Reaping the Rewards



Earth Day Stewardship

by Megan Burdolski, Director of Stewardship

Today, April 22nd, is Earth Day. The first Earth Day was observed fifty years ago, in 1970, to raise public awareness of pollution, vanishing wildlife and other concerns plaguing our environment. As Catholics, we believe that our environment is a gift from God and that it is our responsibility to show our gratitude by caring for and honoring His creation. Earth Day offers us a chance to renew our pledge to be good stewards of God’s creation.

Consider this story –

One day a young man went to visit his old grandfather. He was surprised to find his grandfather in the backyard planting a small peach tree.

The boy knew it would take many, many years for the peach tree to grow up big enough that it would produce fruit. If his grandfather wanted peaches, the boy wondered, why didn’t he just go to the store and buy some? That would be so much faster.

Finally, after watching his grandfather work for a long time planting the peach tree, the young man asked, “Grandfather why are you planting a peach tree?”

His grandfather answered, “Son, all of my life I have eaten the peaches off of trees that other people have planted. Now it is my turn to plant a tree that someone else can enjoy.”                                         (Author Unknown)

Take a few minutes to stop and think about it, each of us has enjoyed so many things because someone else planted a seed. It is the responsibility of each of us to do our part to care for the beautiful gift, our planet earth, which God has given us.

Back when I was a child in the 1970s, Earth Day was celebrated each spring by the student body of my elementary school gathering outside for an assembly during which a tree would be planted on school grounds. Planting trees is important but there are many, many other things that we can do to protect and nourish our planet in order to sustain its life for the generations to follow.

Click here for a list of 50 ways that we can be better stewards of God’s creation. What seeds can we plant or habits can we employ that will help our earth in the months or years to come? If we each try to do some of these things we will help insure that future humans will reap the rewards.

Below are links to other Earth Day resources. Remember, April 22 is not the only day to take care of our environment. If you cannot do these things today, you have 364 more days before the next Earth Day!

Earth Day website

Earth Day - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

 Connect with Nature While in Isolation

 Earth Day Events You Can Join From Your Screen

Earth Day Ideas for Young Children

Earth Day 2020 Ideas

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HOPE (First Week of Advent)

  A HOPE-FILLED ADVENT by Megan Burdolski, Director of Stewardship For many of us, the four candles on our Advent wreath symbolize hope, faith, joy & peace. Over the next four weeks, I plan to reflect on these themes while sharing my personal journey with you this Advent season. I am naturally an optimist so hope is part of my being. This year, we are navigating the end of my father’s life. Even so, I remain filled with hope. My father is no spring chicken. He is 96 years old and my sister & I have already grieved for him as he endured quintuple bypass surgery, a re-section of his cancerous colon and several bouts of pneumonia that many his age would not survive. We have believed his life was nearing the end on more than one occasion, yet he is still alive. Four years ago, before our mother’s death, he told us quite frankly that “we need to face the likelihood that I will outlive your mom.” She was eleven years younger so we had always expected him to go first; yet, exactly
Read more

A Little Visitation - January 9, 2022

Note: Our staff took the entire year of 2021 off from this blog - our last post dated December 28, 2020. We are planning to be back on a weekly basis in 2022. We will post Msgr. Offutt's A Little Visitation bulletin letters every other week and articles from other staff members on the alternate weeks. We are happy to be back in 2022 and welcome your feedback. Dear Folks,                 So this is the first bulletin column I have written in almost 2 years. I wonder how long it will take me to get the hang of it again. You might realize that sitting in front of the “Video Visitation” camera on Wednesdays is considerably simpler and easier than writing a bulletin column. I am over the initial disdain I felt for doing the video thing. When we began it I did not at all like the way I looked and sounded to myself. I thought, “Gee, is this what these poor people have to put up with week after week? How do they take it?” It seemed to me that my gestures were outsized, my inflections mos
Read more

Serving Others During the Pandemic

A Drop in the Ocean by Karen Miller, Pastoral Associate This pandemic has consumed our headlines and our conversations.  It has altered our work, our worship and our lives. Some families have found themselves together too much and some just long to be together. For others, being alone is suddenly magnified. Facing an ocean of hardship, our hearts long to help, to make a drop in the ocean, to affect for the good and so many of you have been doing just that…   Tighe Hall would have been a lonely, empty space had it not been for Katie Hall, a Visitation parishioner and Director of Development for St. Luke Foundation and her team! They transformed the Faith Formation Room, Retreat Room and Brides Room into a headquarters for material cutting, sorting and mask kit making. When the organizers realized they needed twist ties for the nosepiece, they asked and you responded! Twist ties poured into the newly placed basket that first afternoon. Other parishioners and members o
Read more