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Writer's pictureProfiles in Catholicism
Jun 24, 202234 min read

Climate and Environment Challenges

Updated: Jun 28, 2022



A Message from the Editor


People are dying globally; losing their homes, and face starvation because of climate challenges. In Chicago at a senior housing building, three women died from the heat this June. Death, agony, and destruction are in the genetic code of the climate crisis. We all need to do whatever possible to have our countries at the forefront of climate activism and to pray daily to reduce the omnicide of climate change.


Old adages are often true, such as out of sight, out of mind. Let us not forget

the horror of the Uvalde children massacre and continue to pray for these precious souls.

I know the mother of one of the children killed Putin’s war. Please pray for all of the children who have died in the Ukraine war.


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A Quote to Remember


by Pope Francis


Prayers


Saving the planet Earth


Let the students march and speak, Let the youth protest and cry, Let the day of justice roll on, and May they change the world with truth and confound the lie. The world is heating, we are cooking ourselves to death, We are burning coal and oil and everything we can, We are the arsonists of this planet and will bring it to an end, We will soon return to the primeval state from where we first began. So raise your banner and join the march, Let your voice be loud for all to hear, There is nothing more important than we stand, As one against intimidation and fear. The climate is changing, the forests are burning and falling down, The oceans are filled with plastic and the earth is turning from green to brown. We must challenge the politics and the powers, The tycoons of industry and corruption all around, We must cry foul, to save the Earth, The climate is changing for the worst, and that is the greatest threat. I see the hope in the voices of the youth, That demand with Greta that change must come I feel the strength and the mighty power of honesty and the truth, The people are on the move, the children and the old, The brave and courageous youth. They will change the minds and hardened hearts, they will restore the Planet to green and blue, They will live and fight for what is so right, good, and true. by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism


A prayer to protect the environment


“Incorporation”


Dear Lord, you grew from the gift of your nourishing mother, Mary,

Who had drunk from the water and eaten from the food of the land:


What splashes of light, dazzled, broke and burst from the jars, as they

Filled to the brim, were scooped off to drink and poured off to wash.

What sounds of work, whether choosing and carrying the wood of a

Carpenter, toiling in the heat and sheltering in the shade of the foliage.

What contrasts in the flowers, colored shadows, coolness in the night, Nurturing listening, listening again, and again talking with the Father.


Oh Creator-God, how amazing are the atomic particles which glue As water whooshing, swirling and umbrelling into flowing shapes

Challenging us to think liquid, droplets, vapour and solid as the Rise and fall of heat transports a “sticky” flow from state to state.


Dear Lord, you were baptised by the Baptist, in the Jordon waters off mountains, passed by the land, into the liturgy of entering the Church:


What numberless times you healed broken hearts and bodies in Israel So tendrils of praise reached, like in a lightning storm, to your Father.

What skies shone in the firmament, showing through from the Beginning, the out of reach splendour of colouring swathes of heaven.

What time you gave to giving us a whole life, unhampered in the Giving, taking into life all who came and did come and are coming.


Oh Creator-God, how human you have made us, making us to be Among each other, like the community that you are, giving each One of us a unique identity, conceived-in-relationship, raised in relationship, ready to meet you and us in this “place of meeting”.


Dear Lord, you were born into a family, extended over time by the welcome of others, whether their parents died or were too ill to care.


What gathering of others and being gathered, whether walking and Working with Joseph, helping to bear the load of low-income living.

What is left of your garments, woven from plant threads, fibre science Passed from generation to generation, woven well into a single whole.

What everyday delights in the spaces between home and being away, In the fruit of the land, in the Synagogue and in the singing of psalms.


Oh Creator-God, how many gifts you poured into men and Women, from the use of human hands to shape and write, sing, invent, to philosophise, to understand, like good doctors, how to work with the grain of growth and to give a word from you to help.


Dear Lord, you took to yourself the goodness of creation and there, beheld, that wheat and grapes, worked by human hands, are changed:


What hours of work, from preparing the ground to planting, to Carefully picking off the slugs and bugs and giving them another diet.

What suffering as a blight takes hold and defeats the ingenuity of man,

Who bleeds from his heart as the earth’s yield diminishes and drops.

What hope arises with the help of God to persevere and plant again, Joined in so many ways to the help of others, sending grain-as-gifts.


Oh Creator-God, how intricately woven are the tiny organs, Encased within seeds, embryonic unfolding of plants, shooting Down and rising up, twirling around sticks, flowering orangy-red, Hosting insects, losing colour and growing beans and flowering.


Dear Lord, how we wrought a thorny crown out of what had grown, nails and hammer out of the ore of the earth and a cross from a tree.


What mangling of the human body we have practiced, especially Upon the innocent, the vulnerable, the undefended, in denial of death.

What freezing, experimentation, plans of torment we have explored In the flesh of the living, imagining we will not answer to our Maker.

What hidden wounds we have inflicted on ourselves at each turn of The pain that wells up, when we are addressed by our very actions.

Oh Creator-God, how beautiful is the recreation of the lost, the Poor and poor of heart, the broken and abandoned, the renewal of Planet home, the replanting, recycling, revisiting the places of Hatred with songs of reconciliation and understanding of wounds.


Dear Lord of the Resurrection, let us rise with you in time, hoping to begin the transfiguring ascent, taking what love everlastingly does!

by Francis Etheredge Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for the victims of mass murders and genocide.

Lord we remember the Holocaust the most henious crime the world has

ever known. Six million murdered most of the victims were like you

Jesus. Jews , innocent victims, children, women, teenagers, men. The

world said never again, but it has and is happening again, ethnic

cleansing, mass murder.

Lord may your example of love and service change the violent people to

peace makers, call the wrongdoers to repent, inspire leaders to end

violence and war, may we live in unity in your friendship. Amen by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for the parents of Uvalde children massacre As a Mother of 3 sons and a Grandmother of 5 young children, I ask you to hear my prayer. My heart has been filled with prayer for the parents of the children as the beg God to help them heal from the horror of Uvalde. The parents bring the child into the world with joy and God's blessings of Baptism and graces. They steer the child through the journey of following God in their life: .from teaching them how to walk, ride a bike, have fun with others, and learn to watch out for one another. From their domestic home they learn to love the God of their parents and honor what the parents call into importance. The parents want the children to know/love and serve God and each other. They understand that the child is a constant and consistent responsibility. The parents want their children to know and love the familiarity of God's saving presence. On the day of this massacre, the parents started the day with a quiet blessing and cereal, they were busy with socks, shoes, school supplies and all that begins the day. We ask you, Lord to bless these men and women of faith as they turn to you for help. We ask you this in the name of the Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit. by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for the Victims of the Afghanistan Earthquake


Oh Lord, we join with Pope Francis in praying

For all in Afghanistan who have lost their lives and their families.

And we pray that the Pope’s call for all who can help

To all alleviate the suffering of the dear people of Afghanistan

Will be headed and that all aid agencies will be able to send teams to the area

Immediately to prevent further catastrophe

And help all those in need.

All Catholics, all Christians, and all those of faith whatever their denomination

Must come together in prayer.

And we must urge those of all countries to come together

In this hour of dire need for the people of Afghanistan.

Oh Lord we pray that this will happen,

That the world, all peoples of the world, will join their hands

To help those in need

Today and in the future.

Amen


A Prayer for the Murdered Jesuits

Good and Glorious God.

The Jesuits of Mexico announced Tuesday that two of their priests were killed Monday inside a church in a mountainous region of Chihuahua state. Fathers Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar had served as Jesuit priests for nearly a century combined. The gunmen who carried out the June 20 attack on the church in Cerocahui, Chihuahua also took their bodies. Heavenly God, the Father, these men gave their lives to you and the people of Mexico. They lived with the love of the Lord in their hearts. They knew people who needed their help and they provided that help. Looking at their faces one could see the depth of their love and service to the Lord. May the Holy Spirit console the fellow men working as priests in their community and all the people of God touched by their lives. May the love that they brought to those they served bring a sense of joy as it continues in their community Please bless us all and put in our hearts the beauty of the peace that comes with death. We ask you this, through the Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for the Murdered Nigerians Christ Jesus, you spent your time on earth in praise of our Creator God and

in affirming the inherent human dignity of all people. We pray for the the Nigerians murdered as they followed your example at the Eucharistic celebration. May they enjoy eternal peace in your presence as we remember their witness to your gospel. As we pray for them we plead for an end to the violence and civil strife that have plagued their homeland. Let

us together say Amen. by Father John Pawlikowski,OSM Profiles in Catholicism


Climate and Environment Challenges Interviews

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Book Reviews, Commentaries, and Excerpts

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Events

Remembering Those Who Have Died

  • Obituary of Father Anthony M. Gaydos, O.S.M.

Feasting with the Saints

  • July 11 - St Benedict’s Feastday

Videos


EarthBeat: Climate-conscious young Christian voters and the 2020 election - YouTube


On Care for Our Common Home: C. Vanessa White - YouTube


Do it now, Sing for the Climate (English version)


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