“Our Common Home.”<\/em>\u00a0 With these three words, in 2015, Pope Francis introduced a new mindset through his encyclical, Laudato Si.<\/em>\u00a0 Now, in 2021, we find our common home infected by a virus and searching for healing.<\/p>\n The Daughters of Wisdom of the USA province embraced a way of ecological healing through our land trust at Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center, Litchfield, CT.\u00a0 This land was home to the sisters’ novitiate and, over 72 years, has evolved into a common home shared by many.\u00a0 Our Land Conservation Easement with the Litchfield Land Trust in 2020 made this possible.<\/p>\n This conservation easement protects 54 of the 74 acres from development, thereby protecting the soil, ecosystems, streams, native wildlife, and birds that depend on the land.\u00a0\u00a0 We do not want “dominion” over the land; we want to “care” for it.<\/p>\n Care of the Earth and healing and health are inseparable.<\/p>\n The recent pandemic has brought us to a crossroads to end destructive activities such as deforestation and develop sustainable ones such as alternative energy.\u00a0\u00a0 Deforestation has contributed to a pandemic by making species of plants and animals extinct.\u00a0 Some animals that survive potentially carry dangerous pathogens – organisms that can host in humans and spread disease.\u00a0 Science, ecology, and spirituality are intertwined for the very future of life.<\/p>\n The Conservation Easement approval by the international congregational leadership gave impetus to the Chapter orientation to care for the Earth.<\/p>\n![\"Congr\u00e9gation](\"https:\/\/www.fdlsagesse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2021-mai-jpic-02-1000x563.jpg\")
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