Earth Day is always celebrated on April 22, followed by the Memorial of Blessed Giles of Assisi on April 23. This is a great time to raise awareness of the need to protect our Mother Earth. The theme for this year’s Earth Day is ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ because environmental progress is sustained by the daily actions of communities, educators, workers, and families protecting where they live and work.
On the day of Blessed Giles’ Memorial in 2024, in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, Conventual Franciscan Bishop John Stowe announced that the Diocese had committed to reach net-zero emissions across its 59 parishes/missions as well as its schools and other institutions by 2030. The Diocese is following a plan to implement changes which include solar installations at all possible locations beginning this summer.
The action plan was announced following the 10th anniversary of +Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Sí, to care for our common home. Recalling the words of his predecessor, Pope Leo XIV wrote:
“Now is the time to follow words with deeds. ‘Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.’”
One of the main messages in Laudato Sí, echoing +Pope Francis’ predecessors, is that caring for the earth is deeply interrelated with the care of the poor and vulnerable. It was in this spirit that the friars began considering new possibilities for land on the grounds of the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, Maryland. In 2018, land which had been leased out to a farmer employing traditional methods of industrial agriculture began converting to serve more sustainable purposes. Now the farm grows, harvests, and donates thousands of pounds of produce to those in need.
In the video below, learn more about Little Portion Farm:
On April 23, a special prayer service and blessing will take place at Little Portion Farm in Ellicott City, Maryland, following the Noon Mass at the Shrine of St. Anthony. Friar Gary Johnson will lead those gathered in seeking the intercession of Blessed Giles as the Farm begins its busiest months of the year. And, following the blessing, the greenhouse will be open for plant sales.
“Those who lovingly work their small expanse of fields, reap enough for themselves and others.”
