National Farmworker Awareness Week

The Catholic Labor Network is promoting National Farmworker Awareness Week by inviting people to a webinar about child labor in agriculture on Tuesday, March 28 at 2 p.m.
 
According to the National Farm Worker Ministry, 300,000 to 500,000 children work in agriculture, and that, by law, they are the least protected workforce in the US. “Labor laws protect and prevent children from working in factories or offices but allow children as young as 12 to legally work unlimited hours on farms outside of school with parental permission. Child labor is prevalent in agriculture because families have no other option but to ask their children to work in the fields to help pay necessary expenses. When parents make poverty wages, they need their children to work too. Child labor is a complex problem, but this exploitative practice can be stopped.”
 
To register for the free webinar, click here.
 
National Farmworker Awareness Week begins this Saturday. The theme for this year’s Farmworker Awareness Week is “Things Are Heating Up for Workers.” The Catholic Labor Network reports that the agriculture sector has long ranked among the highest in workplace injury and illness rates, and now conditions are increasingly aggravated by global warming. Every year farmworkers die on the job due to heat-related illnesses.

Eco-spirituality workshops available

Sr. Linda Neil, CSJ is a hiker and naturalist who holds a Masters Degree from the Earth Literacy Program at St. Mary of the Woods College, and a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

She shares her love of nature and the environment in presentations that weave art, music, poetry and story to engage hearts, inform minds and fire passions to transform and celebrate our relationship with the Earth community.  Here are some of her offerings:

Living Simply in a Consumer Society: listening to the “cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor” amidst the din of our consumer culture.

Earth, Our Common Home: Exploring our place in the web of life through the lens of Laudato Si’.

Healing Earth with the Beatitudes: Deepening our awareness of how humans are wounding the planet and reflecting on ways to be a healing presence. 

Celebrating the Bliss of Being: The “Beatitudes of Being” are the path to the fullness of being human and holy in this precious life of ours. We take time to experience the grandeur of being and the call to deepen our delight in living.

Celebrating Simple Living: We pause to consider ways to hone our life-style for the sake of our own sanity, for the good of our dear neighbors of every species and for the benefit of the Earth. (This presentation uses the Corporal Works of Mercy and Laudato Si' as a lens to reflect on simple living)

For more information, please contact Sister Linda at 518-393- 0528, www.encounteringearth.com or email linneil19@gmail.com.

Earth Day program from Catholic Climate Covenant

The Catholic Climate Covenant has released its 2023 Earth Day program. The theme is “Simple Living: God’s Vision of Abundant Life.”
 
The program includes a Facilitator Guide (with all the materials, script, links, and instructions for an event organizer) and a Participant Guide (suitable for in-person and online [i.e., Zoom] group events).  
 
According to the organizers, the approximately one-hour interactive program (with prayers, readings, discussion questions, and practical activities) may be used to celebrate the 53rd anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd, or the 8th anniversary of the Pope’s encyclical on the care of creation, Laudato Si' (Laudato Si’Week is May 21-28, 2023), or at any time that fits a community's schedule.
 
The link is here.