in recent years people from all over the world have fallen ill or even died from various forms of pollution this prompted calls for protecting the environment and reducing gas emission many governments have have environmental protection policies and measures in place while the public do their part as well such measures include waste recycling
and sorting many canadian families have compost piles in their backyards to do their part to protect the environment there is certainly increased awareness of environmental protection in society. looking at it from another angle is there any connection between environmental protection and faith
in view of the increasing severity of the ecological crisis father anthony chang, a pioneer in environmental protection and a lover of nature was planning back in the 1980's to set up the organization known as “catholic messengers of green consciousness†its objective was to raise the awareness of “green†practices in the catholic church of hong kong
and to learn and promote the idea of “loving god, loving man and loving the earth†we wanted to start as a small group working from the bottom upwards later i changed the (chinese) character “se†in “lu-se†to “shi†as in “yi-shi†(meaning)“knowledge and realization†we become messengers of “green consciousness†referring not only to the colour
but also to consciousness for real consciousness if there is no experience there is no consciousness the basis for real consciousness is experience and practice for the realization of real consciousness hence consciousness includes knowledge and practice so we took (the name) “green consciousness†and promoted it rigorously after the group was formed
we focus mainly on training sometimes with actual practice like going to the farms to get in touch with nature we stress rebuilding relationships rebuilding with god or deepening our relationship rebuilding or deepening our relationship with nature this also applies to our relationship with other people
that is why we stress loving god, loving man and loving the earth heaven, earth and man in harmony the book of genesis tells us that god gave man the responsibility to “subdue the earth and have dominion over it†unfortunately human beings today inadvertently tend to control and manipulate the earth’s resources in genesis
god admired his own creation the earth and its intrinsic goodness similarly the “catholic messengers of green consciousness†focuses on the progress of man and the earth so that their intrinsic goodness is revealed and put to good use resulting in a synergy for man and earth to evolve together the catholic church has always taught the faithful
to “love god and love one's neighbour†the concept of “love the earth†is often neglected this gives an opportunity for the to promote awareness of the environment through various practices and activities the concept of “love the earth†instill into the faithful back in 2011 we felt that promoting environmental awareness in the
church would be a rather daunting task because in the course of discussion planning and action, there was very little association with our faith this led to the assumption that it was not a core issue of our faith that is why we felt the need to promote the awareness of “loving the earth†however for it to become
a mainstream consciousness and everyday habit we would need more people to “love the earth†express their “love for the earth†and be willing to put “love the earth†into practice we wanted to get more people to make a commitment we started in 2011 and hopefully by 2016 there will be tens of thousands of people who have made this commitment
if we have tens of thousands of people committed to this ideal and practise and promote it this will easily become a mainstream ideal in the catholic church of hong kong up to now over a thousand people have made their commitment support is gradually coming from the faithful and the clergy in parishes the response is very positive
more and more catholics are committing themselves and bringing this “love the earth†idea back to their own parishes sowing the seeds of “love the earth†instilling a sense of environmental protection is a very important civic education topic for the urban people of today in view of this the catholic messengers of green consciousness
have been organizing seminars and retreats through which catholics can increase their knowledge of “green†issues significantly the retreats organized by have attracted catholics of different age groups through active participation in these retreats, attendee understand man and the earth has inseparable relationship
i read about a volunteer recruiting program in the kung kao po and the theme is very attractive to me it is called messengers of green consciousness a five-year plan the theme is about issues of concern in modern urban life so i signed up for it this is something i had looked
forward to for a long time that the church can provide something like this with sharing and talks on topics that are related to our everyday life and giving attendees the chance to really put down what they used to do and dedicate three days and two nights to this program i think this is anything but easy in hong kong
during this retreat i want to learn about the spirit of environmental protection and how to put it into practice in particular in my prayer group my community and the community at large to promote the concept and this awareness of environmental protection
i believe in the power of unity in the church with father (chang) walking one step ahead and leading us to the forefront had this been promoted by others in the society the impact and response may not be as good promoting environmental awareness fr. anthony chang is not alone pope st. john paul ii in his 1990 world day of peace message
“the ecological crisis: a common responsibilityâ€said ecological crisis is a serious moral issue and everyone’s responsibility care for god’s creation is an essential part of the christian faith the late pope john paul ii was also concerned about environment protection and actively urged the faithful to protect the ecological environment
the “catholic messengers of green consciousness†realized that to teach modern day urbanites to love their environment instililing them with the sense of not damaging the environment is most important to cultivate a close relationship between city dwellers and nature it is necessary
to let them experience nature that is why the “catholic messengers of green consciousness†in 2012 at fanling started a catholic sustainable garden of joy modeled upon the garden of eden in the book of genesis i started getting involved in the work of the garden of joy about two or three years ago
we were talking with father that apart from organizing activities and seminars on environmental protection what else could be done at that time we felt that urban people needed to experience getting in touch with the earth how to get in touch? our initial thinking was
to set up something like a farm so that people could come to get in touch with nature from then on we started planning for the catholic sustainable garden of joy there were six core members responsible for setting up the garden of joy after it was set up we formed a 12-member executive committee
to take charge of the day-to-day work and planning under the executive committee there would be two groups of people one group we call the gardeners gardeners are those who come to work during the week tilling the land, planting and even growing food for themselves and others
the other group we call the guides guides are those who lead visitors to experience the entire process of cultivation and getting in touch with nature cultivating the land is not an easy task to have a harvest is even more difficult it calls for a lot of hard work, resources and patience as the (chinese) saying goes, every little grain does not come easy
even if it is a small plant like sesame it needs the collaboration of nature and the grower who must expend much energy on the cultivation this experience with nature is very valuable to us city dwellers speaking about cultivation in the sustainable garden of joy we grow vegetables, fruits and trees whenever we plant a tree
it will take in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by growing vegetables we improve the climate naturally we strive to farm organically in terms of fertilizers our volunteers and members will bring the kitchen waste from home to the farm to make compos we do our best not to let this
waste go into the landfill this is what we can put into action it is good to have a farm because one can observe nature in a broader perspective in the fields one can experience fresh air butterflies, birds and trees one can touch the roots see how the plants grow how the different aspects of
nature relate to one another i feel that hong kong needs this to give everyone the opportunity to experience nature especially children if you ask the children where vegetables come from they will say, “the supermarket†they don’t know that vegetables come from farms they have no idea at all
they need to get closer to nature for their development their awareness of environmental protection and even their faith it will be a great help in the garden of joy we learn how to “love god, love man and love the earth†we must first have a clear understanding our fields cannot be exhausted
for example this year we can plant beans which produce nitrogen that increases the nutrition in the soil some fields after being cultivated for a period of time,have to take a break we have to “love the earth†we also know that in the farms there are small animals wild boars, squirrels and red ants
we will not expel them or kill them we share the earth with them the garden of joy encourages participants to learn through labour the spirituality of st. benedict, the patron saint of the fields which is “to pray and labour†to pray as one works the land to experience collaborating with god and the earth
when you are in harmony with nature a sense of humility will be instilled in you because you will no longer only think of yourself the human race or human interests instead you will think of how you can live with other living things live in harmony so everyone can perform their respective roles
through working in the fields, urban people will understand the importance of environmental protection in fact environmental protection has to do with the food we choose to eat every day according to a 2006 report by the united nations the greenhouse gas emitted by domesticated animals each year is 18% of the total emission in the world this is even higher than the total emission
from all forms of transport (including aircraft) in the world which stands at 16% that is why unhealthy over-consumption of meat will seriously harm the environment the damage brought about by livestock farming has seriously upset the ecological balance for mankind faced with the ecological crisis of the 21st century it is time for man to consider changing their eating habits
by eating less meat and more vegetables in 2011 the catholic messengers of green consciousness set up the hong kong catholic vegetarian association to promote a full vegetarian diet or eating more vegetables and less meat in an attempt to slow down the speed of global warming and defer the coming of the big ecological disaster our catholic vegetarian association also works
with the other vegetarian organizations this year a veg festival is organized by a group that we will participate in our movement is very preliminary but in general we are well accepted by others including non-religious groups. they like our group
they feel that a vegetarian association in the catholic church is a great support whenever the catholic messengers of green consciousness organizes retreats vegetarian cuisine is served in the near future the catholic vegetarian association has a plan to open a small catholic vegetarian restaurant
that will use organic whole foods with no additives it will be operated in catholic faith and spirit with prayers and vegetarian cuisine to create a new catholic culture of vegetarianism in hong kong my personal opinion is that when you start a vegetarian diet you will have a different outlook to
the environment, people and situations if i start (to adopt a vegetarian diet) and go through these changes in my heart i will care a lot about everything around me this is very important we will do it slowly, one step at a time in recent years a lot of people talk about the benefits of breastfeeding
not only is it good for the health of the baby it can establish between the mother and child a close bonding breastfeeding is a manifestation of intense love pope francis our present pontiff welcomes and encourages women to breastfeed their babies in public areas in fact breastfeeding is very eco-friendly
hence in 2011 the catholic messengers of green consciousness established the hong kong catholic breastfeeding association to promote breastfeeding in the church to care for the environment and for the healthy development of babies' mentally, physically and spiritually we have established a “hong kong catholic breastfeeding associationâ€
there is a “hong kong breastfeeding mothers’associationâ€in hk we have established the “hong kong catholic breastfeeding association†they are delighted why? because they feel that the promotion from the catholic church is an encouragement and support
we have a close relationship with breastfeeding mothers’ association we promote breastfeeding because we think that eating a vegetarian diet and breastfeeding are both related to the nature after a woman has given birth to her baby the most natural and wholesome food is her milk when we see a mother feeding her baby with her own milk it is like christ
nourishing us with his own body and blood the mother is nourishing her baby with her own body and blood we can connect this with holy mary holy mary gave birth to jesus fed and nourished him jesus uses his body and blood to nourish us we believe that this is the connection to our faith the catholic messengers of green consciousness
hopes to establish in hong kong a catholic breastfeeding culture in the church each parish should have a support group for breastfeeding mothers if there is a need it should be acceptable in the parish community for mothers to breastfeed their babies during liturgie in september 2013 father anthony chang blessed the
“mothers’ breastfeeding room†at st. bonaventure church in tsz wan shan they also hope that all catholic hospitals will become baby-friendly hospitals that support and facilitate breastfeeding moreover the catholic messengers of green consciousness wishes that the public be aware of the fact that the formula milk powder is no match than the all-natural mother's milk
commercials from formula milk are often exaggerated their nutritional benefits is actively seeking the support from other religions to promote breastfeeding in a concerted effort and to urge the hong kong government to address this issue
by introducing legislation for regulatory purpose. it is challenging to promote environmental protection however the catholic messengers of green consciousness will persevere and to do its part in saving the earth from the ecological crisis initially the parishioners were somewhat passive now the majority of them think that it should be done whether they will take action is another story
conceptually the parishioners feel that it is the right thing to do but to change (their behaviour) is still difficult but as they understand more and begin to change a bit they can influence more people to believe that this is good through the effort in the past few years parishioners have become more active in promoting environmental protection
the work of catholic messengers of green consciousness is not in vain there are seminars and sharing sessions about health and food afterwards people would share their experience with us this is excellent we feel good about it
then more would volunteer even take people to the farm or encourage others they do this with their own initiatives i am delighted in recent years more parishioners and more parishes are becoming more concerned about environmental protection catholic messengers of green consciousness
have done promotion and educational work in the church and laid a foundation for environmental protection is an invaluable contribution (we have) to understand more generally our knowledge in this area is quite superficial such as using fewer plastic bags indeed it is a way to protect the environment but there are more to it
there are lot of issues and knowledge in it to me the greatest influence is that i have become more humble and more appreciative of the breadth of god’s love i have tried to see things from god’s perspective when we look at nature we do not simply look at nature we also learn a lot about situations, people and things
believes that in environmental protection education the church should play an important and visible role it is not enough for the church just to proclaim “love god and our neighbour†we should also talk about “love of the earth†after all the first educator is the family in the family children learn
to respect their neighbours and love nature then this is extended to the parish the society, the nation and the whole world so that the ultimate communion of “heaven, earth and manâ€can be achieved at the macro level today the ecology of our earth is at risk saving the earth from the edge of destruction
is everyone's duty although we have state-of-the-art technology to predict natural disasters it is not enough man needs to wake up spiritually repent and change our way of life that is damaging to our environment and taken over by consumerism living simply with moderation, discipline
even a spirit of sacrifice must become part of our daily lives we all hope to leave a beautiful environment for the next generation where they can grow physically mentally and spiritually and be able to touch, to communicate with and to understand nature so that they can build a deep
relationship with god's creation and grow with it
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