catholic traveller

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Catholic Traveller is 10 years old this year, thanks to your support!

"A journey to a holy place, undertaken for religious reasons; a journey to a place with special significance."

To the above definition, which was taken from the dictionary, we might add, "to reunite a person with their center of being and help to restore their relationship with their Creator."

Sometimes just getting out of the routine for a few days or a few weeks can help us re-center and kindle or rekindle the fire of a passionate life devoted to love. Catholic Traveller's mission is to inspire busy people to take time out now and then for retreat and pilgrimage - to allow the Spirit to enter and heal and renew us, so that we return to our everyday lives better able to see and serve Jesus and Mary in all those around us.

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Our Travel Store is open and offering our own handmade soaps, lotions and travel kits, with more to come.

I know, it's Lent. I should be writing about Ash Wednesday, or penance, or the Pope's resignation. I think all that's pretty well covered in other people's blogs. I was reading an article in the January issue of The Catholic Worker about "The Church and Climate Change". This started the wheels turning in my head. Regardless of which theory you subscribe to, I think it can be generally agreed that there is an enormous amount of environmental pollution and waste that has been going on for decades. I am glad the Church takes the stand that, as stewards of the earth, we need to be proactive in protecting it for future generations. About time. I'll save the farther-reaching issues for those who are much more educated and intelligent than I am.

I heat my home with a woodstove - renewable energy - and resist the temptation to use the air conditioner for all but the 3-6 hottest weeks of the summer. It helps that it is a window unit, which I install and remove every year. I just delay installation until the heat is unbearable.

I disagree that my few head of backyard livestock contribute significantly to greenhouse gasses. In fact, they have contributed significantly to the fertility of my soil so far. They also contribute dairy products and eggs for my household and meat for the freezer. They eat the weeds on ten acres, thereby reducing the fire hazard and eliminating the need for gas powered weed control.

I will admit that I have a ways to go for gardening success. I try to reuse packaging and buy in bulk. I use and reuse every possible drop of water, it is Northern Arizona, after all.

I enjoy the internet, my cell phone, kindle and netflix. I like to flip a switch and have light and I really like the indoor outhouse. I may not ever be as "green" as I really could be. I'm still on the grid, because it would take 15 or more years to recoup the switch to solar - my usage is rather minimal. I take delivery of propane, because I do a lot of cooking on my gas stove, my gas clothes dryer gets used 2 or 3 times a week, though I occasionally hang clothes outside, and I have the gas heater for emergency back up. Still, I only use 150-200 gallons of propane a year, when I don't use the heater.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure where I rate on the scale of being a responsible, green Catholic. I do try to simplify as much as possible and in doing so, I use less. Besides, in this part of Arizona, if you don't like the climate, wait 5 minutes. It'll change.