Margo Delaney sent us this update:
During this season of Lent, our Care for the Earth Group focuses on the small individual acts that bring caring for the earth down to practical actions in our everyday life.
For the six week of the season, we highlight simple actions we can each take in the areas of careful use of energy in our homes, food/shopping decisions we take, being mindful of the use of water, saying ‘no’ to plastics, sensible recycling and in the sixth week, celebrating the beauty of creation and the journey through the Easter Triduum.
As in former years, we invited parishioners to practice ACTS OF LOVE FOR LENT under each topic, creating awareness through four initiatives:
- Care for Cration Action Tree in the sanctuary of our church,
- Bonnybrook Care for Creation Noticeboard in the church porch
- Our weekly parish newsletter
- Bonnybrook Parish ecoaware page on the parish website,
These four ways of reaching out to create awareness of the small, consistent acts each one of us can take, has led to some interesting, and at times, heated discussion!
DISCUSSING A SITE FOR THE PLANTING OF A POCKET FOREST ON CHURCH GROUND
Dublin City Council have drawn up a new grant scheme to be offered to qualified community groups under various initiatives. Here in Bonnybrook, our Care for the Earth Group decided that the planting of a pocket forest on an area of the church grounds would involve and educate our community in a practical way. With the agreement of our Parish Pastoral Council and the advice of Catherine Cleary of the Pocket Forest Enterprise, the Care for the Earth group identified the area to be planted, applied for a D Dublin CITY COUNCIL grant and we now wait in hope.
Below, a picture of some parishioners as they discuss the project.
CELEBRATING MOTHER EARTH ON MOTHER’S DAY
Every mother is precious, yet none more so than Mother Earth. Celebrating the earth on Mother’s Day reminds us that we are all interconnected. Acting to care for our earth is a way of living justly, helping to save the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable people on our earth.
THINKING GLOBALLY:
INVOLVMENT IN GLOBAL ACTIONS
We continue to create awareness of the global issues that affect our earth and to participate in various campaigns organised by
- www.Avaaz.org:
Nature Restoration Law: Having emailed the six MEPs in our constituency and the Minister for the Environment, we rejoiced that the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) passed the final vote in the EU parliament -at last!
- Loss and Damage Fund: The first steps have already been taken! However, continued campaigning is necessary to ensure the establishment of this fund whereby rich nations promise to support the most vulnerable and impacted by the effects of climate change. We will continue to participate in these campaigns so that promises will translate into action.
- www.350: We supported the most recent campaign organised by 350.org – the New Green Deal which lobbies for decarbonisation by ending the use of fossil fuels, seeking to ensure that all have access to green energy, and the protection and restoration of natural habitats.
Sr Anna Byrne, Catholic representative on the ECI committee visited Bonnybrook and reported:
Caring for Creation continues after achieving Gold Award in a Dublin parish.
On ‘World Sparrow Day’ March 20, I visited Bonnybrook parish. It was a treat to meet a group of enthusiastic volunteers who are keeping the spirit of the Award alive. Inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’ 2015, the parish pastoral council saw ‘care of creation’ as a priority. Thus, a rewarding, albeit demanding journey began. Achieving the coveted Gold Award was the highlight and an occasion of great celebration in the Parish – Archbishop Dermot Farrell presented the award in December 2022. Care of creation continues in the parish- this is what caught my attention. The meticulous work done to achieve the top award is still evident, particularly on the attractive and regularly updated website. It is exceptionally good as is the weekly parish newsletter. The spirit and suggestions of ECI are captured here. I encourage you to revisit the March ECI newsletter and the parish web page to get the full picture of the ongoing work and what getting the award means in practice in a suburban parish in Dublin, see https://www.bonnybrookparish.ie/contact/.