the years following Sister Regina Brunelle began to serve with the Brothers of Good Shepherd in their ministries to the poor and marginalized.

Beginning in 1975, with large numbers of Portuguese immigrants, Sister Maria Rocha and years later, Sister Maria Mendes began to work with the new comers in Religious Education through the Portuguese language; Youth Ministry; Cultural Heritage.  

With the support of the Catholic Board of Education, a Portuguese Information Center was established at St. Mary’s Parish.  For 47 years, Sister Maria has been a continual and consistent presence of prayer and ministry as she served.

The Readings for the 13th Sunday were focused on the Call—Bishop Crosby in his homily reminded all of us of the call we have each received and set Sister Maria as an example how to respond to that Call.

Sister Maria, your response to the call to move to California 

with your community is a striking example to us of the extent 

of your commitment to Jesus Christ in and through your belonging

 to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny.  

While we are sad to see you leave us, 

we honor and support your commitment and your courage. 

 We recognize that it is based on the Lord’s  command 

to love wherever He sends you.

Following the Liturgy, there was a reception in St. Mary’s Parish Hall.  Over 125 guests: Associates, former students, co-workers, families joined in a meal to remember the many ways that they had been influenced, supported and loved by the Cluny Sisters who had been in their lives.  

Sister Genevieve thanked the guests for their presence.  Sister Maria, then thanked all those who were there and with whom she had worked so closely.  There was a table with about 25 adults, who had been in Sr. Maria’s first Youth Group.  They had all stayed in touch and 40 years later they came together—more experienced, with their families to thank Sr. Maria for the ways in which she had helped them navigate the experience of being an immigrant.  Through her own experience of being an immigrant, she could truly empathize with their challenges and the tension of holding on to their birth culture as they integrated into their new Canadian lives.

The evening ended with emotional good-byes, and with a deep sense of gratitude on how the daughters of Blessed Anne-Marie had done “a little good” and had inspired others to continue to live with that generosity of spirit, as Jesus calls, “Come follow me” .

Thank You

Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny

1958 - 2022

♥ Feast of the Sacred Heart

Cluny Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

    

    Behold the Heart

      which so Loves

         All Peoples!

The deepest longing of Christ's Heart is that we discover how much he loves us, the extent of his tender love for creatures who, cooled by their selfishness, look only inwards at themselves, as if they were afraid to let themselves be loved unconditionally by their Creator, who asks nothing and gives all.

Cluny Devotion

Our Founder, Anne Marie Javouhey, had a devotion to the Heart of Jesus that enflamed her to do God’s Will in all things.  Her devotion began with her mother, Claudine Parisot, who  was a very devout Catholic wife and mother who instilled this devotion in her children at a very early age.  Anne Marie and those who banded together with her to form the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny were women of their time. 

Devotion to the Sacred Heart was well known in Burgundy France, because of the revelations received in 1673 by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the convent at Paray-le-Monial. None of the attempts of the French Revolution to stamp out the Catholic faith managed to destroy the popular devotion to the Sacred Heart. So it was natural for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny  to express their gratitude to God for the grace of their newborn institute by making a formal consecration of themselves and all they served to the Heart of Christ. They did this on the feast of the Sacred Heart, June 6, 1807.  Barely a month after their religious profession, the original nine Sisters placed themselves and the congregation under the protection of the Heart of Jesus. This consecration has been renewed annually by the Cluny Sisters ever since.  

The vitality of Cluny devotion to the Sacred Heart in the present day remains strong. Many Cluny communities spread around the world, including the Motherhouse in Paris, are named for the Sacred Heart.  Hundreds of Cluny Sisters have chosen the Sacred Heart as part of their religious name in a variety of forms: Heart of Jesus, the Divine Heart, the Eucharistic Heart etc.

In both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures the heart is the essence of being, the seat of all loving. The Heart of Jesus is the Source of our learning to love. From that Heart, we discover how to live the two great commandments to love God and our neighbor by which Jesus sums up all his teaching. In order to live this teaching fully we must discover that Sacred Heart, we must enter deeply into this Divine Fount of Love. There is no better way to do this than to fix our gaze on Jesus as he is revealed to us in the Gospels.

As you reflect on the words and actions of Jesus in the Gospels, ask Jesus to reveal to you:

How your heart – the essence of your being – reflects his

How your heart needs to change in order to better resemble his

On this annual feast in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus let us pray with the Church the traditional Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

THE LITANY OF THE  SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Lord, have mercy on us.  Christ, have mercy on us. 

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.  Christ, graciously hear us. 

God the Father of Heaven,                        Have mercy on us. 

God the Son, Redeemer of the world,        Have mercy on us

God the Holy Spirit, 

Holy Trinity, one God, 

Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, 

Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mother's womb, 

Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God, 

Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty, 

Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God, 

Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High, 

Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven, 

Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity, 

Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love, 

Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, 

Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, 

Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise, 

Heart of Jesus, King and center of all hearts, 

Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, 

Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, 

Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father was well pleased, 

Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received, 

Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills, 

Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy, have mercy on us.

Hymn: O Sacred Heart, O Love Divine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRd75xTt7hk

Let Us Pray

 

 Sacred Heart of Jesus, 

I place all my trust in you.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,

for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted,

have pity on us sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you,

through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary,

your tender mother and ours.

 —Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

Corpus Christi

 Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus

I am the living bread that came down from heaven,

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Whoever eats this bread will live forever.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Reading from the Gospel of Luke 9:12 -17

Now the day was ending, and the twelve came up and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; because here, we are in a secluded place.” But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” But they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.” (For there were about five thousand men.)

But He said to His disciples, “Have them recline to eat in groups of about fifty each.” They did so, and had them all recline. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He blessed them and broke them, and gave them to the disciples again and again, to serve the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.

Come

Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup

You will never Hunger or Thirst.

 Let Us Pray

Hymn Panis Angelicus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4OlTE7El0E

June 12th Feast Day Greetings

 

Dear Sister Marie,

Your Family, Friends and Cluny Sisters wish you blessings and peace as you celebrate your Feast Day on the beautiful Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.

Glory be to the Father, Source of all Life,
Glory be to the Son, Savior and Redeemer,
Glory be to the Holy Spirit, Counselor and Advocate.

June 6, Feast of Mary, Mother of The Church

Pope Francis promulgated a new feast in honor of Mary in 2018, Mary, Mother of the Church. It is always to be on the Monday after Pentecost—today. It’s a new feast, but with an old title.

Of course, Mary was there at the birth of the Church when Jesus entrusted the beloved disciple to her at the foot of the Cross (John 19:25-27) and in the Upper Room, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles, and all those gathered with them, at Pentecost (Acts 1:14).

This title of Our Lady, has its origins in early Church Fathers: St. Augustine, who said that Mary is the mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she co-operated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church, while Pope St. Leo the Great said that the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and Mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church” [from Pope Francis’ decree].

According to the Vatican News, the Holy Father wishes to promote this devotion to Mary, Mother of the Church,  in order to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety”. Why now? Because, if ever we needed the help, direction, and example of our Blessed Mother in this world lacking a firm foundation in Christ Jesus, a world adrift in a morass of sin and moral relativism, a world which calls good evil and evil good, it is now.

Prayer to Mary, Mother of the Church

Mother, help our faith!

Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call.
Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land    and to receive his promise.
Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith.
Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature.
Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
Remind us that those who believe are never alone.
Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord!

Ave Maria Litany

Jesse Manibusan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuRKMvRlEGU

 

Pentecost is considered the Birth Day of the Church.  With the Disciples of Christ around the world we pray today for the coming of the Holy Spirit to fill us, fill our Church, fill our world with the manifold gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Three Theological Virtues         Faith, Hope, and Love
Four Cardinal Virtues                Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and 

  Temperance

Seven Gifts of the Spirit           Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, 

  Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and

  Fear of the Lord

Twelve Fruits of the Spirit        Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, 

                                               Kindness,
                                               Goodness, Generosity, Gentleness,
                                               Faithfulness, Modesty, Self-Control and

  Chastity

As it is told in the Acts of the Apostles …

On the Day of Pentecost (50 days after Easter) the Apostles and Followers of The Way were gathered together when suddenly there was a noise like a violent rushing wind and there appeared tongues of fire resting on each one and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues all understanding in their own language.

“Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout peoples from every nation under heaven.  And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. 

They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”

Missionary Disciples throughout the world today are…

         filled with the Spirit,

                  and speak of the great things that God had done.

         afraid, but

                  the Lord is in our midst and says to us:

                  “Peace be with you, peace be with you.”

         set free,

                  letting the Lord breathed upon us and say to us:

                  “Receive the Spirit, receive the Spirit.”

         we are sent forth

                  to become bearers of Christ’s reconciling love

                  many the gifts of the Spirit given…

Litany of the Holy Spirit

Dan Schutte

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp0vQdAju8Y

During the day, join the Church praying this Pentecost Sequence as we gather around the world and are filled with the Promised Advocate, the Spirit of God

              Come, Holy Spirit, come!

            And from your celestial home

              Shed a ray of light divine!

            Come, Father of the poor!

 Come, source of all our store!

    Come, within our bosoms shine.

 You, of comforters the best;

 You, the soul’s most welcome guest;

    Sweet refreshment here below;

 In our labor, rest most sweet;

 Grateful coolness in the heat;

    Solace in the midst of woe.

 O most blessed Light divine,

 Shine within these hearts of yours,

    And our inmost being fill!

 Where you are not, we have naught,

 Nothing good in deed or thought,

    Nothing free from taint of ill.

 Heal our wounds, our strength renew;

 On our dryness pour your dew;

    Wash the stains of guilt away;

 Bend the stubborn heart and will;

 Melt the frozen, warm the chill;

    Guide the steps that go astray.

 On the faithful, who adore

     And confess you, evermore

                      In your sevenfold gift descend;

                   Give them virtue’s sure reward;

                   Give them your salvation, Lord;

                      Give them joys that never end.

                     Amen.  Alleluia!

June 2nd Feast Day Greetings

Dear Sister Eugenia,

Today, your family, friends and Cluny Sisters unite to ask the Sacred Heart of Jesus to bless your life with the fullness of compassion and love.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, may Your Kingdom come

through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Happy and Blessed Feast Day!

Joseph The Worker

 

 

 

The Dignity of Work

The Dignity of the Worker

May 1 is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. 

The feast was originated by Pope Pius XII in 1955 to counter the “May Day” celebrations sponsored by the Communists. 

 But the relationship between St. Joseph and the cause of workers goes further back, all the way to the early Church, which emphasized that Jesus was himself a worker – a humble carpenter – trained by his carpenter father, Joseph.

United States Conference of Bishop Statement

The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to  make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If  the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must  be respected--the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the  organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic  initiative.

Network ISSUE AREA: INCOME

NETWORK believes in the dignity of work and the right to meaningful work for all. National legislation should move from adjusting a minimum wage to creating a living wage.

Prayer and Action

Celebrating St Joseph the Worker today, we recall all workers who have experienced injustice and sought better working conditions for themselves and those around them. The teachers going on strike, and all teachers across the United States, are shaping our education system and forming the young women and men who will soon enter the workforce, and serve as our politicians, engineers, and innovators. Their contribution to the common good cannot be understated. All workers deserve dignity, fair compensation, and safe work environments that allow them to shape our shared future and contribute to the common good.

Prayer For Those Seeking Employment 

Loving God, 

you created the human race and know each one of us by name. 

Through Christ you have chosen us to be your sons and daughters, 

and to build up your Kingdom on earth. 

Give us work so that we may share our talents with others and know the dignity and satisfaction that you give us through our work. 

Give us patience while you open doors and wisdom to see your will. 

Keep our families in your care, and provide for all our needs. 

Never let stress diminish our love for each other 

nor the desire for material things lessen our love for you. 

With confidence and trust we make this prayer thru Jesus.

 

Amen.

From: Prayers for Catholic Living

Divine Mercy Sunday

Gospel for Mercy Sunday

John 20:19-31

Jesus among His Disciples

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”  Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

Pope Francis’ Reflection

“Seeing” for ourselves

Thomas wanted to “see inside,” He wanted to touch “with his hand the Lord’s wounds, the signs of his love.” This is how Thomas is our twin, because so often we need to know for ourselves that God exists rather than taking others’ word for it. “No, we too need to ‘see God,’ to touch him with our hands and to know that he is risen for us,” the Pope said.

A Love Story

Pope Francis tells us that it is by seeing Jesus’ wounds that the disciples of all time know that we have been forgiven because we “contemplate the boundless love flowing from his heart”, a heart that beats for each person. When Thomas touched the Lord’s wounds, Jesus became “My Lord and my God.” Pope Francis describes the appropriation of God as mine as a “love story.” The uncertain, wavering disciple then falls in love with the Lord telling him: “You became man for me, you died and rose for me and thus you are not only God; you are my God, you are my life. In you I have found the love that I was looking for, and much more than I could ever have imagined,” 

Jesus, I Trust in You 

Simply speaking, then, the “Divine Mercy” is another name for the revelation of this magnificent love of God, which culminates in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Christians have long known and praised this abundant mercy. In this sense, devotion to the Divine Mercy is not new.

Less than a century ago, however, Christians were challenged by God himself to a renewed awareness and trust in His mercy, which has begun to fan the old flame of devotion into a more ardent veneration. Our Lord spoke to a young Polish nun, giving her a timeless reminder for all of humanity:

“Mankind will not have peace,” He said, “until it turns with trust to My mercy. … Proclaim that mercy is the greatest attribute of God.”

Sister Mary Faustina Kowalska, born in 1905, was a cloistered nun of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland. On Feb. 22, 1931, Jesus first appeared to Sister Faustina.

Prayer For Mercy

God is the Father of all mercies. In him we place our faith as we pray the following petitions:

Reader

For our Holy Father, Pope Francis, bishops, priests, and all the faithful:

that in this Year of Faith, each will bear witness to the love and mercy of God;

We pray to the Lord:

All:  Lord, hear our prayer.

For all who have committed grave sin and who are afraid to go to confession:

that their fears will dissolve in the face of Jesus’ longing to forgive and be reconciled to them;

We pray to the Lord:

All: Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who serve in public office:

that they govern with true compassion for the lives of the most vulnerable among us— especially unborn children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities;

We pray to the Lord:

All:   Lord, hear our prayer.

For parents:

that, by their guidance and the witness of their own lives,

they will teach their children how to love and forgive when they have been wronged;

We pray to the Lord:

All:   Lord, hear our prayer.

For the protection of conscience rights and religious liberty,

and that all people of good will may work together

against the increasing threats to these fundamental rights;

We pray to the Lord:

All:   Lord, hear our prayer.

For peace throughout the world, and especially in Ukraine, 

that ancient prejudices and hatreds will be replaced by a spirit of mercy;

We pray to the Lord:

All:  Lord, hear our prayer.

Almighty and merciful Father, we give you thanks for all of your many blessings, and we ask you to hear these petitions in the name of your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

All: Amen.

 

2022 Earth Day

 

Pursuing the Common Good 

for Our Common Home

WHAT IS EARTH DAY?

Earth Day is a secular celebration that many faith communities have incorporated into their annual calendars for awareness and action. Friday, April 22, 2022, marks the 52nd anniversary of Earth Day. This year, the secular Earth Day theme  is “Investing in Our Planet” and our Catholic Climate Covenant  program complements that Earth Day theme.

A Prayer for Our Earth

  - Pope Francis, Laudato Si

All-powerful God, 

you are present  in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace  with your tenderness all that exists. 

Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect  life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers  and sisters, harming no one. 

O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, 

so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our lives, 

that we may protect  the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. 

Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor

and the earth. 

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature  

as we journey towards  your infinite light. 

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.

Readings

READING 1

[The] common  good is to be understood [as] “the  sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.” The common  good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from those who exercise the office of authority. 

Catechism of the Catholic Church #1906

READING 2

Working for the common  good requires us to promote the flourishing of all human  life and all of God’s creation. In a special way, the common  good requires solidarity with the poor who are often without the resources to face many problems, including the potential impacts of climate change.  Our obligations to the one human  family stretch across space and time. They tie us to the poor in our midst and across the globe, as well as to future generations. The commandment to love our neighbor invites us to consider the poor and marginalized of other nations as true brothers  and sisters who share with us the one table of life intended by God for the enjoyment  of all. 

~Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence,

 and the Common Good,

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), 2001, #25.

READING 3

Integral ecology is a key concept  in chapter  four of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment. It flows from his understanding that “everything is closely related” and that “today’s problems call for a vision capable of taking into account  every aspect of the global crisis.” … Human ecology, Pope Francis argues, cannot  be separated from the notion of the common  good, which he calls “a central and unifying principle of social ethics.” Quoting Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, he defines the common  good as “the  sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members  relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.”… For Pope Francis it is obvious that “where injustices abound and growing numbers  of people are deprived of basic human  rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common  good immediately becomes,  logically and inevitably, a summons  to solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest  of our brothers  and sisters.”

Integral Ecology: Everything is Connected

Fr. Thomas Reese,  S.J. NCR Aug 27, 2015

Earth Day 2022 Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDqptXKGS0

Reflection Questions

• Why is the concept  of the common  good so central to Catholic social teaching and to our understanding on how we live our faith as a community?

• How are the concepts  of integral ecology and the common  good raised in the video segment about the Economy of Francesco? Can you think of examples of the common good and integral ecology in your life and in the life of your community?

Suggested Actions  

1) Action Alert on Climate Action

U.S. Senators are considering substantive climate provisions in budget legislation. Catholic Climate Covenant  and our partners  have launched “Encounter for Our Common  Home,” a coalition-wide advocacy campaign. By signing this Action Alert, you can send a letter to your senators,  inviting them to support  climate solutions from a place of faith and reason. This Action Alert is a critical part of the Encounter for Our Common Home campaign, which includes trainings and community-building efforts for encounters with U.S. Senators in May.  You are invited to sign this Alert now and join this transformational effort.

2) Personal  Sustainability Commitment

What are 4 things you care about and make a personal commitment to act upon. it. Listen to the cry of the Earth and the Cry of the poor  (hunger, poverty, deforestation, climate change,  biodiversity, etc.) then write a personal sustainability commitment - use the graphic below to assist you. 

Personal Sustainability  Commitment

Closing Prayer

God of all,

   Creator and ruler of the universe,

   You entrusted your world to us as a gift. 

   Help us to care for it and all people,

   that we may live in right relationship–

   with You,

   with ourselves, 

   with one another, 

   and with creation.

God of all,

   Creator and ruler of the universe,

   You entrusted your world to us as a gift. Help us to care for it and all people,

   that we may live in right relationship–

   with You,

   with ourselves, 

   with one another, 

   and with creation.

Holy Spirit,

   giver of wisdom and love,

   You breathe life in us and guide us. Help us to live according to your vision,

   stirring to action the hearts of all— individuals and families,

   communities of faith,

   and civil and political leaders.

Triune God, 

   help us to hear the cry of those in poverty, 
   and the cry of the earth,

   so that we may together care for our common  home.

Amen.

- U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops