This Action Plan seeks to drive an OLSH ecological conversion. Simply put, this means recognizing that all things within God’s creation are connected, and seeking to transform ourselves and our Province in ways of loving which will make our communities sustainable and regenerative.

The 2015 Encyclical Letter LAUDATO SI’ of Pope Francis on ‘Care for our Common Home’ is the focus of the Australian Province’s steering committee on climate justice, a group that was created in response to the Province Assembly held in April, 2022 to help facilitate ‘OLSH ecological conversion’ through exploration of and reflection on this extraordinary encyclical, and a commitment to action for our struggling mother earth.

At the Chapter meetings of our Religious Congregation of Sisters, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, in September 2019, I heard voices proclaiming the continued need for us to be mindful of our earth as we care for the environment. I heard voices also that proclaimed that people are looking for a sense of inner freedom in their lives and long for others to care for their plight.

Through my experience with people as I meet and journey with them, I hear voices of a traumatic life and experiences which leave them feeling abandoned even when they have people around them, I hear voices which tell of the need to squash their feelings through the abuse of drugs, I hear voices of people who have been abused, of people who are trying to make ends meet. In recent days and months, we have all heard the voices and seen the images of the destruction of the bushfires.

LIGHTS OFF IN 1 WEEK FOR EARTH HOUR
SATURDAY MARCH 19
8:30 – 9:30 PM

This year go beyond the hour. Commit to making Earth Hour a regular part of your life and help protect the beautiful outdoor places that we love from the threats of climate change.

The international Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking will be celebrated all over the world on 8 February 2016, the Feast Day of Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese slave, freed, who became a Canossian nun, and was declared a Saint in 2000. The initiative is promoted by the Pontifical Council of Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the International Union of Superiors General.

pdf Novena to Saint Bakhita

pdf The Good Egg Guide for a #traffikfree Easter (3.67 MB)

Over the weekend 800,000 Catholics joined the Global Climate March to send Pope Francis’ Laudato Si message to the world leaders in the Paris Climate Summit.

Locally, on Sunday 29th November, a group of OLSH sisters from the Provinces of Australia, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea joined with over 50,000 people and marched from the Sydney Domain to the Opera House in solidarity with millions of people around our Globe who were marching in the world’s first ever Global Climate March.

The low-lying South Pacific island nation of Kiribati has an average height of 2 metres above sea level, making it one of the countries most vulnerable to rising waters and other climate change effects.

The impact of climate change is already taking its toll on over 105,000 people living on the low-lying atolls of Kiribati. These lands are threatened by rising sea levels resulting in flooding becoming more common, seawater contaminating fresh water wells and sea water seeping into some garden areas and destroying crops.

The attached interview is written by Amaya, from the Jesuit Refugee Service .

‘The aim of this interview was to understand from Nawras what daily life is like for Syrian people today. This will hopefully make our audience understand why people continue to flee to neighboring countries, and why they need safe and legal paths to access asylum in Europe. And above all, why Syrians desperately need peace in order to rebuild their lives in their country’.

The release of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si encyclical  has sent a powerful message to the world of the urgency of the environmental crisis and the need to transform our relationship with all beings, all creation.

I hope you like this short little video clip, I think it is very encouraging

On Sunday a group of OLSH sisters joined hundreds of people at a rally to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in dentention and to say no to unjust policies relating to detainment of people who are refugees.

This year we are celebrating the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, the theme is ‘It’s time to Lead, It’s time to Change’

It is very clear to all world leaders that Pope Francis has a special love for nature; in July this year he will be issuing an encyclical about caring for the environment. This is coming at an opportune time as towards the end of the year, world leaders will gather in Paris for crucial climate talks.

On Holy Saturday more than 100 people braced wind, rain and high seas to come together for a peaceful, public, Christian prayer vigil for children in detention, outside the Hon Tony Abbot’s office in Manly.

There are approximately 250 children in Australian immigration detention, including 119 on Nauru.

The fast growing multi-faith and multi-denomination Christian movement, Love Makes a Way has been holding prayer vigils in the electoral offices of Government Ministers in a bid to raise awareness about the suffering of hundreds of children currently held in detention, and the long term mental and emotional damage this is causing.

A group of Daughters of Our Lady  of the Sacred Heart will join the ‘Love Makes a Way’ group on Holy (Easter) Saturday out the front of the Prime Minister's office for an Easter Saturday vigil for children and families in detention

Holy Saturday Vigil Saturday 4 April, 12 noon

During this season of Lent, we are reminded of the importance of touch in Jesus’ ministry. On Holy Thursday a small group of sisters visited St Joseph’s Aged Care Facility , to offer a simple hand massage, in the spirit of ‘caring’, to our sisters  and other residents . It was a privilege to offer this simple gesture to those whose, often heroic lives, have been spent caring for and working with God’s people.

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

On March 28th 2015 from 8.30pm-9.30pm millions of people around the world will switch off their lights in support of Earth Hour. Since 2007 Earth Hour has grown to a worldwide event in 162 countries.

Join millions of Australians and people around the world to make a long lasting difference to our earth.