Ss. John and Paul Parish Faith Formation 2015
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  • Welcome!
  • September: Sowing the Seeds of Faith
    • Adult / Couple
    • Young Adult
    • Young Family
    • Family with Teen(s)
  • October: God of Mercy
    • Young Adult
    • Adult / Couple
    • Young Family
    • Family with Teen(s)
  • November: Models of Mercy
    • Adult / Couple
    • Young Adult
    • Young Family
    • Family with Teen(s)
  • December: Households of Mercy
    • Adult / Couple
    • Young Adult
    • Young Family
    • Family with Teen(s)
  • January: I Have Called You by Name
    • Adult / Couple
    • Young Adult
    • Young Family
    • Family with Teen(s)
  • February: Building a Church of Mercy
    • Adult / Couple
    • Young Adult
    • Young Family
    • Family with Teen(s)
  • March: Oh Mercy, It's Lent!
    • Adult / Couple
    • Young Adult
    • Young Family
    • Family with Teen(s)
  • April: Go Out to All the Earth
    • Adult / Couple
    • Young Adult
    • Young Family
    • Family with Teen(s)
  • June-July-August: Living a Summer of Mercy
    • Adult / Couple
    • Young Adult
    • Young Family
    • Family with Teen(s)

Young Family


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Caring for Creation Journal:

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A journal is a wonderful way to pray. With your family, pray the reflection and allow each family member to answer the questions.
 
Ways to Be a Good Steward


  • Being careful about the things we buy (or do not buy)
    • Such as avoiding buying products with excess packaging
  • Finding ways to recycle and reuse
    • Helping your family recycle plastics, papers and bottles
  • Choosing ways to create less trash
    • Washing dishes after a picnic instead of using paper and plastic products
  • Committing to use less energy
    • Walking, taking public transportation or sharing a ride instead of riding or driving alone
  • Speaking out
    • Becoming an advocate for creation by writing letters, organizing communities, participating in rallies and voting for leaders who are committed to taking care of creation

Journal Reflection 


  1. What can you do to be a good steward personally in your life?
 
 
           How can I be careful about what I buy (or do not buy)?
 
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           How can I find ways to recycle and reuse?
 

 
           How can I find ways to create less trash?
 

 
          How can I find ways to use less energy?



          How can I find ways to speak out and become an advocate for the environment?
 




   2. What could you do as part of a team or community to be a good steward of creation? 

 
 

Called to Be Stewards of Creation, Center for Ministry Development, 2008 

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Caring for Creation--
It’s the Catholic Thing To Do!


Read one (or more) of the following books to your children to help teach ways to care for God's creation:
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers
The Genesis of It All by Luci Shaw
The Lorax by Dr. Suess
Veggie Tales: Bob and Larry's Creation Vacation

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 What Out Church Teaches
“We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.”
(http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm)
 
Genesis 2:15 proclaims: “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.”
 
St. Francis of Assisi once wrote: “If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.” 
 
Did you know that Pope Benedict XVI ordered the first-ever electric popemobile? Vatican City was the first country in the whole world to become a carbon-neutral state. Our pope has written very pointedly about the importance of protecting creation:
 
“Today the great gift of God’s Creation is exposed to serious dangers and lifestyles which can degrade it…we must pledge ourselves to take care of creation and to share its resources in solidarity.”
(Sacramentum Caritatis, 2007)
 
Pope Benedict gives us another reason to care for creation—to be in solidarity with the poor. In his World Day of Peace Message in December of 2007, Pope Benedict taught:
 
“If the protection of the environment involves costs, they should be justly distributed, taking due account of the different levels of development of various countries and the need for solidarity with future generatio
ns.”
 
The pope reminds us that the poor suffer more from climate change than the rest of us. When we care for God’s creation, we stand in solidarity with those who are victims of environmental abuse, even though they aren’t the ones responsible for hurting our earth. We also stand in solidarity with those who aren’t yet born—the future generations who deserve a world of clean air and water.


                                             Center for Ministry Development

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Go through the list and see what changes you can make to become a creation-friendly home.
 
As you read each idea, mark the idea with the number indicating the degree of difficulty it would be for you to actually act on it.
 
Degree of difficulty:
1 =  already doing it   
2 =  could become a habit 
3 =  challenging but do-able
4 =  I’d have to be the Earth Day super hero/saint to attempt this idea
 
1._____Bowl in the sink: put a bowl in the sink when your wash your hands and then use the water collected to flush toilet, water plants, wash cars, etc.
 
2. _____Shower with a bucket—collect water until it becomes the temperature you want—rather than let it just go down the drain. Use it to flush toilet, water plants, wash cars, etc.
 
3. _____Turn off the shower when lathering. Save water.
 
4. _____Save coffee grounds and tea bags to put under plants for natural fertilizer.
 
5. _____Change inefficient light bulbs to more efficient ones.
 
6. _____Carpool.
 
7. _____Ride your bike, walk or take public transportation to a destination this week.
 
8. _____Get your household, parish, school, neighbors to use FAIR TRADE coffee served in recycled paper cups.
 
9. _____Purchase recycled paper products.
 
10. _____Recycle something you aren’t recycling yet, such as newspaper, magazines, other papers, plastics, aluminum cans, tin cans, cardboard, glass.
 
11. _____Ask two neighbors if you can collect items to be recycled. Provide them with containers.
 
12. _____Get pet earth worms and feed them your waste (www.magicworms.com). This may include purchasing Can-o-worms so they have their own worm “condo” and an “odorless living composter, www.can-o-worms.com
 
13. _____Take your own drinking cup everywhere you go. Count how many paper and plastic cups you saved that (day, week, month)
 
14. _____Write a stewardship prayer and pray it with another person.
 
15. _____Go to your public library or school library and check out a book on the environment and read it; or read a book to another person, small child or an elder. This website has great suggestions: www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/teacher/pdf/Literaturelist.pdf -- especially under the topics Ecological Concepts and Environmental Issues
 
16._____If your library doesn’t own such books, purchase one and donate it to the library.
 
17._____ Add some ideas of your own
                                                                      Earth Day, Center for Ministry Development, 2009                                                                          ​

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