Our Time of Transformative Action

Peter Healy, Kiwi Marist, writes:  Manaakitia a Papatūānuku tō tātou kāinga/Let us care for Earth our common home.

The Dicastery For Promoting Integral Human Development has released the Laudato Si Action Platform for "preparing a future" together. This Platform is an invitation to the whole Church to undertake and deepen our ecological conversion over the next seven years. As the Dicastery release puts it, "assisted by a multi-year rollout process, the action platform will be dedicated to assisting local communities on their journey towards integral ecology through actions based on global knowledge and local realities."

Every Catholic is called to engage; families, parishes and dioceses, schools and universities, religious orders, hospitals and healthcare centers, all church organizations and groups. The plan is to double participation in each sector over the next seven years. This growing involvement is about a peoples movement creating a critical mass that will usher in our much needed radical transformation. The spirit of integral ecology is paramount in the Action Platform Goals. Responding to the cry of Earth, responding to the cry of the poor, learning about ecological economics, adopting simple lifestyles, encouraging ecological spirituality and ecological education and engaging in community and participatory action is our entry into this spirit. A series of prayers for each day of the week accompanies the Action Platform.

The Laudato Si Goals focus on rebuilding and redefining our relationships with each other and our common home. The seven goals are holistic. In the spirit of integral ecology we can start with any goal and take action on other goals as interrelationships open up. 

For example, growing food in our backyard can begin as the goal of a simplified lifestyle, this can lead into ecological education around growing systems, composting, garden design, community engagement, home cooking and health. Having our hands in the soil means we are more likely to hear the cry of Earth in all her harms and pain. The cries of our hurting common home are inseparable from the cry of the poor. In a simplified lifestyle we are in solidarity with the poor and can join them in living with less. Carbon footprints and consumption patterns are lessened. Privileges and unexamined beliefs come into awareness. Focusing on all that is possible in our backyard we engage in a form of ecological economics. Our home becomes integral with who and how we are as homemakers. Where we live is no longer an "inert external thing", it becomes a living earth community that can teach and lead us on the path of transformative action.

The Laudato Si Goals assist us to "dwell poetically" in our place. We come into an integrity with our home, our neighborhood and the crises of our wider Earth community. We grow spiritually and come to see connections across all the goals. We come to know that Earth does not belong to us. We belong to a Common Home and are in a covenantal relationship of gift and promise. We are called to serve, to grow in love and to honor, all that has been bequeathed us in God's gracious self-giving.

So let the transformative action begin! Let our ecological conversion proceed apace!

These are urgent and unprecedented times. Let these seven-fold goals be our seven-fold vision of a world made new by care, inclusion, peace and sustainability.

E te Whaea Tapu, Hine nui o te Ao Katoa,    tō tātou Kaiwhakaruruhou,   tō tātou Awhina,   whakawhenuatia mātou, i rotot i tō wairua aroha.

Holy Mother Woman of the whole world,  protect us and help us,  ground us in your spirit of love.

Peter Healy sm       This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  Te Whānau Maria,   Pukekaraka,   Ōtaki.

December 2021

Become a Laudato Si Animator:  Become a Laudato Si' Animator. Receive in-depth online training and inspire your community to care for creation.   https://laudatosianimators.org/

Are Qualifications or experience necessary?  NO!  No expertise is needed. People from all backgrounds and walks of life have what it takes to share the message of creation care with their communities. The climate crisis affects all of us, and we're all needed to solve it.

Course Requirements The climate crisis is a big challenge, and it requires a big response. This course will prepare you for spiritual growth and transformative community leadership. The course includes weekly readings, videos, participation inn four webinars (or watching recordings), completing homework, writing reflections, and participation in online discussion groups.

How long does the course take? The webinars will take one hour each, and together with the other activities, the course should take three to four hours each week. There are additional resources for those who wish to be more engaged.

What are the next steps after training? You'll work with your community to organize an activity that brings Laudato Si' to life during the Season of Creation. We are aware that in many countries, physical gatherings are restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic, so we'll learn about creative ways to take action online.

Will I receive a certificate at the end of the course? YES! If you have completed all the requirements, you will be issued a certificate of completion, which will be distributed during the online graduation in October.