Transcript Slide 1
Introduction to GS Position Papers on Power Point format: The priorities for ministry and mission of the 29th Congregational Chapter of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd (2009) were expanded in 2012 into six position Papers using the topics of Trafficking / Migration / Economic Justice / Prostitution / Girl-child / Ecology. The Position Papers were prepared by the Good Shepherd International Justice Peace Office (GSIJPO) and approved by the CGS Congregational Leadership Team (CLT).
The text of the Position Papers can be found on the International website at: < http://www.buonpastoreint.org/jp-en/recursos/good-shepherd-congregational-material-> in French:
This Power Point format is a template that you can take and adapt, re-do, and use for your context and needs. You can change images to better express your context; you can simplify language if it helps.
You can be creative and use the Position Papers in many ways: Discussion of GS mission in light of today’s realties Review of local realities and priorities: A foundation for chapter renewal and ministerial planning A basis for setting province priorities The ground work for Unit formation Direction for GS ministry development and evaluation Orientation for co-workers and partners in ministry A starting point for local mission and ministry statements, policies & practices Guidelines for advocacy actions A framework for social analysis Etcetera…
This power point includes 2 sections 1. slides # 3 to # 23 A Power Point version of the GS Position Paper on Ecology 2. slides # 25 to # 47 Some further issues & images of ecology / sustainability
You can change and adapt this for appropriate use and training on your local level.
RESOURCE TOOL
FOLLOWING the GOOD SHEPHERD CONGREGATIONAL CHAPTER of 2009
Good Shepherd Position Paper
on
Ecology
“ Inspired by the creative audacity of St. Mary Euphrasia, her prophetic and radical response to the needs of her time…” Prepared by the Int JP Office, Approved by the CLT, 2011
The 25
th
Chapter, 1985 “urged new responses in relation to Social Justice…” and declared that justice is integral to our mission of reconciliation…
“You are called to be so many Good Shepherds” SME
Good Shepherd Position on
Ecology
GS Direction, stated at the 29 th Congregational Chapter, July 2009,
excerpt: We commit ourselves...
to a deepening of our spirituality and a new consciousness of our identity … which enlivens our desire to “shepherd” God’s creation.
Reconciliation is the heart of Good Shepherd mission . In the 3rd millennium, we are part of “a growing awareness that world peace is threatened not only by continued injustices among peoples and nations, but also by a lack of due respect for nature.”
Pope John Paul II
Dissonance with the very air we breathe and the water we drink calls for a new response of reconciliation with creation, with our very universe – This call is sacred in all religious traditions.
Dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, depletion of resources, & massive extinction of species.” We see injustice when “communities are being undermined and the benefits of development are not shared equitably.”
Earth Charter, 2000
We know that “injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. We recognize that “we stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future…” Our mission of reconciliation calls us to “ join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace.” (
Quotes
e
xcerpted from the Earth Charter, 2000
)
Good Shepherd understands that reconciliation with our earth is reconciliation with ourselves and with our Creator.
We are called to a new consciousness, a new identity, centered on the kinship of all creation and of Human Rights for all.
This new identity requires a shift from a history of hierarchical exploitation to an ethic of right relationship that seeks reconciliation among all living creatures, with future generations in mind.
We are called to change
-from a focus on material goods to holistic well-being; -from excess to sufficiency; - from exclusion to inclusion; -from competition to cooperation; -from pursuing privilege to serving the common good; -from the superiority of humanity to a reverence for all life
.
(A Call to Integrate Faith, Ecology and the Global Economy)
Such reconciliation is a call to Justice. We feel keenly the reality that those with the fewest natural, environmental, and economic resources are those most harmed by environmental destruction.
We seek to view our cosmos anew, with a vision of
Those most vulnerable are women and children – the world’s poor. Likewise, indigenous communities suffer and are threatened by environmental destruction.
justice
.
We know that implementing a new vision is complex.
We must examine especially those in wealthy industrialized economies our habits of daily life and consumption in an economic system we often take for granted. We are called to transform our ideas of our place in the universe from a human-centric perspective to see ourselves in a “
unique place that is not at the center .” (
From
Towards Transformation: A Study on Community Life for our Contemplative Communities, Good Shepherd)
Some of our long-held beliefs and habits of culture are challenged by a new vision. It calls for a critique of our approaches to production and consumption – individually, in local communities, and in our societies.
We are called to surrender long-held and assumed positions of power in favor of shared power and decision making.
It is critical that GS:
Recognize a call to transformation grounded in spirituality and alive in active mission . Continue to update our theology and prayer in relation to newer understandings of earth science, new insights about cosmology, and knowledge of universal Human Rights.
It is critical that GS:
Integrate our prayer and theology with the rights of women and children, especially those in conditions of poverty.
Recognize that the interdependence of all creation expands the reality of human rights to include rights of all – non-human, living, and non-living.
It is critical that GS:
Ev aluate and adjust our personal daily life style and our communal life style decisions -consumption, -production, -use of natural resources in light of the kinship and sustain ability of the universe .
It is critical that GS:
Consider positive options such as - fair trade purchasing, - avoid non-renewable, disposable products, - food choice options that support local agriculture - low energy production.
X
It is critical that GS:
Evaluate our service projects and programs from the principles of respect for the earth, compassionate care for the community, reverence for the sustainability of present and future generations.
It is critical that GS:
Be politically active in issues such as free trade, climate change, practices of trans-national corporations national energy policies.
It is critical that GS:
Include analysis, in all advocacy efforts and political action, of the effect of environmental degradation on women and those who live in poverty, including indigenous populations.
It is critical that GS:
Study, pray over, support, and promulgate the Earth Charter, with its principles of the importance of spirituality in human life, environmental protection, human rights, equitable human development, and the promotion of peace.
Good Shepherd had a team of delegates at the United Nations World Conference RIO+20 in June 2012. It was led by the GS NGO designate for the Latin-American-Caribbean region, Marta Iris Lopez.
It is up to each locality to study and implement the global recommendations.
This power point was prepared November 2012 For information or questions, contact: Clare Nolan, GSIJP Training Facilitator 211 East 43 rd St rm 302 New York, NY 10017 Email: [email protected] Phone: 212 599 2711 SKYPE: clarenolan62 http://www.buonpastoreint.org/jp-en
More issues & images on ecology and sustainable development follow
Earth Charter
http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/ pages/read-the-charter.html
Earth Charter
The Earth Charter is a universal expression of ethical principles to foster sustainable development.
The Earth Charter Initiative is the global network that embraces, uses and integrates the Earth Charter principles.
http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content
Brazil, June 2012 At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, and thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other groups, came together to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet to get to the future we want.
http://www.uncsd2012.org/
From Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) To