Innovate~Educate~Collaborate

Category: Social Justice

  • Green Junction: The words Admiration, Respect and Care by Julie Peller Ph.D.

    Thanks to Deacon Frank, I was privileged to be the guest presenter for a Day of Prayer for Global Awareness of the Environment at a genuinely inspiring local service. In my hours of reflecting and writing, Admiration, Respect, and Care eventually summarized my message. The first letters from these words form ARC, and I believe we need…

  • Empires

    Throughout history, we have seen empires conquer smaller countries with a similar cultures. Which is usually the “excuse” the enormous dominant empire gives for the takeover. (and a handful with no similarity) And there is always resistance. Sometimes others come to the defense of the smaller country, and sometimes they don’t. People, like countries, seem…

  • Green Junction: Climate, Advent, and Hope by Julie Peller, Ph.D.

    Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese recently wrote an article in Earthbeat (National Catholic Reporter) expressing his profound concern about climate change: the inaction, the minimal communication, and general apathy toward human/earth rights. “Advent should be a time of hope. As a social scientist, I have little hope. As a Christian, I must have hope. This Advent, I will…

  • So we think we are Catholic?

    This post is for “Catholics” all 23 rites. Those who think you are liberal, conservative, progressive, traditional, fallen away, or in-between. Have we tainted our faith with political ideology? Do we understand the universality of the word “catholic”? How often do we find near-heresies and a few real heresies on all social media posts? Do…

  • Green Junction by Julie Peller, Ph.D. ~ Thinking about school buses.

    According to the US EPA, “school buses travel about four billion miles yearly, providing the safest transportation to and from school for more than 25 million American children daily.” One problem with diesel-powered school buses is the toxic fumes that are emitted. Thanks to government mandates requiring cleaner diesel fuel and updated engine technologies, there…

  • Green Junction: “monsoons on steroids” by Julie Peller, Ph.D.

    Over the past months, intensive and extensive flooding in Pakistan has been described as “monsoons on steroids” and “unprecedented.” The human toll at this point is near 1600 deaths, 11 million people driven further below poverty, and 33 million displaced. The country’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, described the connection to climate change. “Pakistan has never seen…

  • 11 October 1962

    On 11 Oct 2022, it will be 60 years since the opening of the Second Vatican Council. It is time for the Church to resurrect the teachings in the documents to better bring about the kingdom of God here and now on a regional and global basis. The underlying methodology in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen…

  • For Merton, what is the Kingdom of God?

    For Thomas Merton, the Fourth & Walnut experience was about “seeing” the ‘Kingdom of God.’ The realization that the ‘kingdom of God is all about “seeing.” The See-Judge-Act methodology allows us to see the goodness in humans naturally. Kingdom = Consciousness, the understanding of the greater good, think, eudaimonia. The Kingdom of God is not…

  • There’s no better time for a movement to stand up. By Julie Peller, Ph.D.

    “Morality, at its core, is about putting ourselves in others’ shoes and treating their interests as we do our own.” Oxford University Professor of Philosophy William MacAskill is the author of “What We Owe the Future.” In this writing, he imagines “living the life of every human being who has ever existed — in order…

  • Rest In Peace Frederick Buechner — Pastor Michael Moore’s Blog

    A great book to read. This is a book of wisdom! This is a book Thomas Merton would have been encouraging others to read. Photo from Amazon.com Frederick Buechner (July 11, 1926 – August 15, 2022) was an early inspiration and mentor to me in the early 80’s and continued to touch my heart through…