Did you know? The Latin word for “Tree” is “Arbor”…sure you did!!!

Trees make a difference!

National Arbor Day is the Tree Planter’s holiday, and has been celebrated since 1872. It began in Nebraska, a largely treeless plain back in the 1800′s. It is a day to plant and dedicate a tree to help nature and the environment. Millions of trees are planted on this day.

The National Arbor Day Foundation provides millions of trees for planting. It is estimated that 18 million tress are planted each year on Arbor Day.

On Arbor Day, people are encouraged to plant and care for trees. A wide range of events are organized to promote Arbor Day. These include: communal tree planting ceremonies; proclamations by city governments; exhibitions and educational activities on trees and their importance to local communities and the planet as a whole; and fairs, musical performances and open days in garden centers. Schools are encouraged to plan lessons around the theme of trees. Arbor Day awards are also presented to individuals and organizations across the United States and around the world. These are awarded for outstanding service to trees, forestry or related ecological themes.

bird day, Bird Day, held on May 4th, is often celebrated in conjunction with Arbor Day.

1 The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, *
the world and all who dwell therein. 

2 For it is he who founded it upon the seas *
and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.

- From Psalm 24

Earth Day — April 22 – each year marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest “to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. ” “It was a gamble,” he recalls, “but it worked.”

The fight for a clean environment continues.

We invite you to be a part of this history and a part of Earth Day. Discover energy you didn’t even know you had. Feel it rumble through the grass roots under your feet and the technology at your fingertips. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come.

While these facts may be grim, there is hope for real solutions as more and more people around the world are waking up to the clean water crisis. Earlier this year, the UN declared access to clean water a human right and groups like charity: water and Water.org continue to work tirelessly to bring water access to the developing world.

Sunday, September 12, 2010
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Rob Goeller, Richard Graney and Mike Fabry sort freshly picked sweet corn at the Villa Maria farm west of New Castle. Mr. Goeller is a volunteer beginning a year's stay on the farm. [Photo Credit - Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette

“See the praying mantis?” said Mr. Moreira, director of land management at Villa Maria, the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary in Lawrence County. Part of the Catholic sisters’ ministry is an organic farm, and the mantis will eat pests that eat crops.

“If we used pesticides, they would be the first to die. But they help us. They are part of our team,” he said.

The team is five paid farm workers, supported by an army of volunteers. They help the sisters accomplish their mission of feeding the poor and teaching how to live in harmony with God’s creation. At least half of the produce they grow is given to charity.

Villa Maria, which bridges the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, is a town with its own post office, a 300-acre farm and a 400-acre sustainably managed forest. Another 26 acres hold the convent, apartments for the elderly and a vast retreat-and-conference center with amenities ranging from an indoor pool to a 400-seat chapel. It was also the site of the first hospital the sisters founded after they arrived in 1864 and began using their knowledge of herbs to aid victims of smallpox.

“If you think of all the prayer and good works that have been done on this land, you can feel it,” said Juliane Arena, the marketing director for Villa Maria.

Farming and monasticism have been entwined for 1,500 years. In the sixth century. St. Benedict declared, “[T]hey are truly monks if they live by the labor of their hands.”

But the Sisters of the Humility of Mary never farmed in France, where they were founded a decade before emigrating in 1864.

“They knew how to do things like make lace and teach music,” said Sister Joanne Gardner, the archivist and director of communications. Their mission was to educate girls from French villages. But when a missionary priest begged for a few sisters to teach French settlers in the Ohio wilderness, the entire community of 11 sisters responded.

They accepted a gift of wetlands that neither the bishop of Pittsburgh nor the bishop of Cleveland wanted. They farmed it where others had failed.

Until the 1960s, novices worked in the field, tended cattle and collected eggs. Frank Romeo, now 76, began helping in their gardens as a 9-year-old, when his mother worked in the kitchen. In 1955 the sisters hired him to run the farm, where he still volunteers as land manager emeritus.

“It was always organic,” he said, because all farming was until the mid-20th century. In its heyday it had, in addition to vegetables, 12 acres of orchards, 11,000 laying hens, 500 meat chickens, 75 beef cattle and 500 hogs. The Villa Maria community reached its height in the late 1960s with more than 600 sisters. Those who lived at the motherhouse ate their own produce and sold the rest to support their ministries.

But the Catholic religious communities and American farms experienced separate crises, with both facing dramatic declines in the 1980s. By the mid-1980s the sisters couldn’t afford to raise livestock. They dissolved their farm corporation and laid off all workers except Mr. Romeo. They told him to grow potatoes and sweet corn for the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

“That was the beginning of our outreach,” he said.

A call from God

Meanwhile, Sister Barbara O’Donnell was asking God what she should do next. After entering the community in 1965, she spent many years teaching school and religious education before taking a sabbatical in 1990.

During a four-month retreat in the Adirondacks, she became profoundly aware of the beauty of the earth and the changing seasons. She read books on the intersection of environmentalism and faith.

“I was praying for God to direct me for what would be next in my life,” she said. “I woke up one morning and said, ‘Education for the earth.’ I came home, having had what I considered a direct call from God.”

She began researching the history of the farm and learning about its operation from Mr. Romeo. She believed the sisters’ mission of cultivating the virtue of humility was directly tied to their cultivation of land, on which they were humbly dependent for God’s providence.

“We see this earth as a gift from God, and we are responsible for it. We want to care for it in a sustainable way, so that we can have a healthy habitat and healthy soil for healthy food for future generations of all species,” she said.

She and Mr. Romeo offered classes and retreats on a spiritual approach to organic gardening and sustainable living. Villa Maria’s produce isn’t certified organic, because the sisters can’t afford the $800-$1,000 annual fee for the inspections and verification required to obtain that designation, Mr. Moreira said

“You can’t afford to do that when you give away so much. If I had $1,000, I’d spend it on a refrigerator or a stainless steel sink for the market barn,” he said.

“But if we wanted to be certified organic tomorrow, we could be. All of our practices are documented.”

Ed Petrus, a district conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services, considers Villa Maria a showplace. While he has to press other growers to follow environmental regulations, the sisters are eager first-adopters of those practices who go beyond what is required.

“It’s a pleasure to work with them,” he said.

He has hosted meetings for other growers and conservationists at the villa.

“Walking around, seeing people actually implementing all the things we are talking about, is very rewarding,” he said.

A greenhouse was erected a decade ago to raise poinsettias and Easter lilies for sale. A small herd of cattle supplies the sisters with their own diet of organic beef. They also raise sheep.

Mr. Moreira grew up working on his grandparents’ farm and had a master’s degree in sustainable agriculture. But he was supporting his family with a print shop when he saw “a very odd ad” for a “full-time seasonal organic gardener.

“That’s as rare as a diamond in dust,” he said.

He was soon promoted to director. The sisters encouraged his passion for old growth forests. Their oaks, maples and hickories are lightly harvested, with an eye to retaining trees needed to sustain wildlife or protect wetlands.

Last year, blight destroyed the tomato crop in less than a week. Mr. Moreira applied no fungicides and used crop rotation to stave off the deadly fungus this year. Because potatoes are vulnerable to the same disease, the workers and volunteers moved their biggest give-away crop to a field nearly a mile away.

“At this point, it seems that it’s working,” he said.

Sharing a legacy

The farm takes immense labor, much of it volunteer. Individuals and families can do service retreats there. A high-ranking executive of a major corporation has helped at the height of spring planting for several years.

“It’s her vacation, and she’s working 10 to 12 hour days to help us plant all of our crops,” Mr. Moreira said.

Two social service agencies offer youth offenders from the inner city the opportunity to work on the farm as an alternative to incarceration. Mr. Moreira said they have a great work ethic.

“They are fascinated by certain things. If one of them finds a bird’s nest in a blueberry patch, they all go over to look,” he said.

Long-term help comes from college interns and post-college volunteers who donate a year.

After graduating from Xavier University in 2009 with a degree in social work, Rob Goeller, 23, spent a volunteer year with Americorps before taking the sisters up on their offer of food and housing for labor.

“Everyone I graduated with who hasn’t done a year of service is unemployed,” he said.

On Tuesday he was picking pumpkins. He had already gained experience mixing cattle feed, castrating calves and loading up boxes for donation.

“It adds a lot of meaning to what I do to know that half the food is going to shelters and food pantries.” he said.

The sisters recently gave 746 pounds of zucchini and squash to the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank in Duquesne, which supplies local soup kitchens and food pantries.

“When they first called us about donating, they wanted to make sure that we didn’t sell the produce. That was their concern,” said Michelle Herrle, gleaning coordinator at the food bank.

Whatever isn’t given away, sold or eaten becomes compost.

“The sisters won’t use anything that isn’t compostable,” Ms. Arena said. Composting is one of the lessons they teach in classes, camps and retreats.

“They are very concerned to educate the laity about what they do, because no one is sure about the future of these lands,” she said. The sisters are aging, and they want to ensure that others — even if they aren’t sisters — will carry on their legacy.

The community numbers 171 now, with the majority living outside Villa Maria. Many work in schools and health care, though one runs an orphanage in Haiti.

Villa Maria is home to 47 sisters, most of them retired. They can’t work the fields, but many have organic flower gardens and some make oils or wreaths from Villa-grown herbs. Those are sold with produce in the market barn, which is open to the public for half-days, Wednesday-Saturday.

Each year the season ends with a public Harvest Day Celebration, which will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 2. The food is all from Villa Maria. There are hayrides, drum circles, games, crafts and composting lessons. The last produce of the season is sold.

The celebration began 11 years ago to thank God for the harvest and to thank the volunteers for their labor. But 1,200 came last year.

The sisters’ ministry “is really an effort to share this land with others,” Mr. Romeo said. “This land was a gift to them, and they are making it a gift to others.”

Villa Maria can be reached at www.humilityofmary.org or 724-964-8920.

First published on September 12, 2010 at 12:00 amAnn Rodgers can be reached at arodgers@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1416.

Full article is here: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10255/1086940-455.stm

The year 2010 is the International Year dedicated to Biodiversity. To this end, UNCCD aims to sensitize the public to the fact that desertification, land degradation and drought dramatically affect the biodiversity resident in the soil.

There is a close relationship between livelihood and ecosystem wellbeing, and soils that are rich in biodiversity. Healthy soils produce life, and yet soil health depends a lot on how individuals use their land. What we do to our soils determines the quality and quantity of the food we eat and how our ecosystems serve us. Our increasing ecological interdependence also means enhancing soils anywhere enhances life everywhere

The World Day to Combat Desertification has been observed since 1995 (General Assembly Resolution A/RES/49/1995) to promote public awareness relating to international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought, and the implementation of the UNCCD. Last year, more than 40 events took place all over the world (see the 2008 report). We can celebrate the Day through organizing activities such as seminars, media events and campaigns. Every single activity involving community participation and cooperation is encouraged!

For more information about the Day, please contact:secretariat(at)unccd.int

We would be delighted to hear from you about how your country plans to mark the Day. The information received will be posted on our website.

-Pope Benedict XVI, July 24, 2007

(Adapted from the 1991 statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Renewing the Earth)

1. A God-centered and sacramental view of the Universe.

In a God-centered (i.e. theocentric) and sacramental view, nature’s beauty and diversity reveal something about God.  God is present and active in Creation, while also transcendent.  “Faced with the glory of the Trinity in Creation, we must contemplate, sing, and rediscover awe,” said John Paul II.

“Reverence for the Creator present and active in nature may serve as ground for environmental responsibility,” wrote the U.S. Catholic Bishops.  “For the very plants and animals, mountains and oceans, which in their loveliness and sublimity lift our minds to God, by their fragility and perishing likewise cry out, ‘We have not made ourselves.’  God brings them into being and sustains them in existence.  It is to the Creator of the universe, then, that we are accountable for what we do or fail to do to preserve and care for the Earth and all its creatures….  Dwelling in the presence of God, we begin to experience ourselves as part of Creation, as stewards within it, not separate from it.”

“Jesus set before me the book of nature.” ~ St. Thérèse of Lisieux

“Accustom yourself to seeing God in everything, because nature is a reflection of God.  Oh!  How He sparkles, shines, dazzles and is radiant in the invisible and the visible.” ~ Padre Benedetto Nardella

“The whole world is asleep, and God so full of goodness, so great, so worthy of all praise, no one is thinking of Him!  See, nature praises Him, and man, who ought to praise Him, sleeps!  Let us go, let us go and wake up the universe and sing His praises!” ~ Blessed Mariam Baouardy

2. A consistent respect for human life, which extends to respect for all Creation.

The Church approaches the care and protection of the environment from the point of view of the human person.  Men and women are created in the image and likeness of God.  Fostering and protecting human life and dignity, from conception to natural death, lies at the heart of the Church’s social teachings.  We now realize that respect for human life and respect for nature are inextricably linked.  According to John Paul II, “Respect for life and for the dignity of the human person extends also to the rest of Creation, which is called to join man in praising God.”

Shamefully, the reverse is also true: Our lack of respect for life extends also to the rest of Creation and is an underlying cause of social injustice and environmental destruction.

The womb is the most endangered human environment in the world today.  The right to life precedes and underlies every other social and environmental issue or group of issues.

3. A world view affirming the ethical significance of global interdependence and the global common good.

Recent ecological concerns have heightened our awareness of just how interdependent our world is.  According to John Paul II, “Today the ecological crisis has assumed such proportions as to be the responsibility of everyone….  Its various aspects demonstrate the need for concerted efforts aimed at establishing duties and obligations that belong to individuals, peoples, states, and the international community.”

4. An ethics of solidarity promoting cooperation and a just structure of sharing in the world community.

We are all part of one human family — whatever our national, racial, religious, economic, or ideological differences.  Solidarity is a firm and preserving determination to commit oneself to the common good, and a willingness to lose oneself for the sake of others, including future generations.  “The ecological crisis,”  John Paul II has written, “reveals the urgent moral need for a new solidarity, especially in relations between the developing nations and those that are highly industrialized.”  Solidarity must take into consideration not only the needs of all peoples but also the protection of the environment in view of the good of all.

“We are all part of God’s Creation — we live as a human family.  The whole of Creation is everyone’s heritage.  All equally created by God, called to share the goods and the beauty of the one world, human beings are called to enter into a solidarity of universal dimensions, ‘a cosmic fraternity’ animated by the very love that flows from God….  We must learn again to live in harmony, not only with God and with one another, but with Creation itself,” said Archbishop Renato Martino at a 1992 UN conference in Rio.

All persons are called to a solidarity of universal dimensions that embraces all of Creation , entrusted to the care of all.

5. An understanding of the universal purpose of created things, which requires equitable use of the Earth’s resources.

God has given the fruit of the  to sustain the entire human family, including future generations.  “The world is given to all, not only to the rich,” said Pope Paul VI.

In the words of John Paul II:

It is manifestly unjust that a privileged few should continue to accumulate excess good, squandering available resources, while masses of people are living in conditions of misery at the very lowest level of subsistence.  Today, the dramatic threat of ecological breakdown is teaching us the extent to which greed and selfishness — both individual and collective — are contrary to the order of Creation, an order that is characterized by mutual interdependence.

6. An option for the poor, which gives passion to the quest for an equitable and sustainable world.

The ecological problem is intimately connected to justice for the poor.  “The goods of the Earth, which in the divine plan should be a common patrimony,” said John Paul II, “often risk becoming the monopoly of a few who often spoil it and, sometimes, destroy it, thereby creating a loss for all humanity.”  According to the U.S. Bishops, “The option for the poor embedded in the Gospel and the Church’s teachings makes us aware that the poor suffer most directly from environmental decline and have the least access to relief from their suffering.”  It is important to note that populations of poor people are never the primary cause of ecological destruction; rather, they are its victims. 

“Those who hold goods for use and consumption should use them with moderation, reserving the better part for guests, for the sick, and the poor” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2405).

Blessed Mother Teresa expressed the option for the poor well when she said, “Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not sharing.  Jesus made it very clear.  Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.  Give a glass of water, you give it to me.  Receive a little child, you receive me.  Clear.”

Our duty is not only to share our wealth, but also to promote the values, institutions, and rights that properly generate wealth, including respect for life, liberty, free market economies, private property rights, the rule of law, and the right to a safe environment.  No amount of aid can ever be enough if the leaders of developing countries do not respect their people, open their markets, invest in better health and education, and abide by a legal system that is fair and consistent.

7. A conception of authentic development, which offers a direction for progress that respects human dignity and the limits of material growth.

Much of the destruction of Creation is caused by sin, including the sins of arrogance, greed, and disrespect for life.  Add to that human ignorance and error.  These lead to rampant consumerism, haphazard development, social injustice, the indiscriminant application of technology, and ultimately violence.  John Paul II has said, “In his desire to have and to enjoy rather than to be and to grow, man consumes the resources of the Earth and his own life in an excessive and disordered way….  The mere accumulation of goods and services, even for the benefit of the majority, is not enough for the realization of human happiness.”

Instead of limiting ourselves to mere “sustainable development,” Catholics strive for more: We strive for authentic development.  Numerous social conditions, including the right to life, liberty, respect for the person, food, clean water, clothing, health, work, education and culture, peace, security, the right to establish a family, and a safe and beautiful environment, impact our ability to realize our human dignity and reach our full potential.  Humankind carefully and wisely develops Creation so that the whole of Creation reaches its full potential, according to God’s will.

A full Introduction to Catholic Environmental Justice and Stewardship Edited by Bill Jacobs, ecologist and director of the Catholic Conservation Center

As a result of a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed in December 2008, World Oceans Day is now officially recognized by the UN as June 8th each year.

The concept for a “World Ocean Day” was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and it had been unofficially celebrated every year since then. Since 2002, The Ocean Project and the World Ocean Network have helped to promote and coordinate World Oceans Day events worldwide. We help coordinate events and activities with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations, universities, schools, and businesses. Each year an increasing number of countries and organizations have been marking June 8th as an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea.

Together, we also developed and widely circulated a petition to the United

Nations urging them to officially recognize World Oceans Day. With help from our Partner organizations, tens of thousands of people from all parts of the world signed online or paper copies of the petition. Congratulations to all for helping to make this happen!

Designation of World Oceans Day provides an important boost to those organizations and individuals who have been deeply committed to ocean conservation. Official UN designation is another important step toward improving the health of our world’s ocean.

World Ocean Day Theme for this Year

June 5, Many Species, One Planet One Future

As people of religious faith, we bishops believe that the atmosphere that supports life on earth is a God-given gift, one we must respect and protect. It unites us as one human family. If we harm the atmosphere, we dishonor our Creator and the gift of creation. The value of our faith calls us to humility, sacrifice, and a respect for life and the natural gifts God has provided. Pope John Paul II reminds us in his statement The Ecological Crisis: A Common Responsibility that “respect for life and for the dignity of the human person extends also to the rest of creation, which is called to join man in praising God.” (John Paul II, The Ecological Crisis, no. 16). In that spirit of praise and thanksgiving to God for the wonders of creation, we Catholic bishops call for a civil dialogue and prudent and constructive action to protect God’s precious gift of the earth’s atmosphere with a sense of genuine solidarity and justice for all God’s children. . - US Catholic Bishops, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good, 2001

“The complexity of the ecological question is evident to all. There are, however, certain underlying principles which, while respecting the legitimate autonomy and the specific competence of those involved, can direct research towards adequate and lasting solutions. These principles are essential to the building of a peaceful society; no peaceful society can afford to neglect either respect for life or the fact that there is an integrity to creation. Respect for life, and above all for the dignity of the human person, is the ultimate guiding norm for any sound economic, industrial or scientific progress.” John Paul II, 1990 World Day of Peace, no. 7.

“Man’s dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2415

World Environment Day (WED) 2010 is aimed to be the biggest, most widely celebrated, global day for positive, environmental action.

World Environment Day is June 5

Commemorated on 5 June since 1972, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and encourages political attention and action.

Through WED, we are able to give a human face to environmental issues and enable people to realize not only their responsibility, but also their power to become agents for change in support of sustainable and equitable development.

WED is also a day for advocating partnerships among all stakeholders or perhaps, even more correctly, among all species living on this one planet and sharing a common future.

WED 2010 is aimed to be the biggest WED celebration ever and we count on you to make this happen! We call for action – organize a neighborhood clean-up, stop using plastic bags and get your community to do the same, plant a tree or better yet organize a collective tree planting effort, walk to work, start a recycling drive . . . the possibilities are endless.

Whatever you do, tell us about it. We will post your activities on this website and make it part of the ‘Wide World of WED’ map.

So what are you going to do for WED?

Read more about WED 2010: 
Rwanda hosts WED 2010
Know More About Rwanda
Many Species. One Planet. One Future.

Many Species. One Planet. One Future.

Did you know that you are one in a million? Or more precisely, one of millions on this wondrous planet – anywhere in fact between an estimated 5 million to 100 million species. Scientist have only managed to identify about 2 million species so far. If you think about it, that means there a huge amount we still don’t know about our planet or whom we share it with. What we do know though is that humans are among only a handful of species whose populations are growing, while most animals and plants are becoming rarer and fewer.

A total of 17,291 species are known to be threatened with extinction – from little-known plants and insects to charismatic birds and mammals. This is just the tip of the iceberg; many species disappear before they are even discovered.

The reason? Human activities. With our present approach to development, we have caused the clearing of much of the original forest, drained half of the world’s wetlands, depleted three quarters of all fish stocks, and emitted enough heat-trapping gases to keep our planet warming for centuries to come. We have put our foot on the accelerator, making species extinctions occur at up to 1000 times the natural rate.

As a result, we are increasingly risking the loss of the very foundation of our own survival. The variety of life on our planet – known as ‘biodiversity’ – gives us our food, clothes, fuel, medicine and much, much more. You may not think that a beetle in your backyard or grass growing by the roadside has a fundamental connection to you – but it does. When even one species is taken out of the intricate web of life, the results can be catastrophic.

For this reason, the United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. It is an opportunity to stress the importance of biodiversity for human well-being, reflect on our achievements to safeguard it and encourage a redoubling of our efforts to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss.

The theme of WED 2010 is “Many Species. One Planet. One Future.” It echoes the urgent call to conserve the diversity of life on our planet.  A world without biodiversity is a very bleak prospect. Millions of people and millions of species all share the same planet, and only together can we enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

As we celebrate WED, let us consider carefully the actions each of us must take, and then address ourselves to our common task of preserving all life on Earth.

Through WED, we can employ our individual and collective power to stem the tide of extinction. Our conservation action has brought some species back from the brink, and has restored some vital natural habitats around the world. On WED, let us resolve to do much more, and much faster, to win the race against extinction!

The congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family, a community of Roman Catholic Sisters, was founded in San Francisco, California in 1872. Committed especially to serving families and children, the Sisters of the Holy Family were pioneers in the establishment of quality and affordable child care (1878) long before its widespread existence today. The Sisters of the Holy Family take strong local and national leadership in religious education for children, adults and the physically and mentally challenged.

Other ministries include: Grief Counseling, Hospital Chaplaincy, Religious Education Programs, Parish Administration, Social Work, Personal Growth, Spiritual Direction, Ministry with Immigrants and Anti-Trafficking efforts, Prison Ministry and a host of collaborative projects to meet emerging needs without neglecting the ministries of the past. Associates of the Sisters of the Holy Family also share with the Sisters their ministries in California, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Illinois, Florida, South Dakota, Arizona and Missouri. The outreach is diverse in response today’s Gospel call to serve those in need.

Today, the Motherhouse is located in Fremont, California and is the center of the Congregation’s administration. The Sisters of the Holy Family (“Sisters”) have been the owners since 1949 when it was purchased for use as a spiritual and training center for novices. Since that time, the Sisters have privately maintained the grounds as one of the jewels of Fremont, featuring a beautiful landscaped setting amidst a number of historic resources.

Click here for a link to a beautiful slide show of the property!

Offering

The Sisters of the Holy Family (the “Sisters”) are pleased to present this opportunity for Interested Parties to submit proposals for a portion of their existing property, commonly known as Palmdale. This northernmost portion of Palmdale is hereinafter referred to as the “Subject Property.”

Property Description

This 14.82-acre property is the remnant of a landscaped residential estate called Palmdale, developed between the 1850s and the 1930s by the Beard, Gallegos, Lachman, Metzger, Starr and Best families. Since 1949, the grounds have served as the Motherhouse of the Sisters of the Holy Family. The primary significance of the site is the landscaped setting with its multiple historical associations.

Landscaping includes mature trees, manicured lawns, a curving driveway, paths, footbridges, pergolas, gazebos, grottos, statuary, and bridges. The site slopes up the east, where Mission Creek runs through the property and where there are two ponds with fountains. The principal historic structures are two large and impressive Period Revival houses facing the central green, both built in the 1920s. Other older buildings include the houses’ original garages and, at the southwest corner of the property, an altered caretaker’s residence (ca. 1920s) adjoined by a shed.

The largest building on the site is the Motherhouse, a larger two-story stucco-clad building erected in 1959 at the south edge of the central green, facing the Period Revival houses and adjoined by parking lots. The generally rectangular property is bordered by Mission Boulevard on the east; by residential subdivisions on the north and west; and by several modern developments on the south – a commercial building fronting on Mission Boulevard and a private school and affordable housing development fronting on Washington Boulevard.

The access road to the Motherhouse runs through the affordable housing development. It veers to the east around the Motherhouse, passes through the main parking lot, and then curves to the west where it becomes a circular drive in front of the Motherhouse and the two Period Revival houses. The central green and the rear yards of the house consist of manicure lawns bordered by a variety of mature trees, including palms, evergreens, and deciduous trees. The east portion of the gardens, uphill from the central green, is thickly planted with trees. Mission Creek passes through this east area from south to north, contained within modern concrete retaining walls. Two large ponds with water jets occupy the eastern edge of the grounds, and there are lava-rock grottos distributed throughout the gardens. The north portion of the property retains an abandoned section of Olive Avenue (which once extended through the grounds). The eastern boundary, along Mission Boulevard, is bordered by a high hedge with gates and by a row of very tall Mexican fan palms.

• If you are a religious leader, we encourage you to sign Earth Day Network’s Global Warming in the Pulpit Pledge , and mark your commitment to preach on global warming.
• Lay leaders can join this movement by inviting your faith leader to sign the Pledge.

Richard A. Bloom, InterFaith Conference

If you want to inspire the world with your Earth Day sermon, send us the video of your religious service and we will post it on Earth Day Television. For more information on how to do this, email communications [at] earthday.net.

Year-round resources for communities of faith:

• National Cathedral Spotlight on Global Warming Sermon, The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III (pdf). Watch the sermon on Earth Day TV!!
• A Jewish Response to Climate Change, Rabbi Warren Stone (pdf)
• A Christian Call for Action on Climate Change, Rev. Theresa S. Thames (pdf)
• Earth Day 2006 Religious Panel Discussions on Earth Day TV

The National Campus Day of Prayer and Reflection on Global Warming

The National Campus Day of Prayer and Reflection on Global Warming is bringing people of all faiths from the different university communities across the U.S. to consider how their tradition speaks to the pressing issue of global warming, and to act as a springboard religious communities to become involved in action to fight global climate change. The National Campus Day of Prayer and Reflection is sponsored by Stanford Memorial Chapel at Stanford University, and Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and the Religion and the Environment Initiative at the University of Chicago. To link to the National Campus Day of Prayer and Reflection website, click here.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The degradation of the environment is a pressing moral problem that threatens peace and human life itself, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Pope Benedict XVI, World Peace Day

“We cannot remain indifferent to what is happening around us, for the deterioration of any one part of the planet affects us all,” the pope said in his message for World Peace Day, Jan. 1.

Government policies, the activity of multinational corporations and the day-to-day behavior of individuals all have an impact on the environment, the pope said. While the future of the world hangs in the balance because of what people are doing today, the negative effects of pollution and environmental exploitation already can be seen, he said.

“Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions?” the pope asked.

Already, he said, the world is seeing the “growing phenomenon of ‘environmental refugees,’ people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat” to migrate in search of food, water and unpolluted air.

“It is becoming more and more evident that the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle and the prevailing models of consumption and production, which are often unsustainable from a social, environmental and even economic point of view,” the pope said.

In addition, he warned of the “actual and potential conflicts involving access to natural resources.”

“Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is thus a duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all,” the pope wrote.

“Our present crises — be they economic, food-related, environmental or social — are ultimately also moral crises and all of them are interrelated,” Pope Benedict wrote.

Solving the crises will require people to work together and take responsibility for their individual actions, he said. Specifically, a solution will require “a lifestyle marked by sobriety and solidarity, with new rules and forms of engagement, one which focuses confidently and courageously on strategies that actually work, while decisively rejecting those that have failed.”

This incredible speech was given by a 13 year old at the United Nations.

To the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009

December 7 to 15, 2009

As hope filled people, we stand in awe of Earth’s goodness and its capacity to provide abundant life for all God’s creation. We recognize our interconnection with Earth ‐‐ with air, water, land, plants and other creatures. We recognize the dignity of the human person as an individual and as part of a community. We embrace our power and responsibility to create a human economy that fits within Earth’s ecological boundaries, more authentically serves human needs and builds community.

We envision:

¬ A new economic model that embodies social and ecological values bound by Earth’s biophysical limits.

¬ A sufficiency‐based economy where all people, regardless of gender, race or other characteristics, equitably share access to Earth’s gifts that nourish and sustain them: nutritious food, clean water, suitable shelter; where “development” is measured by a society’s success in increasing human well being while preserving ecological balance rather than by its gross domestic product.

¬ A just global distribution of resources, knowledge and technology such that well‐being flourishes in communities of less industrialized nations that have experienced “underdevelopment” – and “de‐growth,” or downsizing occurs in communities in industrialized nations that use a disproportionate share of Earth’s resources.

¬ A world where all have secure, meaningful, and ecologically responsible livelihoods and where human activity, based on cooperation, promotes ecological regeneration, the preservation of beauty and the restoration of previous damage.

¬ A “closed loop” real economy where recycling and reuse are maximized.

¬ People with sufficient resources, opportunities, freedom, and time to care for one another, engage in civic life, expand their creativity, and deepen their spirituality.

¬ Communities living in peace with sufficient public resources and freely shared knowledge to ensure health and wholeness for Earth and all its inhabitants.

¬ Governance that is participatory and transparent, through which policy decisions are made as locally as possible, consistent with the reality that every locality is part of a global society.

Yet we witness:

¬ The destructive power of a growth‐driven economic model that ignores Earth’s limits and its need to rest and regenerate.

¬ The valuing of money and material goods more than humans and ecosystems.

¬ The inherent violence of an economy that grows along with the wealth of a few individuals and corporations while the natural world and human well being – the clearest signs of God’s bounty – suffer and deteriorate.

¬ The use of international financial institutions, corporate lobbying and marketing, think tanks, major media and military force to secure the wealth and power of a small part of society while a great many others, especially women and people of color are often excluded.

¬ “Free trade” and economic globalization that increase ecological depletion and leave masses of people vulnerable through deeper poverty and insufficient access to food, water, education and health care.

¬ The loss of people, cultures, species and traditional knowledge forced aside as our lives are dominated by a world view that seeks economic growth regardless of the consequences;

¬ Soul‐deadening over‐consumption and the endless quest for “more” that paralyzes far too many people in wealthier societies.

We also witness the sheer increase in throughput of material and energy in the economy due to expanding consumer demand and economic growth that contribute to climate change, species extinctions, loss of biodiversity, depletion of freshwater and other resources, ocean dead zones, topsoil degradation, deforestation, dying coral reefs and the decimation of ocean fish stocks.

We stand firm in our commitment to a new way of life and a different economy, based on the integrity and dignity of all creation, the common good, ecological health and resilience, sufficiency, equality, solidarity, caring for the most vulnerable and impoverished, and decisionmaking at the most local level possible. This will require innumerable inter‐related changes; among them, the four that follow will serve to guide our work:

1) Paradigm Shift in Mindset and Values: An essential shift from an ethic of exploitation to an ethic of right relationship is essential for individuals and for society. This will entail change from a focus on material goods to holistic well‐being; from excess to sufficiency; from exclusion to inclusion; from competition to cooperation; from pursuing privilege to serving the common good; from the pre‐eminence of humanity to the reverence for all life.

Toward this end we will be guided by the wisdom of our sacred scriptures and religious traditions, especially Sabbath traditions of Leviticus and Deuteronomy and the inclusive table of Jesus, which • provides enough for everyone, with no one storing up more than is needed; • cares for the widow, orphan, stranger and traveler; • honors a weekly Sabbath, providing rest and human restraint from busy, frenetic economic activities; • allows the land to rest every seven years; • decrees a Jubilee every 50 years, when slaves are freed, debts cancelled and families have their land restored to them; and • models the breaking of bread, by creating strong communities built on care for one another.

2) Public policies for an Economy of Right Relationship: Starting from the deep recognition that the economy must fit within Earth’s limits – where resources are not used faster than they can be regenerated and wastes are not deposited faster than they can be safely assimilated. Policies must change to move toward a steady state economy in overdeveloped industrial countries and sustainable development in impoverished countries. Current institutions and rules must change so that individuals, communities and whole societies can participate equitably in the economy and share in Earth’s bounty. Financial institutions should embrace the principle of subsidiarity, allowing decisions to be made at the most local level possible. Priority should be given to policies that distribute wealth widely and decentralize economic power.

Toward this end we will seek to understand more fully what transformations are required to attain economic right relationship. We will promote a serious reorientation of the global economy away from growth and toward human development. We will pursue changes in laws, policies, international agreements, and institutions to create a more durable, resilient and fair economy. We will examine our lifestyles and decrease consumption. We will advocate for sustainable levels of resource use and safe quantities of waste production, including equitably assigned reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

3) An Economy of Thriving and Resilient Communities: In living the new paradigm and strengthening its hold on society we will shift from a perception of ourselves as independent individuals to ourselves as interdependent members of thriving communities. All have something to contribute as we give and receive gifts and talents among neighbors through barter systems, cooperatives and worker‐owned businesses. Community‐based investment and economic development will help individuals to deepen their connection with the place where they live and will keep resources circulating locally. This will build community assets and strengthen social ties. We will embrace subsidiarity – decisions will be made at the local level by the very people whose lives are impacted most.

Toward this end we will learn more from the sustainable community‐level examples known well by indigenous peoples and already functioning in our local communities in the United Sates and around the world, spread those ideas, participate in them ourselves and express our solidarity by supporting their efforts.

4) Return of Corporations to their proper place in society: In order to achieve the changes described above, it is clear that we must decrease the amount of influence that corporations wield in government and society in general. The reigning forces in our world should serve the interests of the common good, rather than the private interests of a wealthy few. Corporations should be accountable not only to shareholders, but also to, their workers, regulatory bodies, the communities in which they are embedded, and the natural world.

Toward this end we will study the history and design of the corporation to better understand its proper role in a just world. We will declare a separation of corporation and state and work for initiatives to decrease corporate influence in government, the media and our lives. We will work to stop reckless financial practices that exploit natural resources and people. We will help cultivate financial institutions that respect Earth’s limits and ensure economic participation with dignity for all people.

Our call to others: Grounded in our faith and speaking from our core principles and values, we call on people of good will to join us in re‐examining the false panacea of a development model dependent on over‐consumption. We seek a new understanding of the proper place for humans in the created world and right relationships within the human community and between the human and Earth communities. We place our hope in God’s grace and the human capacity to face all these challenges with innovation, faithfulness, and creativity and to ensure the common good so that all living things might flourish.

Endorsements:

Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries, Oak View, CA Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy Holy Cross International Justice Office Leadership Conference of Women Religious Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns Spirituality and Ecological Hope

This incredible speech was given by a 13 year old at the United Nations.

A Powerful “Must Read” from the President of an Island Nation
Climate change is impacting low-income countries today.  As world leaders gathered in New York this week, delegates heard an impassioned plea from the President of the Maldives.  He noted that his country is regularly invited to testify as to how climate change impacts this island nation.  Participants gathered ring their hands and pledge to do more.  And then the conference ends, people go home, good intentions are buried in busy lives.  He says this cycle must end.  His statement is well worth the time and echoes key themes from the Vatican and the US Bishops. Read President Mohamed Nasheed’s statement here.

Celebrate the Feast of St. Francis by Promoting the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor
The Franciscan Action Network and the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change invite you to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis by taking the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor. Resources to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis focused on climate change are all available on our website on the Catholic Climate Covenant Resources page.  Materials (available in English and Spanish) include, bulletin insert, prayer and worship suggestions, homily suggestions and much more!

Learn how Our Mother of Sorrows Parish in the Diocese of Tuscon, AZ is promoting the St. Francis Pledge for the Feast of St. Francis on their Holy Ground, Common Ground blogspot.

Learn more about a Catholic approach to climate change!
Sign-up for the Franciscan Action Network’s October 15 FREE Live Webcast (8-10 pm eastern time), “Care for Creation National Web Summit.”   Panelists will discuss ways that Catholics are embracing a new ethic of ecological stewardship, provide concrete actions to reduce your carbon footprint, and offer a primer on climate change legislation now before Congress.   To register for the webcast go here.  Event Cost : FREE Contact Person : Russell M. Testa
Contact: creation@franciscanaction.org

Story:  Diocese of Orange, CA Holds Annual “Blessing of the Waves”
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, CA will, in solidarity with other faith traditions, host the second annual “Blessing of the Waves” at the iconic Huntington Beach Pier (400 Pacific Coast Highway) October 4, 2009, 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.  This interfaith gathering seeks to recognize the spiritual significance of our most cherished natural asset and calls on participants to curb environmental degradation from climate change, toxic emissions, and other pollution.   Read more here.

Catholic Organizations and the Environment

Rooted in the faith and social teaching of the Church, and essential for sustaining and enhancing the quality of human life, promoting environmental justice is not an optional activity.

Catholics have recognized this fact in very practical, institutional ways. To a remarkable extent, they have integrated environmental justice into the work of their parishes, schools, hospitals, women’s groups, relief and development agencies, advocacy organizations, and rural ministries. As a result, environmental concerns are becoming a permanent and essential feature of Catholic religious life and social action.

• The Environmental Justice Program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops calls Catholics to a deeper respect for God’s creation and engages parishes and dioceses in activities aimed at dealing with environmental problems, particularly as they affect the poor.
• Major Catholic religious, health, social service and policy organizations have formed the Catholic Coalition for Children and a Safe Environment (CASE). Together, these organizations have reached out to thousands of Catholic schools, health care organizations, and individual members with the message of caring for creation and protecting children from environmental threats. Read more.
• The National Catholic Rural Life Conference promotes family farms, a healthy environment, and strong rural communities through education, advocacy, publications, communications services and support for rural pastoral ministries.
• The Campaign for Human Development supports community-controlled self-help organizations of the poor, including grass-roots organizations struggling for environmental justice.
• Catholic Relief Services provides international relief assistance that incorporates environmentally sound approaches to economic development.
• The National Council of Catholic Women mobilizes Catholic women’s organizations to care for the environment through its “Earth in Our Hands” program and offers an annual environmental stewardship award.
• The National Catholic Educational Association works to make Catholic schools safe and healthy environments by providing information, resources and Environmental Health Grants.
• The Catholic Health Association of the United States has formed a Partnership for Environmental Responsibilityto help Catholic health care ministries reduce the environmental impacts of their use of resources and disposal of waste.

There are also regional Catholic environmental organizations, such as:

• New Jersey Catholic Coalition for Environmental Justice
• Michigan Catholic Rural Life Coalition

Catholic Environmental Service Projects

As the U.S. Bishops have written, social ministry is at the core of parish life, not a peripheral option. Catholic parishes and dioceses are responding to God’s call to serve their neighbors and care for the earth through many and varied environmental justice projects.

Rooted in scripture, nourished by worship and prayer, guided by Catholic social teaching, these activities have included:

• Support for small farmers, agricultural workers, economically stressed rural communities, and local food systems.
• Jobs programs, neighborhood clean-ups, community gardens, and other efforts to improve the economic and environmental circumstances of low-income urban residents.
• International assistance that both relieves poverty and contributes to the health of the environment for people in the developing world.

Care for God’s creation has been expressed in the restoration and preservation of woodlands, wetlands, prairies and savannas by religious communities such as Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Marianist Environmental Education Center in Dayton, Ohio.

The Church also promotes environmental justice and stewardship through major national agencies:

• National Catholic Rural Life Conference serves as a catalyst and convener for social justice in food, agriculture and rural environmental issues.
• Campaign for Human Development supports community-controlled self-help organizations of the poor, including grass-roots organizations struggling for environmental justice.
• Catholic Relief Services provides international relief assistance that incorporates environmentally sound approaches to economic development.
• National Council of Catholic Women mobilizes Catholic women’s organizations to care for the environment through its “Earth in Our Hands” program.

Please visit the National Religious Partnership for the Environment

The Rogation Day Tradition:  Rogation Days, are days set aside to observe a change in the seasons… they are tied to the spring planting. As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, Rogation Days are “Days of prayer, and formerly also of fasting, instituted by the Church to appease God’s anger at man’s transgressions, to ask protection in calamities, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest.”

What was the purpose of Earth Day? How did it start? These are the questions I am most frequently asked. 

Actually, the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country.

Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political “limelight” once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. I flew to Washington to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. The President began his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.
I continued to speak on environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. All across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation’s political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not. 

After President Kennedy’s tour, I still hoped for some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called “teach-ins,” had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me – why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment? 

I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a big gamble, but worth a try. 

At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air – and they did so with spectacular exuberance. For the next four months, two members of my Senate staff, Linda Billings and John Heritage, managed Earth Day affairs out of my Senate office. 

Five months before Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the astonishing proliferation of environmental events: 

“Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation’s campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam…a national day of observance of environmental problems…is being planned for next spring…when a nationwide environmental ‘teach-in’…coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned….” 

It was obvious that we were headed for a spectacular success on Earth Day. It was also obvious that grassroots activities had ballooned beyond the capacity of my U.S. Senate office staff to keep up with the telephone calls, paper work, inquiries, etc. In mid-January, three months before Earth Day, John Gardner, Founder of Common Cause, provided temporary space for a Washington, D.C. headquarters. I staffed the office with college students and selected Denis Hayes as coordinator of activities. 

Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.

All creatures of our God and King; Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam, Thou silver moon with softer gleam!

Refrain:  O praise Him! O praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong;

Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,

Ye lights of evening, find a voice! Ref

Thou flowing water, pure and clear, Make music for thy Lord to hear,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright,

That givest man both warmth and light.

Refrain

Dear mother earth, who day by day; Unfoldest blessings on our way,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
The flowers and fruits that in thee grow, Let them His glory also show.  Refrain

And all ye men of tender heart, Forgiving others, take your part,
O sing ye! Alleluia!

Thomas came to believe in the resurrection only after he saw for himself the wounds in Jesus’ hands, feet and side. We today must grow in our faith without such eyewitness evidence, yet the earth herself — the creation of the divine Creator – carries the message in everything that grows from seed: seed rises to new life from dark earth, the grain must die in order to yield its fruit. 

In the spirit of the Earth Charter, in the spirit of the Church’s own Rogation Days, and in recognition that we will soon be planting a vegetable garden, today we are going to ask God’s blessing on the soil, seed and water that will give rise to new life on our Motherhouse grounds. 

Soil:<!–[if supportFields]>tc "Soil\:"<![endif]–><!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>

(sister will hold soil aloft)

Creating God,

we give you thanks that in the richness of soil,

nature awakens your call to spring.

We praise you for the smell of freshly tilled earth,

for the beauty of a cleanly cut furrow,

for the poetry of a well-plowed field.

We ask that you help us to be good stewards of the land.

We make our prayer in the name of the One who gives us new life,

Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Seed:<!–[if supportFields]>tc "Seed\:"<![endif]–><!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>

(sister will hold seed aloft)

Giver of life,

you have given seed for the sower and food to your people.

We ask that you nourish, protect and bless the seeds

which your people have sown and will sow in hope.

By your loving and bountiful gift of life,

may they bring forth their fruit in due season,

through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Water<!–[if supportFields]>tc "Water"<![endif]–><!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>

(sister will hold water aloft)

Sustaining God,

we receive the fruits of the earth from you.

We give you thanks for the smell of the earth after rain,

for its welcome cooling, and its necessary hydration of the land.

We ask that the rain come as often as it is needed

so that crops may flourish and the coming harvest be indeed bountiful.

We ask this blessing through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Prayer:<!–[if supportFields]>tc "Prayer\:"<![endif]–><!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>

Loving and nurturing God,

we ask that you bless and nurture the seeds of our faith

as you bless and nurture the seeds of all living things on earth.

In this beautiful Easter season,

help us to reach forth from any darkness that may be holding us,

to stretch up toward your light,

and to live again as the new life rises in the spring.

We ask this in the name of your firstborn from the dead,

Jesus Christ, our brother and Lord. Amen.

We will bless our new garden behind the Best House on April 20 at 11am