eConnections - June 2015

Connecting Peace, Ecology and Justice from the Gospel Perspective - June 2015


Image: http://www.findingthegracewithin.com

This Month

“The world is the arena of divine disclosure. Creation is the first revelation, the first scripture,” writes Diarmuid O’Murchu. The Sunday Scripture readings in June have this message, yet I wonder how many Christians actually make the connection. For too long, our church has been focussed just on the human part of Creation.

Many of Earth’s ecosystems are close to tipping points of depletion or irreversible change. Meanwhile, the gap between the extreme rich and the poor grows. The story by Kateia Kaikai demonstrates the impact climate change is having right now on her island home of Kiribati. The story of the Two Galilees looks at what Australia’s fossil mining industry is doing to contribute to the carbon emissions which are threatening Kiribati.  

We, along with people from all walks of life, not just Catholics, eagerly await Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment due out this month. We are looking to it to provide impetus in the Church. Columbans Sean McDonagh, John Leydon and Amy Woolham-Echeverria were part of a recent strategic planning meeting of international Catholic leaders held at the Vatican to plan for the its release. An excellent overview of the encyclical is available at http://fore.yale.edu/ .We will be looking to you, our readers and supporters, to stand in solidarity with the suffering Earth and its suffering people as we journey on the road of ecological conversion and action.

Anne Lanyon
Co-ordinator for Peace, Ecology and Justice Centre

	Peace, Ecology and Justice As Jesus walked in Galilee, an area of natural beauty, there was a place on the other side of the world, unknown to his followers that was also a place of wild beauty. We now know it as the Galilee Basin. It’s time the first Galilee story informed the second. The Two Galilees (read more) Time is running our for the small island countries in the Pacific (read more) Voice from Fiji (read more)
	Reflection One of the notable things about Jesus’ use of parable is that he is a person completely at home in the environment and culture of the time. Like the people who took his words to heart there was a deep seated understanding and respect for the earth and everything in it. (read more)
	Growing a Culture of Peace Bulletin If we in the wealthy world continue with our current consumption and production patterns we will need three planet Earths. (read more)
	News from the Centre FEN is holding its annual public forum on Thursday July 23 at 6:30pm at the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street Sydney. The theme this year will be: “Growth Alternatives: Faith Responses to the Growth Economy”. (read more)
	Take Action Learn more about the ecological significance of the Galilee Basin and the Brigalow bioregion. (read more)

Read other eConnections editions:

• November 2015
• October 2015
• September 2015
• August 2015
• July 2015
• June 2015
• May 2015
• April 2015
• March 2015