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Care For Our Commom Home

Laudato Si' is an appeal from Pope Francis addressed to "every person living on this planet" about how we are shaping the future of Earth. Pope Francis calls the Church, the world, and each person to acknowledge the urgency of our environmental challenges and to join him in embarking on a new path.  The last three popes have all called these challenges “a moral issue.”  This encyclical (Papal letter), the first to focus solely on ecology and human’s place within and relationship with God’s creation, is written with both hope and resolve, looking to our common future with candor and humility. Pope Francis, emphasizing the importance of the document, has explicitly stated that the encyclical is now added to the body of the Catholic Church’s social teaching. Learn more about the Holy Father’s statement and how you might respond in faith by exploring this website.

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On Care for Our Common Home

Click here to read the complete Papal Encyclical (Laudato Si’), of the Holy Father Francis.

Tips on Caring for Our  Common Home

Recycle as much as possible. EPA figures show recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy used to make new ones from raw materials. The energy saving is as much as 70 percent when recycling steel and tin cans, 60 percent for paper and about 33 percent for glass and plastic.

 

Consider reducing your coffee or tea consumption to help conserve increasingly scarce water resources. It takes nearly 600 cups of water to grow and process the beans for one cup of coffee, while producing a single cup of tea requires about 130 cups of water.              

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Recycling becomes more effective if you buy products that use recycled content; when buying paper towels or printer paper, look for brands that are made from recycled content.    

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Consider replacing all incandescent light bulbs in your home with more efficient CFL or LED bulbs. Replacing just one incandescent bulb can eliminate hundreds of pounds of climate pollution each year.                                 

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Pope Francis' TED Talk

In a 2017 TED Talk, the Pope spoke on Why the only future worth building includes everyone.  He is a strong advocate of global action against climate change, to which he has devoted his powerful 2015 encyclical, Laudato sì ("Praise be to you"). He invites us to practice "tenderness," putting ourselves "at the level of the other," to listen and care. 

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View the following short videos

Learn more about Praise Be to You the Papal Encyclical (Laudato Si’) of the Holy Father Francis On Care for Our Common Home.   Use the video icons with “play” arrows.

Laudato Si’

This 6-minute, un-narrated, bilingual video is the official Vatican video about On Care for Our Common Home

Top 10 Things You Need to Know

about Pope Francis'  Laudato Si’

This 4-minute video narrated by Fr. James Martin, SJ, editor-at- large of the Jesuit magazine America presents highlights of On Care for our Common Home.

Live Wisely, Think Deeply

This 4-minute animated video by the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD) presents highlights of On Care for Our Common Home for children.

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 What you can do to care for our common home and still shop …  Guide to Green Shoppping   https://www.jomashop.com/blog/articles/guide-to-green-shopping

St Mary Holy Cross Parish

Parish Office
460 NW Washington Ave.
Elkhart, IA 50073

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Phone: 515-367-2685

Email: smhc@saintmaryhc.org

Fax: 515-367-7028

St. Mary's Catholic Church
460 NW Washington Ave.
Elkhart, IA 50073

Holy Cross Catholic Church

12704 NE 98th Street

Maxwell, IA 50161
 

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