LCWR completes 7 year direction plan

Written on: September 27, 2016

The 2016 National Assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) ended August 12, but the work of the Assembly continues. The 2014 National Assembly affirmed a seven year direction plan for the LCWR membership. This year’s Assembly Resolution put the finishing touches on the plan, and it is now ours as LCWR members to carry out. It reads as follows:

Grounded in our belief that action on behalf of justice is a constitutive element of the Gospel, we, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, affirm the interrelatedness of the justice concerns addressed by our recent assembly resolutions. Following in the footsteps of Jesus, we commit ourselves to examine the root causes of injustice, particularly racism, and our own complicity as congregations, and to work to effect systemic change as we struggle to establish economic justice, abolish modern day slavery, ensure immigrant rights, promote nonviolence, and protect Earth and its biosphere. We pledge prayer, education, and advocacy and commit to using our collective voice, resources and power in collaboration with others to establish justice which reflects God’s abundant love and desire that all may have life.

We Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart have already committed, in our Corporate Stands and our Chapter 2013 Directives, to looking at root causes of injustices and our complicity in them around issues of racism, economic justice, human trafficking, immigration and protection of Earth. Below is a link for the LCWR Call for 2015–2022 which also fits perfectly with our current documents.

Help us keep alive the LCWR Call for 2015-2022  as our way of acting in solidarity and in collaboration with other religious congregations on these identified issues.

Let us ask ourselves the following questions as we reflect on the suggested actions listed below:

1. What choices of mine, either by omission, commission or unknowing harm Earth and the poor of the world?
2. Especially in this election year, will I use my voting rights and responsibility to know where candidates stand on environmental issues?

Suggested Actions for the Season of Creation:

1. Contemplate creation’s beauty, mystery, and interconnections, and rejoice in the divine presence living and acting in our world.  (Embrace a Contemplative Stance and Foster Cosmic Consciousness – Chapter 2013)
2. Vote for candidates proven to care for all creation, to resolve conflicts nonviolently, to assist the poor, and to increase love on our planet.
3. Lobby legislators on issues of importance for people and planet, such as:

invest in renewable energy; stop subsidies to fossil fuels
increase negotiating skills; stop expansion of weapons systems reduce inequality
foster organic agriculture; stop monocrops and toxic chemicals

4. Reduce extraction and use of fossil fuels:

transition to renewable energy at home and work
reduce use of plastic, especially plastic water bottles and plastic bags
reduce gasoline use by reducing car trips and staying below 55-60 on highways

5. Eat responsibly for the planet

reduce factory-farmed meat consumption
Eat lower on the food chain e.g. some meatless meals
Increase fair trade, organic, and local produce and products (Cultivate relational integrity in all our interactions. Chapter 2013)

6. Protect trees

reduce paper use
use 100% sustainable paper
plant trees and/or support groups that do

7. Reduce use of electricity

turn lights and fans off when not in use
reduce use of a/c, dryer, iron

8. Reduce consumerism

make do with what you have whenever possible
share when possible
buy recycled goods

9. Study and Prayer

Read or reread Laudato Si (Offer faithful witness as women in the Church)

Reread and pray with the Earth Charter (Congregational Stance to affirm the principles and values of the Earth Charter – Chapter 2003)

This entry was posted in Laudato Si' (LSAP) and tagged: care for the Earth, consumerism, eat responsibly, electrical consumption, LCWR, monocrops, organic, protect trees, reduce fossil fuel use, renewable energy, toxic