NJPN E-Bulletin 23rd April 2023

‘While all of us in the environmental 
industry hope to work ourselves out 
of a job, there will never be a day when 
Earth Day is no longer needed.’

Evan Raskin (National Campaign Manager, Earth Day)

Dear Friends,
 

What a busy weekend! As I write this, thousands of people are demonstrating in London for The Big One – not only activists, but members of the RSPB, various organisations dealing with justice and peace/climate issues, church members, religious organisations – and so the list goes on. Todays demonstrations coincide with Earth Day, and I have shared a few articles around this theme.

We have the usual articles on the Climate, Refugees and Palestine; plus this time some on the situation in Sudan. My eldest son, who is not involved at all in J & P issues, mentioned to me last weekend that he had just read a post on Reddit  from somebody in Sudan, who basically said that he expected to die very soon. Some of his friends and family had died and the soldiers were closing in on where he was hiding. This really affected my son, especially as we have no idea what happened to the poor guy who posted it.

All being well, the next E-bulletin will be out around the 7th May, which will be a week before our AGM/Networking Day on the 13th May. The theme of the day is ‘Women in Prison’ and we have three speakers, all with experience in the different ways in which prison affects women. It is taking place in London. and more details are on our website. We would love to see as many of you there as possible. 

Wishing you a good couple of weeks, and if you have anything you want shared, please do so by Friday 5th May. Thanks so much to those of you who send articles through.

Kind regards

Sharon

NJPN E-Bulletin 23rd April 2023

God of justice and peace,
We thank you for the vision and mission of the National Justice and Peace Network,
and for the people who work and pray for a more just and peaceful world.
We ask you to bless them with your grace and guidance,
and to inspire them with your Spirit of love and compassion.
Help them to be faithful witnesses of your Kingdom,
where all are welcome, respected and valued.
Help them to be agents of change and transformation,
where all are empowered, supported and challenged.
Help them to be signs of hope and joy,
where all are healed, reconciled and celebrated.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(courtesy of Paul Southgate, NJPN Chair, who asked Bing (AI) to write a prayer before a recent Executive Meeting)

Dear Friends,
 

Another fortnight has whizzed past, and the big issues being the Immigration Bill and the Budget. Interesting that once a ‘big name’ gets involved (as in Government/BBC vs Gary Lineker), everyone jumps on the bandwagon. In this case it is good publicity, but it then becomes more about the celebrity than the actual cause.

We have a rather different Action of the Week, which we hope you will engage with. Our leading section this weekend, though, is the Refugee situation. As you can imagine, there are lots of articles, many of which are saying something very similar. I have just picked a few of them.

This weekend we celebrate Mothering Sunday; however, I don’t believe you need to have had children, or indeed be female, to have been in a position to have looked after someone. Many of my generation no longer have children at home, but instead have elderly relatives that they are having to look after. Most of us have that mothering instinct which we have to draw on from time to time. regardless of who it is directed at. 
So, to all of you out there that care for someone, have a blessed day. You may not always feel appreciated, but you most definitely are. Thank you!

The next e-bulletin should be out on Palm Sunday, the 2nd April, as long as life doesn’t get in the way.

With all best wishes,

Sharon

NJPN E-Bulletin 19th March 2023

“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.” (Nelson Mandela) Dear Friends,   Some years ago I ran a church youth club for Year 6 and over, and at that time CAFOD were using the above Nelson Mandela quote. It has always been one of my favourite quotes to inspire our youth, and it seems particularly apt in that this weekend 10,000 of our young people/catechists/Priests etc. are congregating in Wembley for Flame 2023.  I was hoping to be there, but work/home commitments have got in the way. If there is some way that we can bottle the energy, vibrance and feel good factor of Flame, and bring it back to the parishes, and the organisations that we are all part of, then the church and its charities would be thriving.  Speaking from experience here, many of our young people (the TikTok Generation as I have heard them called) are more worried about which gender, if any, they want to identify with, and whether what their parents are saying is politically correct, rather than rolling up their sleeves and getting involved. We have a world that is in a mess; the climate issues, the threat of yet another World War; the cost of living. How do we focus the youth that are not engaged into realising that this is their world too? One idea would be to encourage them to attend the NJPN Conference in July. At a recent Conference Planning Meeting, one of the big things that came out was to find ways to get some more young people to attend. The Conference has a great energy to it, and if we could just get them through the door, I am sure they would be just as enthused as we are to be there. I know my son was 19 when he attended the online Conference (during the Covid year). He is now 22 and this year will be his third Conference in person – and he has never looked back. If you have children or grandchildren that you feel might benefit from coming along, please consider bringing them. If they are students at Uni, maybe their CathSoc would sponsor them. I know some of the Dioceses are looking at bursary schemes for young people. Why not approach yours? (CAFOD also have some ways that young people can get involved on their website. That is also well worth a look.) Last week’s Networking Day on the Cost of Living Crisis was fantastic, and we have a little bit about it further down. Well done to our Speakers and the work that they are doing. I believe that a recording of the Day will be on the website sometime soon. Our Action of the Week came out of one of the discussions from last weekend. All being well, the next e-bulletin will be out around the 18th March, so if you have anything that you want included, I would appreciate receiving it by Friday 16th please. God bless, and keep up the good work, Sharon

NJPN E-Bulletin 5th March 2023