Greener Pastures

As discussion about climate change intensifies, Holy Cross is once again offering an opportunity to reflect on this pressing concern with an online retreat.

Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 6, and concluding on Easter Sunday, March 23, the “Making the Parts Whole” Web site will host an online Lenten retreat, titled “An Invitation to Care for the Earth.” After signing up, participants will receive an e-mail each week throughout Lent with a brief reflection and a question focused on environmental stewardship. There will be an opportunity to share responses to the question and read the responses of others on the community response page.

Catholic leaders have drawn significant attention to the impact humans are having on the climate.

In their Pastoral Statement, "Renewing the Earth," the United States Conference on Catholic Bishops wrote, “The environmental crisis of our own day constitutes an exceptional call to conversion. As individuals, as institutions, as a people, we need a change of heart to save the planet for our children and generations yet unborn. So vast are the problems, so intertwined with our economy and way of life that nothing but a wholehearted and ever more profound turning to God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, will allow us to carry out our responsibilities as faithful stewards of God’s creation.”

Last year the Chaplains’ Office sponsored a similar retreat and more than 400 people participated through the various modes of interaction available on the site.

“The Chinese word for ‘crisis’ incorporates the symbols for ‘danger’ and ‘opportunity.’ This Lent let us see this crisis as an invitation to conversion and together let’s consider how we might draw closer to God through stewardship of the Earth,” says Marybeth Kearns-Barrett, associate Chaplain.

“Making the Parts Whole” has as its mission enriching the lives of members in the Holy Cross community, near and far. Katherine McElaney ’76, director of the Office of the College Chaplains, introduced the Web site after hearing from alumni that what they missed most about Holy Cross was the spiritual life. It is funded by the Lilly Endowment, a private family foundation that follows its founder’s wishes by supporting religious, community development and educational causes.