Mother Earth Day Welcome to Mother Earth Day

Mother Earth Day

Welcome to Mother Earth Day 2016! This lesson has been designed for you by Jesuit Missions: – Jesuit Missions is a charity that supports Jesuit works with poor and marginalised people around the world. – We promote social justice. This means raising awareness about our responsibility to look after the environment. Today we want you to play an active role in looking after your environment and we want you to know more about Pope Francis’ ideas on how to do this.

Today’s Lesson Objectives: ‘Laudato Si’ means ‘Praise Be to God’. It is a letter Pope Francis wrote to the world in June 2015 on how we must look after the earth, ‘Our Common Home’. – To deepen your understanding of ‘Laudato Si’ and the environmental teachings of Pope Francis. – To inspire you to act on climate change.

A Passage from Laudato Si, Pope Francis Nature is like 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” (Wisdom 13: 5) The entire universe speaks of God’s love. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God. The history of our friendship with God is always linked to particular places which take on an intensely personal meaning; we all remember places, and revisiting those memories does us much good. Anyone who has grown up in the hills or used to sit by the spring to drink, or played outdoors in the neighbourhood square; going back to these places is a chance to recover something of their true selves… If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs.

Instructions and Example Slide: What is Pope Francis teaching us? 2. Around your text, write any words, thoughts or feelings that come to mind while reading. 3. Underline (and explain) key phrases. 1. In the middle of your A 3 page there will be a section from Pope Francis’ letter on the environment ‘Laudato Si’. Read these words in your group: out loud, carefully, slowly, repeatedly. Let them sink into your mind. 5. Present your pages to the rest of the class. Read out the passage then explain what you feel the meaning is, what you have learnt. Listen carefully to 4. Discuss the meaning of the paragraph and what Pope Francis is teaching you.

What is Pope Francis teaching us? Section 1 Nature is like 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” (Wisdom 13: 5) The entire universe speaks of God’s love.

What is Pope Francis teaching us? Section 2 Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God. The history of our friendship with God is always linked to particular places which take on an intensely personal meaning; we all remember places, and revisiting those memories does us much good. Anyone who has grown up in the hills or used to sit by the spring to drink, or played outdoors in the neighbourhood square; going back to these places is a chance to recover something of their true selves…

What is Pope Francis teaching us? Section 3 If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs.

Laudato Si: Reflection Questions Re-read the passage from Laudato Si silently and on your own. Answer the reflection questions given to you honestly and in as much depth and detail as you can. Take your time with this exercise – treat it like a calm prayer or period of reflection.

What can I do for Mother Earth Day?

1. All creation comes from the beauty and blessing of God. Where did I see/feel this beauty and blessing most today? Experienc e 2. How did I make an effort to care for God’s creation today? 3. When I think about the way I care for creation what feelings do I get? 4. If I break my relationship with creation, e. g. through feeling like I am better/more superior to it, how can I repair it?

Reflec t

Act KENYA A theatre production of the Pope’s Encyclical Laudato Si INDIA (1) An institute to help farmers learn how to adopt the good practices of sustainable agriculture (2) A Solar power plant for St Xavier college boys’ hostel SOUTH SUDAN A tractor for the Jebel Kheir sustainable agriculture programme SRI LANKA Educating children of tea workers in tea estates Here are some of the works Jesuit Missions is supporting worldwide… GLOBAL Encouraging dialogue and action around sustainable and fair mining activity

What are you doing to help protect Mother Earth?

© Copyright Jesuit Missions 2016 Text by Christopher Brolly and Samantha Aidoo. All photos were taken in Jesuit missions, schools and projects by Gioia Caminada, the East African Jesuits, Fr. Simon Ellis and Samantha Aidoo. Users are welcome to modify the material to fit their needs. jesuitmissions. org. uk education@jesuitmissions. org. uk Facebook: Jesuit Missions UK Twitter: @Jesuit. Missions