"
So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the Gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
-Ephesians 6
CRL Presents to Farm Leaders in Montana
Vocation of the Agricultural Leader Workshop
CRL executive director, Jim Ennis, presented a workshop on "The Vocation of the Agricultural Leader - Merging Faith with Agriculture and the Environment" at the Montana Farmers Union Convention in Great Falls this past weekend. The presentation outlined the Church's long support of family farms and the high calling and responsibility of all who are involved in agriculture to be good stewards of the environment. "Farmers hold a crucial place in society and a unique role in God's plan." Ennis said, quoting from the document.
Approximately 50 farmers attended the presentation and many stayed afterwards to find out more about this new initiative of Catholic Rural Life. A reflection titled "The Vocation of the Agricultural Leader" will soon be available.
CRL will continue to present on this initiative at various events across the country over the next 12 months. Our bulletin will announce these as the occasions approach.
Seeking Home
"Storytellers" Contributor Explores the Sense of Home
As we begin to gear up for the holidays, this week's Storytellers looks at the concept of home.
What makes a home? How much of a role does the physical location play in it? St. Augustine of Hippo put this restlessness perfectly when he penned: "'Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee." Julie Walsh, former lobbyist and blogger
shares her thoughts on the very human desire to seek home while here on earth.
The month of
November is a fitting time to thank God for His tender attention to our physical needs. This month on the
Calendar of Blessings is dedicated to gratitude to the Creator for the gifts of food and abundance.
Please download the printable version of November's blessing (
pgs. 1 & 4 is here.
pgs. 2 &3 is here) to hold a simple blessing ceremony in your parish or home.
Catholic Ecology and the Family Farm
Patrick Fleming on Living Laudato Si'
Our good friend Bill Patenaude at Catholic Ecology has posted an interesting conversation with Patrick Fleming, an economist, theologian - and farmer. Fleming is a professor of economics atFranklin and Marshall Collegein Lancaster, Penn. He also holds a master's of theology from thePontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family-which he says was a life-changing experience. And he works on his wife's family farm, also in Lancaster.
As Patenaude writes in his current blogpost, "Fleming blends academic theory and family life on a farm for advice on living Laudato Si'." This of course is the encyclical on "care for our common home" issued by Pope Francis last year.
We also recommend reading Fleming's essays posted at the online site of Humanum, a quarterly review of books published by thePontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Familyin Washington, DC. "The Family Farm" is an engaging essay based on a talk he gave at the Institute earlier this year.
CATHOLIC RURAL LIFE
Our mission is dedicated to addressing and overcoming
the challenges facing rural America: social, economic and ecological.
