Care for Creation Ministry
Come join us and share in this work of planetary (and home) conversion! Anchored in Laudato Si, we the members of the C4C Ministry, commit ourselves to the process of EDUCATING, ADVOCATING, and COLLABORATING as means of calling our Saint Thomas More Catholic Community and the broader local Faith communities to a more active engagement in the issues dealing with the Care of Our Common Home.
OUR GOALS:
- Provide information about climate change and to foster activities that reduce its negative effects
- At the parish level we try to highlight practical steps we can take to reduce our carbon footprint and to foster hope and forward movement
- We try to keep up with policy proposals at the local, state, and national levels so that our community can be part of a moral/spiritual voice on issues such as alternative energy sources, oil pipelines, and renewable energy standards
- Increase awareness of moral and faith issues related to environmental issues, as outlined in Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis’s encyclical on environmental stewardship
- Encourage individuals and households to help promote sustainable living
- Work toward healing environmental injustices that often hurt poor and marginalized people the most
CURRENT & UPCOMING EVENTS:
The STM Care for Creation ministry invites you to join a discussion group beginning this September (the Catholic Church’s “Season of Creation"). Pope Francis issued his encyclical, Laudato Si’, in June 2015. The release of Laudato Si’ was a historic event, as Pope Francis issued a powerful message on our moral responsibility to care for creation. We will organize circles of 6-8 people, and each week we'll read a chapter from Laudato Si' and discuss via Zoom. Pope Francis’ hope is that we will discuss this encyclical with spirit and grow into what he calls an “eco converted people."
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UNIVERSAL APOSTOLIC PREFERENCES
Universal Apostolic Preferences are the fruit of a process of discernment lasting almost two years. All Jesuits, in collaboration with lay partners in ministry throughout the world, have spent time in reflection and dialogue to discern the core principles that will guide our mission for the next ten years. These themes were presented to Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, who, with the approval and directive of Pope Francis, crafted them into our new four Universal Apostolic Preferences. They give a horizon, a point of reference to the whole Society of Jesus. They unite us in our mission.
1. PROMOTING DISCERNMENT AND THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
2. WALKING WITH THE EXCLUDED
3. CARING FOR OUR COMMON HOME
4. JOURNEYING WITH THE YOUTH