

Father Andrew's Letter on Holy Communion Posture
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"Laudato Si"
Earlier this year, on the fifth anniversary of his Laudato Si' encyclical, Pope Francis called for a year of Jubilee for the Earth and action for the global ecology and climate. From the website of the Vatican's Dicastery on Human Development:
The anniversary year will open with Laudato Si' Week 2020, and will proceed with several initiatives, realized in partnership and with a clear emphasis on "ecological conversion in action (Laudato Si', 14)." We invite everyone to join us. The urgency of the situation calls for immediate, holistic, and unified responses at all levels - local, regional, national, and international. We need "a peoples' movement" from below, an alliance of all people of goodwill. As Pope Francis reminds us, "All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to their own culture, experience, involvements, and talents."
Here are some ways you can get involved at St. Paul:
1. Sign the St. Francis Pledge at https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/program/st-francis-pledge. By doing so, you are helping us take our first steps towards being certified as a Laudato Si' parish by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. This process will see our parish community reducing waste and ecological impact while increasing awareness of the environmental issues facing our common home.
2. Let us know if you are interested in joining a Laudato Si' Circle at St. Paul by contacting Matt Fisher by email at m.david.fisher@gmail.com. Information about what a Laudato Si' circle is and can be found at https://catholicclimatemovement.global/circles/. The circle will meet regularly with Father John (virtually as required) to learn about Catholic teaching on the environment, facilitate green initiatives at the parish, and coordinate actions in the local community. If you feel called to take action for the environment within our parish and community, or are just interested in learning more about this aspect of Catholic Social Teaching, please reach out and let us know. We will be targeting the upcoming Season of Creation (Sept 1 - Oct 4) as a particular time of formation and contemplation on these topics.
Thank you for taking the time to discern and commit to the Care of God's Creation.
Contribution from parishioner Velda Martin:
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Greetings Saint Paul Catholic Church Family,
Friday, June 19, 2020 is a providential day for two reasons:
1) Most importantly, The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who desire that all enters his Sacred Heart.
2) It is also Juneteenth the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.
In response to the protest over the recent killings of African Americans, as a community we need to in some way respond to this. The best way I think we can do this is by starting conversations to hear people’s stories.
I believe if we don’t hear each other’s stories we really won’t know or understand what’s going on. I am hoping Saint Paul Catholic Church will be able to offer to our family the opportunity to learn from other people’s thoughts on racism.
Do you think we could add this to the website?
Resources on Racisms
(Video click here ->) I'm a bit racist. And so are you.
Read More
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Open Wide Our Hearts – A Pastoral Letter Against Racism by the USCCB
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Getting Honest and Uncomfortable About Race and Discrimination
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Statement of U.S. Bishops’ President on George Floyd and the Protests in American Cities
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Bishop Knestout Statement on the Death of George Floyd and Unrest in Richmond
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Statement of US Bishop Chairmen in Wake of Death of George Floyd and National Protests
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Fr. Bryan Massingale talks about White Privilege in the National Catholic Reporter
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Racism in our Streets and in our Structures (a panel from Georgetown University)