By Sr. Nathanael Lee
Sr. Nathanael Lee is from South Korea and is a member of the Little Servants of the Holy Family, a congregation based in Korea. She is interning at JPIC's office in Washington, DC.
On November 29th the Global Catholic Climate Movement held a march in Washington DC, just a day before the official start of the Paris Climate Summit or COP21. The event coincided with other climate gatherings around the world.
This event made history! It was the largest climate mobilization ever. Over 785,000 people participated in 2,300 events in 175 countries. And I was one of them!
On the day of our event it was raining slightly, a bit chilly, with memories of my recent Thanksgiving holiday meal left far behind.
Our local crowd that gathered at the White House was modest, not as many as I expected. The thought ran through my head that I forgot to bring the OMI-ecology banner!
Pope Francis' latest encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si' not only calls on the Church but the world as well to acknowledge and do something about our environmental crisis. This is a pivotal issue that affects the poorest and most vulnerable people in our common home, the earth.
My home community in South Korea, Little Servants of the Holy Family– Justice & Peace Office (LSHF-JPIC) and The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate – Justice & Peace Office (OMIJPIC) in Washington, DC where I currently intern, share a common spiritual philosophy: care for the poor and among the poor. My background and presence here at OMI JPIC encourage me to live out this charism with radical commitment.
I have attended many climate change seminars, both scholarly and theological in nature. But participating in the recent Global Climate March on the behalf of LSHF-JPIC & OMI-JPIC has personally impacted me to take ACTION and do a little more to move things along.
"I want the Church to go out to the streets." Pope Francis
No comments:
Post a Comment