“Laudato Si’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”

Dear Children of St Joseph's,

The earth is God’s gift to us, full of beauty and wonder. And it belongs to everyone. But what we see today is that our common home has never been so hurt and mistreated. We have developed at a greater speed than we could have ever imagined, and have treated the earth like it has an unlimited supply of resources. We have taken more than our fair share from most people on the planet, as well as future generations. We have cut down the earth’s natural forests, polluted the earth’s waters, its land and its air. 

The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. We are using more and more polluting fossil fuels which is contributing to climate change. Climate change one of the biggest challenges we face today. Climate change will affect us all, but it will be the poorest communities who will suffer the most. And despite these problems, we are not slowing down on how much we consume and throw away; leaving a trail of waste and destruction. We cannot continue like this. We can change, and we can make a new start. 

The whole human family needs to work together to care for our planet earth So that we sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. So let’s put love for the world and love for our neighbours, into action, by living together in harmony, and caring for nature. 

• Will you play your part to look after our common home? 
• Can you take simple everyday eco-actions to care for the earth, like turning off lights, reducing water waste and recycling? 
• And will you live more simply, reducing the amount of things we buy and throw away, so that we don’t take more than our fair share? 

The world can’t wait! So let’s make that start today. Play your part to protect our common home. 

Love, Pope Francis

Laudato Si’ Week at St. Joseph’s has been a truly special event. This week, the children have been learning about Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’. The children have been thinking about the message Pope Francis has sent out to everyone on earth of caring for our common home. The children have been talking about the small steps they can take to play their part in caring for our planet. They have covered topics such as recycling and waste (EYFS), sustainable farming and fair trade (Year 2, 3, 4) and our responsibility towards the poor and future generations (Year 5 and 6). We also reviewed our whole school Laudato Si' Pledge to see if we have been complying with what we have pledged to do this year. 

Live Simply Award

At St. Joseph’s we are proud to be working as a school community to achieve CAFOD’s Live Simply Award.

The Live Simply award is an opportunity for Catholic communities – parishes, schools, religious orders and chaplaincies – to respond to Pope Francis’ invitation in Laudato Si’ to “work with generosity and tenderness in protecting this world which God has entrusted to us”.

WHAT IS THE LIVE SIMPLY AWARD?

It is awarded to communities who can show how they have been living:

• simply

• in solidarity with people in poverty

• sustainably with creation.

To find out more information on the Live Simply Award, click here https://cafod.org.uk/Campaign/Livesimply-award