Laudato Si’ Quote
12. What is more, Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness. “Through the greatness and the beauty of creatures one comes to know by analogy their maker” (Wis 13:5); indeed, “his eternal power and divinity have been made known through his works since the creation of the world” (Rom 1:20). For this reason, Francis asked that part of the friary garden always be left untouched, so that wild flowers and herbs could grow there, and those who saw them could raise their minds to God, the Creator of such beauty. Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.
For reflection:
- How might I read the “magnificent book” of nature this week?
- Are there places where I am being called to see the world as a “joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise”?
- How does my prayer life nurture such a vision of the world?
Justice for Immigrants
More than 400,000 people live in the United States under Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Learn more about what this means for many immigrants here. For a short video explanation of TPS, click here. For information on how it affects Haitian immigrants, click here.
Climate Change
Do you think of climate change as a racial justice issue? If not, you might consider reading why it is by reading this.
At the intersection of race, poverty, and climate change/environmental degradation, lives are in jeopardy. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, may his memory be a blessing, called this “climate change apartheid.” Read more here.
Dismantling Racism
Click here to access the MLK Prayer Service
Celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday by rereading “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” - you can access it in full here.
Fifty-nine years later, its truth still stands and stings:
“I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: "All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.”
Ending Human Trafficking
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Take the time this month to become more aware and to share your awareness with others.
- Check out these “Twenty Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking” here.
- For a full toolkit of resources to use this month from the US Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking, click here.
- Check out the updated Ending Human Trafficking webpage of the AMSSND site for more information.
The USCSAHT urge you to contact your Representative to co-sponsor the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victim Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2021 (TVPRA) HR 5150 bill. Programs currently funded by the previous TVPA are set to expire soon. For more information, and for an easy to use online form to contact your Representative, click here.
Partnership in Haiti
One of the most important projects within the SSND -Beyond Borders partnership in Haiti is the work to stop the trafficking of children. Take a moment to listen to the stories of two of the beneficiaries of counter-trafficking partnership work. Listen to the story of Helia and Mireille click here
