Sister Carolyn Hoying
“When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves.” — David Orr
As we know, the climate crisis is impacting every corner of our world, but it’s important for us to see how the burden is being heavily placed on the poor. Here in the Back of the Yards — the Chicago neighborhood where the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation is located — we feel its impact daily: heat waves, droughts, poor air quality from smoke and chemicals, skyrocketing food prices, unsafe drinking water, etc. A community that already struggles under health, financial and social injustices is being further buried by the impacts of climate change. Read More
Sister Carolyn Hoying is attentive to this cry of the poor and the cry of the Earth, and responds as a life-giving, reconciling presence through her work on the urban farm at PBMR. The urban farm is made up of over 70 raised beds built atop an abandoned parking lot. Out of these cracks of concrete, she and the team help cultivate over 6,000 pounds of fresh, healthy, affordable food for the neighborhood annually.
Sister Carolyn shares that neighbors come to the farm for all kinds of healing: to find food to feed their families; to learn how to grow fresh produce; to be in the presence of someone who cares; or sometimes just to breathe a little easier in a place of peace and beauty. “The care we show the plants is the same care that we share with the people: love, tenderness, constant nourishment, patience,” she said. “It’s important for people to be able to come to the garden and just talk about where they are or what they need. We listen to their stories; hear their pain.”
When we hear the cry of the blood — the cry of the poor and the cry of our Earth — we are invited to listen to the pain, attend to the brokenness, and till the soil for new life to take root. Sister Carolyn marvels, “God is in all of it — the beauty, the gift, the healing, the new life!”
By Holly O’Hara, communications coordinator and a restorative justice practitioner at the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation in Chicago.
Sister Carolyn and a volunteer in the urban garden at PBMR in Chicago, 2022; Jen Morin-Williamson photo.
Sister Marie Kopin
As a longtime mycologist in the central Michigan area, being outdoors in nature is one of the great joys of my life. The fall colors here in Isabella County are just beautiful and astounding, which always brings me closer to God. While so many days are busy and full of “to-do” lists, every now and then I just have to take time off to stop and “merge” with this beautiful, Godly atmosphere.
I often have quite a number of folks go to several preserves with me to study mycology and many things that grow in the woods. The community of fellow nature lovers — and, of course, the mycelium of mushrooms — is another way I feel like I am part of God’s creation. Read More
The mycelium is somewhat similar to a root structure. They say that 95% of plants have connections with mycelium; it must connect with another plant or tree, and the tree or plant connects back with the fungi. I find this process very similar to how we humans live, because we need connections with other people, animals and plants, or we do not live, either. (For more info, and to see mushrooms and mycelium growing, watch the movie Fantastic Fungi.)
This also reminds me of the Precious Blood of Jesus, because blood is a connective thing in our lives, too. It is life-giving — and Jesus’ blood gives us eternal life.
So get out and have some “FUN” with “FUNgi”!
By Sister Marie Kopin, a life member of the North American Mycological Association and winner of two national awards.
Sister Marie works with Conservation District Officers and their Board in Michigan, October 2017; contributed photo.
Sister Benita Volk
Sister Benita Volk is a longtime volunteer with EarthLinks, a nonprofit organization in Denver that creates Earth-centered programming for people experiencing homelessness and economic poverty. She also expresses her love of nature through poetry and has published a chapbook, Leaning Toward the Invisible.
Sister Benita and her garden in Colorado, 2020; contributed photo.
Related links:
Laudato Si’
Laudate Deum
Charging Stations
Precious Planet Awards
Dayton Organic Farming Community Garden
Prairie (solar panels)