Temps de la Création

Season of Creation

Tiempo de la Creación

50th Earth Day-Día de la Tierra

Mensaje del Papa Francisco en el Día de la Tierra

Message of Pope Francis on Earth Day

durante la Audiencia general

22 de abril 2020

Frères et sœurs, nous célébrons aujourd’hui la 50ème Journée Mondiale de la Terre, une occasion pour renouveler notre engagement à aimer et protéger notre maison commune. L’homme est tiré de la terre, mais Dieu a mis en lui un souffle vital. Créés à l’image de Dieu, nous sommes appelés à respecter toutes les créatures, à en prendre soin, et, à l’exemple de Jésus, à avoir compassion pour tous nos frères et sœurs, en particulier les plus faibles. Par égoïsme, nous avons manqué à notre responsabilité de gardien et d’administrateur de la création. Nous l’avons polluée et pillée commettant ainsi une faute contre la terre, contre notre prochain, et contre le créateur qui, cependant, pourvoit à chacun et veut que nous vivions ensemble, dans la prospérité. Pour retrouver un rapport harmonieux avec la terre et l’humanité, il nous faut considérer de manière nouvelle notre maison commune : non plus comme une ressource à exploiter. La Bible affirme la bonté du monde naturel créé par Dieu pour soutenir l’humanité. Nous devons opérer une conversion écologique qui s’exprime par des actions concrètes et communes, non seulement au niveau international, mais aussi personnel : chacun de nous peut apporter son indispensable contribution.

http://www.vatican.va

Nuestra casa común - Our common home

Testimonio de nuestra Exalumna Ximena Michemberg, 

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Testimony of our Ex-student Ximena Michemberg, 

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“Si la tierra nos es donada, ya no podemos pensar solo desde un criterio utilitarista de eficiencia y productividad para el beneficio individual. La tierra que recibimos pertenece también a los que vendrán”. Laudato Si

Al ser ingeniera ambiental la gestión empresarial es lo esperable en la carrera profesional. Sin embargo, hace casi cuatro años descubrí el área de desarrollo sustentable y la adaptación de las comunidades a las consecuencias del cambio climático generado por el ser humano.

Descubrí mi llamado a poner mis conocimientos y empatía al servicio de los otros. No fue fácil ya que, lamentablemente, no es común en Argentina, pero logré ir creando mi propia carrera confiando en que nada me faltará. Este camino hizo que, el año pasado, sea seleccionada para un programa internacional que me llevó a Kenia por cuatro meses a trabajar con ONGs y comunidades de la zona rural de Meru. 
Habiendo ya vuelto hace un mes, miro hacia atrás y me doy cuenta de que más allá de las soluciones energéticas, de acceso a agua y agricultura que construimos juntos, el mayor impacto fue hacer sentir a las personas valoradas y escuchadas. 

Para muchos de nosotros esto es esencial y nos sale naturalmente. Yo creo que esto nos resulta así por haber crecido con el ejemplo de Santa Claudina y de las religiosas del JM. Sin embargo, cuando uno está en territorio interactuando con diversas organizaciones, lamentablemente se da cuenta que no es tan común. Al mes de encontrarme trabajando con la gente, teniendo la barrera del lenguaje y la cultura, me sentí igualmente muy conectada con ellos desde las señas y pocas palabras en inglés que ellos hablaban. Fue ahí cuando me di cuenta que necesitamos más profesionales que se animen a salir de las oficinas y trabajar en territorio para construir con la gente, empoderándolos, y así ayudarlos a salir de la vulnerabilidad donde están inmersos. 

Al final del viaje, tuve la oportunidad de asistir a la conferencia de las partes en el marco del acuerdo sobre el cambio climático de las Naciones Unidas. Esta experiencia me ayudó a experimentar, desde cerca, la internacionalidad del medio ambiente. 

Pero sobre todo me hizo dar cuenta cómo necesitamos de todos para construir un comportamiento más sustentable e inclusivo. Tenemos que dejar de poner en las manos del gobierno y tomar las riendas del cambio de paradigma que necesitamos para salvar nuestro planeta. Especialmente, debemos educar a los jóvenes, quienes son nuestro futuro esperanzador y son los que más energías tienen para poder combatir y ganar este gran problema.

"Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit. Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us.” Laudato Si

In Argentina, being an environmental engineer means working in big companies and overseeing the compliance with the law. However, almost four years ago, I decided to start a new path in the sustainability area and the adaptation of vulnerable communities to the consequences of human-induced climate change. 

In this road I discovered my call, putting my knowledge and empathy at the service of others. This wasn’t easy, unfortunately in Argentina the environment and its relationship with the people’s livelihood are not a priority and they are not thought to be related or considered together in a public policy. Regardless the difficulty, I trusted God and put my professional path in his hands. 

This path led me in 2018 to Kenya, where I was selected to work as a four months consultant for several NGOs and communities in the rural area of Meru.

Now I look backwards, and I realize that the main footprint that I left was not the solutions to access to water, energy or agriculture, but the empowerment that I made the communities feel. 
Being brought up by the example of Saint Claudine’s life and the religious of JM, build up on me the importance of community and giving everyone their own voice. 

Unfortunately, this sense of empathy, engagement and empowerment is not that common in this world. Therefore, I realized the necessity of more people willing to work with and for others from a perspective of group work, putting the needs of others first, rather than our own expectations, and prioritizing the empowerment of the people we are working with.

At the end of my trip I went to the 24th conference of the parties in the United Nations framework of climate change.  This experience gave me the opportunity of living from the first row the international negotiations of this environmental issue, which later have consequences in everyone’s life. 
After all this trip, more than ever I am convinced that in Argentina and other developing countries we must enhance the environmental education. We need to teach everyone how to live in a sustainable way, why global warming is happening and how each one of us add to the change we need to mitigate this disaster. Specially, we need the youth, who are our hopeful future and who gives the energy we need to improve our present.

Caring for Mother Earth, Marol, India

The Students of St. John the Evangelist High School, Marol took a turn to plant the saplings on the school grounds and organized a rally in the locality holding placards and raising slogans on nurturing nature, caring for mother earth...

St. Agnes' High School, BYCULLA, Pune, India - Part 1

Ambassadors for Mother Earth

It was a special day for the students and teachers of Std. 1X of St. Agnes’ High School. It was the day of the inauguration of the Eco-Club.

The programme began with a short prayer service invoking God’s presence among us. This was followed by a meaningful speech delivered by Anam Khan on of the 9^th std. students. She very emphatically highlighted the problems we are facing today due to our insensitive attitude towards Mother Nature. It is therefore the need of the hour to make genuine efforts to save our environment for the future generations. A short dance performance reinforced the above message very vividly.

The students then took the oath, pledging to take care of the environment and also make judicious use of all resources thus promising to be ‘Ambassadors for Mother Nature’.

Ms. Jenella then went on to explain the rules and regulations of the club and also informed the students that a Vice-President would be selected from among them and also a Secretary who would be assigned the task of keeping a record of all the activities of the Club. Four students from each class would be selected as Green Corp Members who would assist the Vice-President in the various activities.

Our Principal Sr. Antonette encouraged and motivated the newly formed Eco-Club in their future endeavours. She advised them to take up this noble cause willingly and to make our world a better place a reality. 

 

Various activities such as ‘Tobacco Awareness Campaign’, ‘Cleanliness Drive’, ‘Best out of Waste Competition’, ‘Tree Plantation Drive’, ‘Skit on Managing Waste’, have been planned. The Club will also collaborate with Green Line an organization which works for the environment, by taking part in their activities for the year.

Kudos Eco-Club! Let’s march for the environment.

Earth Day Celebrated, Convent of Jesus and Mary School, Toba Tek Singh School, Pakistan

With regard to the International Earth Day and in keeping with our 3^rd priority the Convent of Jesus and Mary School Toba Tek Singh dedicated a week to give their students awareness of the Vitol role Mother Earth plays in our daily lives, and in turn how should we look after it - by keeping it clean, safe and living in peace and harmony with each other and creation. Every day a few students gave short but very practical and informative messages about Mother Earth – “Our Common Home”. Some of the classes presented beautiful tableaus to enable children to comprehend the importance of each one’s role in making our Mother Earth a better place for everyone to live a happy and comfortable life. They also emphasized a responsible and careful use of natural resources e.g. water, gas and electricity and many more daily used items in every family, institution and everywhere in the society. “We should protect our Mother Earth by not cutting the trees but planting more and more trees, trying to keep our environment clean, helping the animals and teaching other people the invaluable treasure the Mother Earth is for us all” A Student Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his message: “A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people”. Moreover, the school offered monthly Mass based on this very fundamental part of our daily life – Mother Earth. Prior to the last blessing during the Holy Mass Class V presented a tableau on a Urdu hymn – Chay Din may Khuda Nay Zameen (in six days God created Heaven and Earth). 

EARTH DAY - Convent of Jesus and Mary Matric School - KARACHI, Pakistan

The Earth Day was celebrated in our school on April, 22^nd, 2017. The students of Convent of Jesus and Mary Matric Cantt celebrated this day with great interest and enthusiasm. They prepared few speeches, songs and other items.

The program started with a speech delivered by the head girl Melina Francis in which she explained to the students how earth can be saved from global warning and highlighted several environmental issues.

The next item was performed by the little angels of classes I,II and III. They performed beautifully on a song “If you look around”. It was lively and energetic performance and everybody enjoyed it.

After a poem the student of class VI Priya delivered a speech, it was an informative speech about how we can keep our planet clean.

Then came the turn of the students of classes IV& V. they mesmerized us with a beautiful hymn “Creation of the World”. It was a colourful performance in which they focused on nature.They were dressed up very beautiful.

The next item was a speech delivered by the student of class X Jaweria Patras. After a speech, the students of class VII performed on song “Earth we are in it together”. It was a graceful and well coordinated dance.

Then the students of class VIII performed on a moralistic skit followed with a song “Go Green”. In this skit act of ours can bring a huge change and for this we all can work together to keep our school clean and green.

The next turn was of class IX students. It was a mine performance on “How to Save Water” without using words, with their expressions and emotions they informed us how we can save water. They truly showed us that actions speak louder than words.

Last but not the least the students of class X showed us an amazing performance on song “SohniDharti” all the students enjoyed the song  and joined them in singing.

The program ended with a speech delivered by our school Headmistress Sr. Bernadette in which she gave the message to the students that they are the caretakers and they can work in harmony to keep our plant healthy.

EARTH DAY Celebration 2017 - SHADBAGH, Pakistan

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION – 2017 Convent of Jesus and Mary, MURREE, Pakistan

Earth Day was celebrated on Friday, 21^st April, 2017 in the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Murree.  The stage had a huge blue semicircle backdrop with the word “Earth” written on it.  Images of the earth adorned the stage.  After the English and Urdu speeches, each presented the item they had prepared which comprised of songs and tableaux.  An Urdu play on Earth Day was a special item. This was followed by a multimedia presentation on Earth Day.  The students were given examples of how to save Mother Earth e.g. by planting trees, avoiding traffic and water pollution, recycling plastic, and not throwing litter on the ground.

The students of the Senior School presented a colourfulprogramme which began with a speech in English followed by a multimedia presentation entitled “Voices of the Earth” by the students of Class 10.  The other performances included tableaux, poems, plays and quotations each of these emphasizing the importance of saving Mother Earth from environmental issues.

The enthusiasm of the students and the teachers was obvious as each class came on stage for their performance.  The message of this event was to create in the students awareness of the issues facing our environment, and this was conveyed in a very positive way.

A favor de la vida de nuestra tierra

El 1 de marzo, en Córdoba, Argentina, algunas religiosas de Jesús María hemos sido parte de la marcha a favor de la vida de nuestra tierra, de nuestros bosques, de nuestra gente.

Somos conscientes de que es importante participar y hacernos presente, como Iglesia en marcha que quiere y apuesta por la vida. Fue una protesta creativa, desde la vida y para la vida.. Expresiones artísticas que pedían, a aquellos que miran más en sus propios intereses que en el bien de todos, que no aprueben la Nueva ley de bosques que solamente busca favorecer el desmonte y descuidar aquellos espacios de bio-diversidad que necesitamos para el bienestar de nuestra tierra y gente.  

Ojalá que nuestra voz sea escuchada, y que las autoridades competentes comprendan que ésta, nuestra casa, necesita ser cuidada por todos, que es un don para la humanidad y que no podemos usar y abusar de ella pensando solamente en los intereses de algunos.

Sofía Padilla Rjm

"Hemos crecido pensando que eramos propietarios y dominadores, autorizados a expoliarla." Papa Francisco

Care for Mother Earth

Our students cleaning the campus and taking care of plants.

Students are made awareof their responsibility  to care for Mother Earth and preserve it for future generations. Vasai, India

Care for Life...

MIDWAY, a Message from the Gyre is a short film. It is a powerful visual journey into the heart of an astonishingly symbolic environmental tragedy. On one of the remotest islands on our planet, tens of thousands of baby albatrosses lie dead on the ground, their bodies filled with plastic from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Returning to the island over several years, our team is witnessing the cycles of life and death of these birds as a multi-layered metaphor for our times. With photographer Chris Jordan as our guide, we walk through the fire of horror and grief, facing the immensity of this tragedy—and our own complicity—head on. And in this process, we find an unexpected route to a transformational experience of beauty, acceptance, and understanding.

MIDWAY a Message from the Gyre : a short film by Chris Jordan from Midway on Vimeo.

Celebrating a pollution free world

The Primary School gave the message of a pollution free world  with the help of a colourful programme -

It was an eye opener as it showed the various ways in which the earth is exploited and increased pollution levels that are a potential threat to ourselves and the life around us. The various skits and dances on land, sound, air and water pollution soulfully revealed damage and damage control measures.

 Air Pollution

Water Pollution

St. Joseph's High School, Pashan

Pune Province

Lahore, Pakistan

Canteen

Trees

Celebrating Earth day, from Karachi Community, Pakistan

The school celebrated “EARTH DAY”. Each class had prepared a song, a speech or an action song on the theme. The Head girl in her speech mentioned the history and the importance of this day. At the end every one took a pledge to keep the environment, school and class rooms clean and tidy. The earth is our home and we must take care of it not only for ourselves but for our coming generations too.

“TOGATHER WE CAN”

KEEP OUR COUNTRY SIDE BEAUTIFUL 

SAVING WATER, LAND AND AIR.

THIS IS OUR PLANET TO SHARE.

The world is such a lovely place. We’re in it together.

We’re in it together for ever and ever.

Let us care for our common home!!!

From Shadbagh community, Pakistan

Living a life committed to justice, peace and integrity of creation.

v  We tried to implement the 3rd priority in our school and in the basti. 

v  We as a community commit ourselves to the responsible use of natural resources and to care for the earth at a personal level, in our communities, in our educational centers and in all our ministries.   

Respect for human beings and the creation empower women and to promote a culture of peace and pardon.

Poem:

            Sing a little song to Jesus to be to right

Trying, trying then we will see

Trying, trying then we will see

Prayer a little pray to Jesus to be right

Trying, trying….

Move a little close to Jesus to right

Trying, trying then we will see

Sing a little song, pray and payer moves a little close to Jesus to be right.

Save the Earth, from Sialkot, Pakistan

Power points about the present state of the Earth were shown at Assembly.

A special awareness program was prepared by different classes, and shown in the hall. Much emphasis was laid on the three R’s (Recycle, Reuse and Reduce).

Students were motivated to take care of God’s creation and not to waste natural resources, especially water.

Children were encouraged to put water bowls for the birds in school and at home.

Students from the different school houses take weekly turns to keep the grounds clean, as an important step towards saving the Earth.

There was also a campaign promoting cleniness by throwing litter into placed bins and waste paper baskets thus peomoting environment cleniness.

Our school has an environment club, Pals of the Planet since 1996. This club actively participates in different events to create awareness for the Earth. Competitions like Pet shows and Peace Rangoli are held on the issues of the present day Earth.

The Science club also participates in creating awareness through projects on Acid Rain, and violent dust storms that are frequent in Sialkot’s Summers.

We love our Earth

Celebration of the Earth Day at Lahore, Pakistan

Keeping our CJM ever green

Let's go green together for our green future!

Celebration of the Earth Day at Lahore, Pakistan

Earth Day in Murree, Pakistan

Happy day, dear Earth!