Laudato Si’ Committee: Working Together to Protect the Earth

In November 2018, the Conventual Franciscan Friars of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation launched the Franciscan Earth Care Initiative, celebrating the Franciscan tradition of honoring nature, the environment, and our planet. Much has happened within our Province since that time!  Holy Cross Retreat Center responded to this initiative by forming the Laudato Si’ Committee, and ecumenical group that promotes environmental stewardship and sustainability into our everyday lives in southern New Mexico.

Holy Cross Retreat Center, along with the Province, through the Franciscan Earth Care Initiative, has committed to the following activities and more:

• Solar installations at HCRC.
• Building renovations using recycled and sustainable materials and resources.
• Educating retreatants and members of our local community about caring for the environment and appreciating the beauty of our desert climate and natural mountain range.
• Providing educational programs and speakers incorporating nature and spirituality to bring greater awareness of the importance of respecting and protecting the environment.
• Ways in which the friars and the community can work together to protect the earth.

An ecumenical committee meets regularly during the year to promote action and awareness within a variety of churches and the city.

A public screening of the film “The Letter, A Message for our Earth” with Pope Francis was held at Holy Cross Retreat Center on Monday, October 17, 2022.  The 1 1/2 hour film is a further promotion of the encyclical “Laudato, Si!” calls us to care for all creation–human and nature. It is a warm story of how the Pope invites individuals from around the world to meet in Rome, but is a serious message. Afterwards we talked about what gives us hope.  You can watch it yourself at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rps9bs85BII&authuser=1

Pope Francis published an encyclical called Laudato, Si!, on May 24, 2015.  The encyclical has the subtitle “On care for our common home”. In it, the pope critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take “swift and unified global action.”

Along with many other entities, Holy Cross Retreat Center has formed a Laudato, Si! committee to promote education, ecological conversion, and action on the goals of the encyclical.   The committee planned and hosted a commemoration of Earth Day April 22, 2022 with ten presenters on various topics, the beginning of an outdoor wall mural, and the planting of a drought resistant red push tree in the middle of our labyrinth with the help of Jeff Anderson from the NMSU Extension Society.

The committee has continued meeting monthly to develop a better understanding of how we can learn and prepare our specific goals.  The Mural entitled “St. Francis of the Southwest” and completed by Linda Hagen with help from others, depicts St. Francis of Assisi surrounded by 36 different creatures in a desert environment.  It relates how we can care for all around us and live in peace.  The 10 feet by 20 feet mural was dedicated and blessed on August 28, 2022.

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