On April 22, 1970, largely through the efforts of Senator Gaylord Nelson, citizens all across our country celebrated the first Earth Day. In his own words:
…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.
In 1988 Sierra Club Books published Passionist, Fr. Thomas Berry’s The Dream of the Earth which in turn led to an organization with the same name whose stated purpose is:
…to take on “the great work,” as Berry calls it, of reinventing ourselves as humans. Our purpose is to learn about and contribute to the creation of a new, comprehensive story that we can all live by, and to help foster what Berry and Swimme call the Ecozoic Era—the time when human beings live in a mutually enhancing relationship with the rest of creation.
In preparation for the publication later this year of an encyclical on moral issues surrounding the protection the environment, Tuesday April 28, 2015, Pope Francis will host a summit at the Vatican, inviting representatives from all the major world religions to join in on the discussion. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will give the opening address.
Tomorrow is Earth Day 2015. Come celebrate with me. No need to read Thomas’ book, nor to visit Sister Miriam MacGillis of Genesis Farm in New Jersey, who sponsors programs exploring the works of Thomas, although these certainly are worthwhile endeavors. Today or tomorrow just enjoy with me today’s Youtube, A Visual Ode to Earth Day 2015.
We are a community of laymen and laywomen who, with vowed Passionists, seek to share in the charism of St. Paul of the Cross through prayer, ongoing spiritual formation, and proclamation of the message of Christ Crucified.
