Innovate~Educate~Collaborate

Category: Laudato Si

  • Sue Monk and After Jesus Before Christianity

    Sue Monk who wrote the Forward to the book “After Jesus Before Christianity”  hosted a one-hour discussion with two of the authors of the book.  Keep in mind The work of this book is the work of three authors and the Christianity Seminar part one, team which is a multitude of biblical scholars and historians. The research lasted…

  • Something Special about Halloween, All Saints and ClimateSe

    There is, for me, something special about Halloween and All Saints Day. Together they are the Apex of the FALL season.Living in the Midwest, you get to experience four and sometimes five seasons, LOL. In each, we experience change. Reflecting on Richard Rohr’s “The First Bible,” we see a theology of creation. The Significant Other…

  • Green Junction: Glass is a Beautiful Thing. By Julie Peller, Ph.D.

    Glass is a beautiful material that is believed to date back to 2400 BC. Glass is made of roughly 70% silica sand with other components, namely limestone (calcium carbonate) and soda ash (sodium carbonate). By heating these materials in a furnace above 2700 degrees Fahrenheit and then cooling, glass forms. Soda-lime glass is the most…

  • Green Junction: A throwaway World By Julie Peller Ph.D.

    The most extensive use of throwaway plastic is in packaging. I suggest that the term over-packaging often better describes this packaging. Recently, I watched a moving company load furniture wrapped in multiple layers of plastic into the moving truck, an example of over-packaging. I wondered what happened to the heavy blanket pads that protect furniture during a move.…

  • Green Junction: A Circular Economy by Julie Peller Ph.D.

    A circular economy is a sustainable approach for the use of resources and materials. In contrast to a linear economy, where the production model is taken, made, and disposed of, a circular economy works in a way that reduces/eliminates waste and pollution. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, this takes place by “keeping products and…

  • What’s it all about?

    I view life in three stages: first, we engage in formal learning; second, actively earning, and third, we should be returning and sharing our wisdom.At the end of earthly life, we often gather to celebrate the life led. But, we who are living should view our third stage of life as the living celebration of…

  • Green Junction: Humanity’s Ability to deal with Pandemics By Julie Peller Ph.D.

    Green Junction Tackling the coronavirus pandemic has been a worldwide challenge and, at this time, has led to over 4 million deaths around the globe, over 612,000 in the US alone. In comparison, the deadly H1N1 virus that ravaged the world as the “Spanish flu” from 1918 to 1920 led to an estimated 50 million…

  • You Are Church

    Two creative movements in the Catholic Church became instrumental in leading up to Vatican II. The New Theology Movement of France and the Catholic Action Movement. A driving force in both movements in the United States was Louis J Putz CSC. As a student, Louis was inspired by Teilhard, Congar, de Lubac, Jean Danielou, Cardinal Suhard as…

  • GREEN JUNCTION: Seize the opportunity to enact and support climate change. BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

    To escape intense heat during the heatwave in Oregon, at least 100 baby hawks purposefully plunged as much as 60 feet to the ground. The Blue Mountain Wildlife rehabilitation center had never seen this before, according to its director. Smoke from the extreme west coast wildfires made its way across the United States, prompting numerous…

  • GREEN JUNCTION: To hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

    This year’s Laudato Si conference, sponsored by Catholic Climate Covenant and Creighton University, featured Cardinal Cupich of the Chicago Archdiocese. He offered his faith-filled perspective on the state of society and its connection to environmental degradation. He explained that we are experiencing one major crisis, an ecological emergency that is both social and environmental. He reiterated the…