Announcing:
There will be no Weekly E-news next week due to the Good Friday holiday, so this week we picked two winners!

Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of April 3 and April 10, 2009!
Congratulations to Martina Saenz and Jason Ford!

Martina Saenz and Jason Ford will each receive a copy of Scripture-Based Retreats for Teens Ages 10-19, a $24.95 value.

Scripture-Based Retreats for Teens Ages 10-19 presents young people with the opportunity to grow in their faith, in their relationships with others, and in their understanding of and appreciation for God's holy word. Scripture-Based Retreats is a collection of six retreats for middle school and high school young people, written by six different authors from the field, including Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart, Marni Geissler, Ron Jacobson, Christina Semmel, Victoria Shepp, Ralph Stewart, and Erica Weber.

Look Inside: You can view an online sampler of the Scripture-Based Retreats on the SMP Web catalog. Search for "Scripture-Based Retreats," or use this link to go to the product description, http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=4328.

Scripture-Based Retreats for Teens Ages 10-19, ISBN 978-0-88489-937-2,
138 pages, paper, $24.95, http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=4328

Retreat Reference Guide
For a listing of over 50 retreats on a variety of topics for teens of all ages, check out http://www.smp.org/retreats.cfm.

Biblical Perspectives on Care of the Earth
by Brian Singer-Towns

The celebration of Earth Day (April 22) is an opportunity to explore with youth the biblical theology that underpins our stewardship of creation. Too often, a poor exegesis of the Scriptures has justified the earth's exploitation. Here are some biblical principles and passages to guide you.

• All creation belongs to God--not to human beings. (see Gn ch. 1; Ps 104:5-8; Is 45:12; Jn 1:1-3) Despite the fact that we hold property titles, we do not own the earth! We are only part of creation, we are not the creators. We are just passing through and must treat the earth with the same respect a guest should treat a host's home.
• God allows us to share in his care of his creation. (see Gn 1:26-30, 2:15; Lv 25:1-13; Is 11:1-9) Unfortunately some have interpreted God's instruction in Genesis--that human beings have "dominion" over other creatures and "subdue" the earth--as permission to do whatever we want to creation without regard for the consequences. But if you study the big picture in Scripture, that is clearly not the case. The laws in Leviticus command a "Sabbath" year for the land, speaking of our need to preserve the fertility and integrity of God's creation. And the messianic vision in Isaiah reveals that God desires harmony between all creatures, not domination and abuse.
• God is redeeming all of creation, not just human beings. (see Is 65:17; Rom 8:19-23; Col 1:15-20; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1) The Scriptures, especially the New Testament, speak of God's redemption of all of creation. If God is not just redeeming human beings but is also redeeming all creation, must we not care for the earth with the respect and love?

The Stewardship of Creation
by Roxane Chlachula

We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God's creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/socialteaching/excerpt.shtml

Earth Day provides an opportunity to have a discussion about one of the principles of Catholic social teaching: care for God's creation. Encourage your students or youth group to share ways that they are stewards of the earth. If needed, refer to the list of questions that follow in order to guide the discussion:

• Do you buy food items that minimize the amount of packaging and plastic used for the product?
• Do you walk or ride your bike rather than travel by car?
• Do you turn off lights when you leave a room?
• Do you recycle at home? School? Work?
• Do you purchase "gently used" products, rather than purchase new, whenever possible?
• Do you encourage friends and family to become stewards of the earth?

Emphasize that small changes like these will have a positive impact on our world. We can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. Encourage the teens to be part of the solution!

April 2009 Connect Newsletter Online

Connect is a complementary newsletter from Saint Mary's Press for high school religion teachers, campus ministers, and principals. It is edited by development editors from our high school development team and is published online each October, January, and April.

In this issue of Connect, Patrick Tiernan, of Boston College High School, shares his experience and suggestions for creating a productive world religions classroom. The articles review the benefits of having a world religions course, as well as discuss how such a course can relieve students' misunderstandings about other cultures in a post-9-11 world. They also include guidelines for creating an atmosphere of open dialogue and respectful discussion, information on the benefits of using primary sources and guest speakers, and suggestions for helping students take ownership of their learning and grow in appreciation for their own faith.

You can find the April 2009 issue as well as past issues of the Connect newsletter on our Web site at http://www.smp.org/Connect.