Category: Environment

COP27 – part 3

Posted on by Diane Smyth

Cop 27 delegates worked overtime last weekend to hammer out a deal regarding a “loss and damage” fund for countries that are vulnerable to the devastating impacts of global warming.

While many applauded the historic deal as a great victory, others lamented the scantiness of detail regarding which countries can access the fund, which will contribute to it and the amount being pledged. Generally however, the deal was seen as an important first step in recognizing the difference between those who caused the climate crisis and those who have suffered its disastrous effects. Regarding a phaseout of all fossil fuels, the final draft of the summit document simply repeated the language of the Glasgow COP26 and did not include any timelines. COP 27 did however urge countries that haven’t aligned their climate plan with the 1.5C goal to do so by the end of 2023.

With COP27 concluded, many religious leaders who were present at the summit are urging world leaders to translate the commitments made in Egypt into real actions that will ensure a healthy, safe and sustainable planet for all.

Los delegados de la COP 27 trabajaron horas extras el pasado fin de semana para alcanzar un acuerdo sobre un fondo de “pérdidas y daños” para los países vulnerables a los devastadores efectos del calentamiento global.

Aunque muchos aplaudieron el histórico acuerdo como una gran victoria, otros lamentaron la escasez de detalles sobre qué países pueden acceder al fondo, cuáles contribuirán a él y la cantidad prometida. En general, sin embargo, el acuerdo se consideró un primer paso importante para reconocer la diferencia entre quienes causaron la crisis climática y quienes han sufrido sus desastrosos efectos. En cuanto a la eliminación progresiva de todos los combustibles fósiles, el borrador final del documento de la cumbre se limitó a repetir el lenguaje de la COP26 de Glasgow y no incluyó ningún calendario. Sin embargo, la COP 27 instó a los países que aún no han alineado su plan climático con el objetivo de 1,5C a que lo hagan antes de finales de 2023.

Una vez concluida la COP 27, muchos líderes religiosos que estuvieron presentes en la cumbre instan a los líderes mundiales a traducir los compromisos adquiridos en Egipto en acciones reales que garanticen un planeta sano, seguro y sostenible para todos.

The Cosmic Advent Wreath

Posted on by Diane Smyth

Elizabeth Davis rsm explores with us the meaning of the Cosmic Advent Wreath, grounded in “deep incarnation” and the way to create our own to mark the passage of the four weeks of Advent:

Week 1: Birth of the Universe   
Week 2: Birth of the Solar system 
Week 3: Birth of Jesus, the Christ
Week 4: My Birth into the whole Cosmic Body of the Universe
The 5th moment is centered in “All is One”, the moment that Pope Francis calls“the joy of our hope.”

Elizabeth’s presentation begins with the meaning of the Traditional Advent Wreath.

COP27-part 2

Posted on by Diane Smyth

The waning days of COP27 saw a first draft of a deal being worked on at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. The draft keeps the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.  However, many of the most contentious issues are still unresolved, and the summit is due to end on Friday.

For the first time in COP history, there were discussions on launching a Loss and Damage fund for countries most affected by the impacts of climatechange. However, some of these countries have pointed out that although thedraft deal mentions loss and damage, it does not include any details for launching a fund. Another unresolved issue relates to a specific plan to ratchet up targets for cutting climate-warming emissions.

COP27 officially ends on Friday, November 18, but consultation and the final draft of what has been agreed upon by the delegates will be released.

En los últimos días de la COP27 se ha presentado un primer borrador del acuerdo que se está elaborando en la cumbre del clima de Egipto. El borrador mantiene el objetivo de limitar el calentamiento global a 1,5 grados centígrados.  Sin embargo, muchas de las cuestiones más polémicas siguen sin resolverse, y la cumbre finalizará el viernes.

Por primera vez en la historia de la COP, se debatió la creación de un fondo de pérdidas y daños para los países más afectados por los efectos del cambio climático. Sin embargo, algunos de estos países han señalado que, aunque el proyecto de acuerdo menciona las pérdidas y los daños, no incluye ningún detalle para la puesta en marcha de un fondo. Otra cuestión sin resolver es la relativa a un plan específico para aumentar los objetivos de reducción de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero.

La COP27 termina oficialmente el viernes 18 de noviembre, pero las consultas y el borrador final de lo acordado por los delegados se harán públicos.

 

COP27 – part 1

Posted on by Diane Smyth

The Big Objectives of COP27 Being Held in Egypt, November 6-18.

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, or COP27, is being held as the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference, and occurs from 6 November until 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

There are three key objectives:

  1. Mitigation: how are countries reducing their emissions?

Climate Change Mitigation refers to efforts to reduce or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases through using new technologies and renewable energy sources, making older equipment more energy efficient, or changing management practices or consumer behaviour. Countries will review and present more ambitious 2030 emissions targets since current plans are still not enough to avoid catastrophic warming.

  1. Adaptation: how are countries going to adapt and help others do the same?

Climate change is here. Beyond doing everything we can to cut emissions and slow the pace of global warming, countries must also adapt to climate consequences to protect their citizens from more fires or floods, droughts, hotter or colder days or sea-level rise for a more climate-resilient future especially for the most vulnerable communities. Developed countries agreed to at least double finance for adaptation. Players must come on board – governments, financial institutions, and the private sector.

  1. Climate Finance: the elephant that never leaves the negotiation room

Developing countries are making a loud call for developed countries to reassure sufficient and adequate financial support, particularly to the most vulnerable. The yearly $100 billion promise by developed nations isn’t being delivered.  Experts expect COP27 to actually make this pledge and other commitments a reality finally, in 2023.

You may wish to keep the participants & aims of COP27 in your prayers and are invited to post your prayer in our prayer room.

 

La mitigación del cambio climático se refiere a los esfuerzos para reducir o prevenir la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero mediante el uso de nuevas tecnologías y fuentes de energía renovables, haciendo que los equipos más antiguos sean más eficientes energéticamente, o cambiando las prácticas de gestión o el comportamiento de los consumidores. Los países revisarán y presentarán objetivos de emisiones más ambiciosos para 2030, ya que los planes actuales siguen siendo insuficientes para evitar un calentamiento catastrófico.

 2. Adaptación: ¿cómo van a adaptarse los países y ayudar a otros a hacer lo mismo?

El cambio climático ya está aquí. Más allá de hacer todo lo posible para reducir las emisiones y ralentizar el ritmo del calentamiento global, los países también deben adaptarse a las consecuencias climáticas para proteger a sus ciudadanos de más incendios o inundaciones, sequías, días más calurosos o más fríos o de la subida del nivel del mar para lograr un futuro más resistente al clima, especialmente para las comunidades más vulnerables. Los países desarrollados acordaron al menos duplicar la financiación para la adaptación. Los actores deben subir a bordo: los gobiernos, las instituciones financieras y el sector privado.

3. Financiación climática: el elefante que nunca abandona la sala de negociaciones

Los países en desarrollo están haciendo un llamamiento a los países desarrollados para que garanticen un apoyo financiero suficiente y adecuado, especialmente a los más vulnerables. La promesa anual de 100.000 millones de dólares por parte de las naciones desarrolladas no se está cumpliendo.  Los expertos esperan que la COP27 haga realidad esta promesa y otros compromisos finalmente, en 2023.

Si lo desea, puede tener presentes en sus oraciones a los participantes y los objetivos de la COP27, e invitarles a colgar su oración en nuestra sala de oración.

 

 

Season of Creation 2022 is underway!

Posted on by Diane Smyth

We are called to personal and communal reflection and action

Week Five: 30 September – 4 October: Advocacy

This week of the Season of Creation calls us to amplify the many diverse voices that are crying out to us from our suffering Earth- home and from its most vulnerable creatures, both human and non-human.  Most of us are aware of climate-change catastrophes, loss of biodiversity and other critical issues facing our planet, but awareness and lament are not enough. It is a well-known fact that those who have the least in our world and who have contributed least to the climate crisis suffer the most. Their voices cry out, but they are not easily heard at the national or global levels.  Our call as Christians is to amplify these voices through advocacy.

While advocacy begins with listening, reflection and dialogue, it cannot stop there. In Laudato Si, Pope Francis challenges us on our lack of basic awareness of our common origin, of our mutual belonging and of a hope-filled future for everyone. He further reminds us that at this present time “a greater cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, demanding that we set out on the long and difficult path of renewal.” This week focuses us on this challenge and calls us to action.

How can we begin to advocate on behalf of Earth and earth’s vulnerable people? A few simple steps may put us on that path …

  • Educate ourselves about at least one area of deep concern to people today: loss of biodiversity, air pollution, global warming, fossil fuels, water pollution. Talk to at least two other people about your concerns in this area
  • Write and/or sign letters and petitions to provincial and federal governments related to one or other of these concerns that affect the people of your area
  • Participate in a current advocacy campaign
  • Sign the petition “Healthy Planet, Healthy People” calling on world leaders to advocate on behalf of our common home and our common family – at this link:

A short prayer service on the Gift of Water is provided for anyone who wishes to use it for personal or communal reflection. This prayer calls us to listen to Water and to ask forgiveness for our waste and carelessness regarding its use.

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Week Four: 23-29 September: The Burning Bush – Take Off your shoes

Shrubs of the Euonymus alatus, also known as winged euonymus or burning bush 

Week Four of this special season calls us to wonder and awe. Carl Sagan, astronomer, cosmologist and planetary scientist speaks of the thirst for wonder as a deeply human quality. He asserted that Nature is a lot better at inventing wonders than we are.

As we read, reflect and pray this week, let us look around us and really see the beauty of nature that our God has given us on this wonderful Earth.

As we look,
let wonder fill us;
let gratitude well up in us;
let the Divine Mystery present in all creation lead us to deeper respect and love;
let respect, compassion, awe and celebration be our response to whatwe hear and see and experience this week.

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Week Three: 15-22 September: The Burning Bush – God’s Presence

The fire that attracted Moses’ attention on Mount Horeb while he was tending his flock did not consume or destroy the bush.  God’s fire is not ultimately destructive. It is rather a sign of God’s Presence and life-giving and life-sustaining energy.This marvellous phenomenon that Moses experienced declared God’s presence in the midst of ordinary life.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning captures this reality inher little poem:

                                    Earth’s crammed with heaven
                                    and every common bush afire with God;
                                    but only those who see take off their shoes …
                                    the rest sit around and pluck blackberries.

 As we ponder this evocative image, let us in this third week of the Season of Creation,  reflect on all those situations/events/experiences that call us to stop, take notice of and engage with the experience.  We have all experienced “burning bush” moments. These moments occur when we sense that God is seeking our attention, speaking to us, calling us to participate in what God is doing in our midst. The Burning Bush experience changed Moses’ life.  These moments can change our lives and the lives of those to whom God sends us.  They draw us into a deep engagement with the living God, Who is always present and active in our lives and in the lives of those around us, especially those who suffer oppression, alienation and injustice of any kind.

As we become more conscious that all of life is holy ground, we become more attuned to what Pope Francis calls the “sweet songs of praise” and the “anguished pleas” coming from all parts of creation, both human and non-human. Week Three offers us another opportunity to tune in to those voices of creation, and to bring them the loving heart of God.

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Week Two: 8 – 14 September: The Burning Bush – Physical Fires

Today the prevalence of deadly wildfires is a sign of the devastating effects of climate change on the most vulnerable of our planet.  Disintegration of ecosystems have led to habitat destruction and loss of livelihood for many of Earth’s species. Forests are being wiped out, animals are being driven out of their natural habitat, and forced migration of peoples all over the world are all happening at an alarming rate.

In this second week, we are again urged to listen to and really heed the different voices of creation.  Moreover, we are being called to recognize our negligence and destructive patterns and to lament and ask pardon for our refusal to heed the anguished cries of Earth and her creatures. Laudato Si speaks very poignantly of our current situation:

The pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has stretched the planet’s capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes.

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Week One: 1-7 September: Beginning the 2022 Season of Creation.

The theme for this year “Listen to the Voices of Creation” provides opportunities for deep reflection and sharing on the gift of creation, with its many different voices, both those that are loud and clear and those that are barely heard or not heard at all. Let this be an opportunity for us to take note of the many different voices that call us to listen, to really hear and heed what Earth and Earth’s people are asking of us in these times.

The symbol of the Burning Bush, the revelation of God’s Presence, is a reminder to us to “take off our sandals, contemplate our connection to holy ground, listen for the voice of creation and be filled with hope to quench the fires of injustice with the light of God’s healing love that sustains our common home.”

Season of Creation 2022

Posted on by Diane Smyth

The launch of the Season of Creation 2022 took place on February 23 of this year.

The theme for this year is Listening to the Voice of Creation and the symbol is the burning bush.

The Season of Creation is an ecumenical time, inviting Christian communities around the world to unite in prayer and action for creation. Patriarch Dimitrios 1 proclaimed September 1 as a special day of prayer for creation for his Orthodox community in 1989. The World Council of Churches was instrumental in expanding this day of prayer to a full season, and in 2015 Pope Francis made the season official for the Catholic Church.

The symbol of the burning bush was chosen:

  • in reference to the physical fires with the consequent loss of life and property and being experienced by so many people in our world, as well as the terrible devastation of the environment
  • in reference to the Book of Exodus where fire symbolizes God’s presence close to each of us. God heard the voice of all who suffered and promised to be with them in their suffering
  • in reference to “taking off our shoes” because we are indeed on sacred ground. Our current lifestyle which disconnects us from nature is unsustainable

The Season of Creation opens on September 1 and closes on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. This is simply a preview of this upcoming special season.
As in previous years, it is our hope that our congregation will again be involved in celebrating the Season of Creation in union with all our sisters and brothers around the world as we reflect together on our relationship with our Creator and with all of creation.

For further information, please use the following link:

https://seasonofcreation.org/resources/

Sisters of Mercy Newfoundland Recognised as ‘a Blue Community’

Posted on by Diane Smyth

On Friday, 19 October, Ms. Andrea Furlong, Interim Chief Executive of the Council of Canadians, presented the Congregation with a certificate as a Blue Community, the 20th group in Canada to commit to the honoring and protection of water, and one of only 47 groups yet to do so worldwide.

The presentation took place at McAuley Convent, St John’s, where a number of Sisters had gathered for this event. A brief ritual which included a blessing of water was prepared and led by Sr. Mona.

A ‘Blue Community’ adopts a water commons framework by taking three actions:

1.       Recognizing water and sanitation as human rights.

2.       Banning or phasing out the sale of bottled water in municipal facilities and at municipal events.

3.       Promoting publicly financed, owned, and operated water and wastewater services.

In May the Congregation prepared its Statement of Commitment outlining its dedication to implementing water and sanitation as human rights.

Commitment Statement in EnglishCommitment Statement in Spanish

‘We make this commitment for the good of all in keeping with the integrity of all creation and in a spirit of humility and gratitude for water and the many gifts lavished on us by the Creator of all.’

A guide prepared by the Council of Canadians, providing information and resources to help a group become a blue community, can be downloaded
here (28pps, PDF)

Images: Used with permission . Sam McLeish, The Telegram

Opening of Greenhouse at The Gathering Place

Posted on by fw-admin

On August 25, 2017 a number of people were part of the official opening of a brand new greenhouse at the Barnes Road garden of the Gathering Place.

Representatives of the Gathering Place, staff, volunteers and guests along with the President, teacher, students and parents of St. Bonaventure’s College, Presentation and Mercy Sisters, Archbishop Martin Currie and others watched as students cut the red, blue and gold ribbons.

The greenhouse and the raised bed gardens are part of a collaborative ecology and food project between St.Bonaventure’s College and the Gathering Place that will provide a teaching and learning environment as well as an array of health foods for the cafeterias of both facilities. Today the beds were lush with cabbage, kale, lettuce, zuchinni, peas, herbs and more yet to grow. Marigolds and sunflowers added some color to the garden whilediscouraging grubs and encouraging bees!

Thanks and appreciation was expressed to the teachers, parents and students involved in the building of thegreenhouse, to the summer students and Roger who build the raised beds that had been planted earlier in the summer and the stairway, and to the donors of soil, gravel, wood, plants.

After the cutting of the ribbons a beautiful chocolate cake decorated to look like a kitchen garden was served to those present.

Join the Mercy World in Prayer on the Second Anniversary of Laudato Si’

Posted on by Diane Smyth

To mark the second anniversary of the release by Pope Francis of his encyclical letter Laudato Si’, Sisters of Mercy across the globe have committed to 9 Days of Prayer and reflection using the Prayer for our Earth.

The 9 Days of Prayer will commence on Saturday, 10 June and conclude on Sunday 18 June, the actual anniversary of the document’s release. It is one outcome of the Mercy International Reflection Process where we listened attentively to ‘the cry of Earth and the cry of the Poor’.

Resources for the 9 Days of Prayer include:

a reflective logo

the prayer sheet

a poster

reflection pages with additional resources for each of the 9 Days.

 

Access all the resources here and join us in prayer for Earth and the Earth community.

Invitation to Participate in ‘Mercy2Earth’ weekend

Posted on by Diane Smyth

22-23 April this year is Mercy2Earth weekend. That name, an initiative of the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM), comes from Saturday being known since 1970 as Earth Day and Sunday this year being Divine Mercy Sunday.

As part of our Mercy global response to the ‘cry of the Earth and the cry of the Poor‘, Mercy International Association (MIA) has created resources for use on this weekend and beyond. In using the term ‘Mercy to Earth’ and in working with the existing MIA logo, MIA is highlighting in a particular way our response to the invitation of Pope Francis: ‘May the works of mercy also include care for our common home’.

Further information and posters can be accessed on the Mercy International Association website