After a three-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Catholic Action Commission of Lorain County resumed its annual Peace and Justice Awards dinner. Hosting the event, which took place on Earth Day, April 22, was Sacred Heart Parish in Oberlin. Shawn Witmer is director of the commission and Catholic Relief Services, Diocese of Cleveland.
Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost was the keynote speaker. His talk, “The Earth is Full of the Goodness of God: Why Catholics Should Care for Creation,” tied in with the Earth Day theme of the event.
(See above for a photo gallery from the event.)
Three awards were presented:
- The Laudato Si Award went to the Oberlin Office of Sustainability for its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.
- The Gert Wirscham Faithful Servant Award was presented to the Sacred Heart Parish, Oberlin Peace and Justice Committee for its campaigns to protect life and its efforts to aid a Ukrainian refugee family in Lorain County.
- The Bishop Quinn Award for Justice was awarded to the men of Grafton Correctional Institution for responding to the needs of their brothers and sisters during the pandemic by growing and donating food to Catholic Charities Emergency Services food programs and by sewing thousands of masks for use by Catholic Charities agencies, clients and schoolchildren.
In his talk, Bishop Woost told the 75 attendees that “We should care about creation because God entrusted it to us.” In Genesis, which tells the story of creation, he pointed out that “the Lord took the man and settled him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it.” But it wasn’t just Adam who was entrusted with caring for creation – all of humanity is charged with that responsibility, he said.
“We must be concerned about not only nature, but the future of the planet,” the bishop said. Pope Francis’ Laudato Si focuses on this responsibility of the common good. He said the gaze of Jesus shows how he loves the world and everything in it.
“The Lord invites others to be attentive to the beauty of the world because he was attentive to the creative reality around him. In Laudato Si, the pope invites us to see things with the same sense of wonder and awe as Christ did. God created everything that exists and he said it was good,” Bishop Woost said.
“God created everything in the world and the Word became flesh. He became one of us. One of the three persons of the Trinity entered into the creativity,” he explained. He said we know and believe that Christ wasn’t just human, he was both human and divine and all of creativity was permeated by the divine. “We see the presence of God made manifest. All of creation was permeated by the divine and Christ came to save all of creation,” he said.
The world became disordered by original sin and Christ came to restore order, the bishop explained. “We have the responsibility to continue the redemptive acts of Christ,” he added.
The Risen Christ also effected a transformation in all of reality, the bishop said, noting we see the presence of the divine in all of reality.
“The Holy Father is calling us to have a mystical vision, to see the divine in all of creation. We are all called to be mystics, to live in the presence of the divine and to recognize the presence of the divine,” he added.
The bishop reflected on others’ view of creation, including St. John of the Cross, who said the mystic vision “… in this awakening of the soul is conscious of how all creatures, earthly and heavenly, have their life, duration and strength in him (God).”
We are invited to embrace the world on a different plane, Bishop Woost said. He also reflected on the celebration of the sacraments and how we use created realities to recognize the presence of God, such as water, oil, bread and wine. He called the Eucharist an act of cosmic love.
“You are testament to the good that we do. The Risen Lord participates in the Eucharist,” he said, adding that bread and wine, the work of human hands, become Jesus’ body and blood.
“The altar of the world is moving to spring, the bloom of new life. Like Easter, we are moving from death to life,” the bishop said. “Should we care for creation? Yes, absolutely,” he added.
Witmer introduced the award presenters and winners, each of whom offered brief remarks.
Terry Flanagan, Lorain Catholic Commission board president, presented the Laudato Si Award to Oberlin Councilwoman Kristin Peterson, who accepted on behalf of the Sustainability Office. In keeping with the sustainability theme, the dinner was served on compostable plates and the cutlery was compostable. Food waste also were was recycled.
Sharon Kleppel, Lorain Catholic Commission board secretary, presented the Gert Wirscham Faithful Servant Award to the Sacred Heart Peace and Justice Committee. Wirscham, who died in 2015, was a longtime member of St. Mary Parish in Elyria and was devoted to social action and justice causes. She was a founding member and served many years on the Catholic Commission of Lorain County.
Jessie Ferriols accepted the award for the Sacred Heart group, which was recognized for is campaigns to support life in Oberlin and throughout the diocese. The group is working with their pastor, Father David Trask, to establish a “Welcome Circle” for a Ukrainian refugee family that will be relocating to Lorain County.
Sister Rita Mary Harwood, SND spoke about the contributions made by the men of Grafton Correctional Institution. During the pandemic, she said they sought ways to help. Catholic Charities requested masks, so the men made about 49,000 masks that were donated to Catholic Charities agencies, clients and schoolchildren throughout the diocese. In addition, the men began – and expanded – a garden in which they grew produce that was donated to Catholic Charities’ emergency food programs.
She shared the story of one man whose niece was caring for his 94-year-old father during his incarceration. The niece told him not to worry about them because they were getting a weekly bag of fresh produce from the Bishop Cosgrove Center in Cleveland.
“He learned that he was helping to feed his own family from prison,” she said.
As the need for masks waned, the “Gentlemen of Grafton,” as they were called, sewed hats, gloves, backpacks, walker bags and other items for children, senior citizens and others in need, she added.
The award was accepted by Warden Kieth Foley, who said he calls Grafton a community. The men try to make a difference during their incarceration. They learn skills and do service work to help make the transition easier when they are released.
The Catholic Action Commission of Lorain County is a branch of the Social Action Office, Diocese of Cleveland. The commission provides opportunities for Catholics to live out their faith with purpose by witnessing to Christ’s love in action, promoting Gospel values and honoring respect for all life and the dignity of the human person. The commission works to encounter, form and transform via faith-rooted leadership and local collaboration.
For more information, contact Witmer at smwitmer@ccdocle.org or call 440-366-1106, Ext. 12.