All posts filed under: Morals and Values

When Simple isn’t Easy

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Originally posted on Minimal Millennial:
Throughout the past few years, I’ve been moving towards a more simple life. I’m seeking less chaos, less clutter, less shopping, less spending, you get it – I want less so that I can have more of what really matters. More freedom, more mental space, more peace, more time. But that last one is interesting. What if simplifying leads us to do things…that take up more time? How simple can get complicated For starters, let’s make it clear: I don’t have any more hours in the day now than I did three years ago. None of us do. But I have found myself allocating those hours so differently these days, and not in ways you might expect. I clean more often (although it takes less time), I prepare food constantly (or at least it feels like I do), and I spend more time planning days than I have ever done before. So, what changed? Isn’t one of the driving factors of minimalism getting to the point of doing fewer chores? I think I figured it…

Why Pope Francis and the Church Treat Climate Change as a Moral Issue

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Originally posted on Millennial:
Last month, NPR (National Public Radio) held a workshop for energy and environment reporters in Chicago. I was invited to be on a panel titled “The Environment as a Moral Question” and outline Catholic teaching on ecology and climate change. Here are some excerpts of my address: Catholic Social Teaching In order to frame my remarks, it’s important to first outline Catholic Social Teaching (CST). The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Catholic Social Teaching as a body of key magisterial documents that together “propose principles for reflection; provide criteria for judgment; [and] give guidelines for action” (2423). These magisterial documents include papal encyclicals, like Laudato Si, and, according to William J. Byron, S.J. CST, generally contain ten themes: Human Dignity, Respect for Human Life, Association, Participation, Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable, Solidarity, Stewardship, Subsidiarity, Human Equality and the Common Good. Stewardship The CST principle of stewardship is rooted in the biblical insights that creation is intrinsically good and that humanity has a vocation to “cultivate and care for”…