How our spiritual emptiness harms the environment

Upon entering a large secondhand store, I’m immediately struck by the volume of used clothing. A sea of garments greets me, rack after rack. I’m there to find a cute used flowerpot. You know the old saying, “One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure.”

I’m a treasure hunter at heart.

But all those clothes stopped me in my tracks as I wondered, “Who is going to buy all this? And what happens to the leftovers?”

If you, like me, have weeded through a closet thinking you’ll give away stuff to someone who “needs” it — and thereby justify buying more stuff — there’s an eye-opening documentary worth your time. “Trashion:

In helping execute this first year of Synod implementation, the shepherds of our archdiocese are guiding us (as Jesus did) to the abundance of the harvest, and to the need to pray for more disciples to work its plenty. The parish Synod Evangelization Teams, or SET, are simply setting the stage — tilling the soil — for more disciples to come and diligently build God’s kingdom, guided by their pastors and overall, by Archbishop Hebda. Just like Jesus with his first disciples, the archbishop and clergy are sending people out on mission to evangelize the world. This ministry started with the original disciples, then more disciples, and we are still at it, making more disciples for the harvest 2,000 years later.

“True disciples become workers out of the overflow of their growing relationship with Jesus Christ,” according to a book titled “No Man Left Behind, Catholic Edition: How to Build a Strong Disciple-Making Ministry for Every Man in Your Parish,” published by Wellspring in 2017.

The emphasis here is on first making disciples of men who are on fire for loving God and loving their neighbor.

Extrapolating this to the broader Synod implementation plan and inspiring what parish evangelization teams would call activated discipleship, the Church needs people who love God — with their heart, soul, body and strength — and love their neighbor.

“Only by moving through the discipleship gateway can people truly affect their parish, and their parish can affect them,” contend the writers of “No Man Left Behind.”

The gateway to discipleship (per the aforementioned book) for the Catholic Watchmen is following the basic disciplines of the movement that witness to love of God and love of neighbor. The basics of building that gateway are prayer, reading Scriptures, being a spiritual father, attending Mass, serving others, going to confession and having regular fellowship with a band of Christian brothers.

This all starts at home and extends to the parish community — strengthening family and parish life — and helping to evangelize and transform the culture. Ready, SET, go forth!

Deacon Bird ministers to St. Joseph in Rosemount and All Saints in Lakeville and assists with the archdiocesan Catholic Watchmen movement. See heroicmen com for existing tools supported by the archdiocese to enrich parish apostolates for ministry to men. For Watchmen start-up materials or any other questions regarding ministry to men contact him at gordonbird@rocketmail com

The Stealth Export of Waste Plastic Clothes to Kenya” can be Googled and watched on YouTube.

What’s “trashion”? It’s “fast fashion,” or clothing that has become so cheap it almost seems disposable. Wired Magazine reports that fashion brands are now producing twice the volume of clothing than they did in 2000. And literally, much of it becomes trash — sometimes in the most environmentally unfriendly ways.

Living simply is a near-universal principle of spiritual practice. When I joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps decades ago, “simple living” was one of the tenets, and it still is. But we are immersed in a consumer society. Coming to grips with our spending, especially on clothes, is a spiritual challenge.

In Kenya, 900 million items of clothing arrive annually, sometimes illegally in the dark of night. Maybe some of it was once mine. The supply vastly outpaces the demand. We’re introduced to real people who deal with this as a business. They’re unpacking the bales and weeding through them to see what may be marketable.

A woman in the documentary, wearing a cute T-shirt, possibly a “find” among the bales, shows us the waste contained in these bundles. A stained shirt, pants with holes, fabrics stretched or ripping. As she makes a pile of

Catholic social teaching espouses a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable. In the public policy context, this means that policies should first be evaluated based on how they will affect those most in distress (Mt 25). It also means that addressing the needs of the poor and vulnerable should be one of the most important priorities in the legislative process, at whatever level of government.

To expand its anti-poverty advocacy, the Minnesota Catholic Conference has for decades joined the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, the Islamic Center of Minnesota and the Minnesota Council of Churches in sponsoring the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC). Guided by God’s vision of the common good as reflected in Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, the JRLC mobilizes religious communities to influence public policy in Minnesota. Despite our differences, the JRLC tries to embody the importance of building common ground for the common good, as well as promoting civility in public discourse. The JRLC had some important legislative successes during the 2023 session.

The Sacred Settlements bill, which passed, provides a list of inspection and permitting guidelines for congregations that want to house chronically homeless people in tiny homes on their property. After three long years of advocacy, this bill is now law.

The JRLC became a champion of this bill when a pioneering Nazarene congregation in St. Paul offering these “tiny homes” brought it to the group’s attention, and it was clear that this religious liberty matter had to be resolved so that people of faith could be free to serve those most in need.

The JRLC sponsors are hopeful that more congregations will consider using the Sacred Settlements model to house their chronically homeless neighbors, and that more people will find supportive communities and permanent housing.

The proposed expansion of online sports betting did not pass this session. The JRLC has long opposed gambling expansion due to the harm it would cause low-income families and individuals dealing with gambling addiction, as well as its impact on young people prone to developing compulsive gambling behaviors.

The JRLC’s efforts concentrated on ensuring that any proposal discussed included extensive safeguards to mitigate potential harm. Most of those safeguards are present in the House and Senate versions of the bill. This work to mitigate the harms of putting online casinos on cellphones will continue into the 2024 session.

After a last-minute push to persuade the governor and Senate to adopt the House proposal of $150 million in emergency shelter funding, $137.53 million in emergency shelter funding was included as cash appropriations in the Capital Investment Bill. JRLC put together a letter of support as part of a significant effort by homelessness advocates to secure this funding. JRLC’s interfaith letter included signatures from 66 clergy, and among them were several of our state’s bishops. Expanding shelter capacity will help build out resources and beds ahead of this upcoming winter.

Inside the Capitol is an update from Minnesota Catholic Conference staff.