St. Dennis Parish in Madison is hosting its third Earth Day celebration the weekend of April 23-24 with activities and exhibits designed to demonstrate how individuals and families can take steps to reduce their carbon footprint and conserve natural resources.
Tag: earth day
Mark 50th anniversary of Earth Day
This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day founded by Wisconsin’s own Senator Gaylord Nelson.
Earth Day is on April 22, but I think we can observe it throughout the month of April or all year for that matter. In this year of the coronavirus pandemic, group activities may not be appropriate now. But there are plenty of ways to mark the anniversary, especially for children and parents-turned-at-home-educators.
Encourage early start on volunteering
Most children like the idea of helping others. Parents find this out when they ask their children to help pick up their toys or help set the table or clean up dishes after a meal.
We’ve encouraged our grandchildren to help when they visit our house. They seem happy to assist us, and I’m pleased to see they help when they visit other places.
Volunteering — like so many things — begins in the home. But it’s also important to teach kids about helping others outside of the home. As followers of Christ, we have an extra incentive in living out His commandment to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Caring for creation: making it personal
As a small child, I can remember watching my grandmother work in the garden on the family farm. It was so peaceful to be outside in such a beautiful setting.
My father also had a garden in the backyard of our house in La Crosse when I was young. As a teacher, he had summers off and had the time to plant a big garden. At harvest time, he often went through the neighborhood giving away beets, tomatoes, and other extra vegetables.
I enjoyed helping him plant and care for the vegetables and flowers (which were my favorite part of the garden). To this day, there is nothing I like better than digging in the soil and planting flowers. The smell of the dirt and the sound of insects always make me feel good.
Renewing the earth: A continuing moral challenge for each one of us
Earth Day has come and gone. Perhaps it was not emphasized as much by Catholics this year since it fell on Good Friday.
However, concern for creation should be something we remember all year long. As we observe the awakening of nature in springtime and the beginning of our planting season, it is an especially appropriate time to think about the earth and our environment.