This Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation on the Feast of St. Francis (Saturday, October 4) celebrates the tenth anniversary of the environmental encyclical Laudato Si, the 800th anniversary of the Canticle of the Creatures and the Jubilee Year of Hope. It is one of four co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and one of hundreds worldwide during the 2025 Season of Creation (September 1 - October 4). We will engage with people and communities in East Dayton who are committed to responding to the cry of the poor and the cry of the Earth. We’ll explore concrete solutions to environmental and social injustice - urban agriculture in a food desert, remediation of air, soil and water contamination in a low-income neighborhood, and a diverse haven for people and wildlife in a busy neighborhood. We’ll gather for opening prayer at 9 am at Mount Saint John (MSJ) in Beavercreek, and travel to two or three urban sites, returning to MSJ for Mass and a luncheon with remarks by Gayle Covington Fowler (bio below) ending at 1:30. MEEC & MSJ staff will lead optional land-based experiences after lunch.
Schedule
9 am - 9:30 am Prayer
9:30 am - 11:30 am Bus/car pool tour of urban sites
11:30 am - 12:15 pm - Mass in Queen of Apostles Chapel
12:15 pm - 1:30 pm - Lunch in the Madeleine Room, Chaminade Center, and remarks
by Gayle Covington Fowler
1:30 - 3 pm Three concurrent afternoon experiences; optional for pilgrimage participants
and open to the public for those unable to attend the entire day.
Stop 1: The McCook Field neighborhood, where residents are dealing with the Behr Dayton Thermal System VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) Plume which has contaminated the air, soil and groundwater and which was designated a Superfund site in 2009. Jerry Bowling, a life-long resident of McCook field and president of the neighborhood association, will tell his community’s story, including health impacts and ongoing monitoring and remediation efforts. Jerry was both a graduate and presenter in the 2022 Environmental Justice Academy co-sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Stop 2: Mission of Mary Cooperative, a lay Marianist ministry and catalyst for sustainable development in east Dayton. Focusing on urban agriculture, education, and the stewardship of green spaces, they cultivate systems to address vacant lots and food deserts for the wellbeing of the community. We’ll meet Dan Lombardo, education and outreach coordinator, who is enthusiastic to learn all he can about the natural world and ecstatic to share what he learns as he builds connections and fosters understanding with and between groups of adults and children alike.
Stop 3: Friends Meeting House is a Quaker house of worship in a busy part of the city but is also home to ground hogs, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, owls, various other species of birds and pollinating insects. The community property provides an oasis for the neighborhood, full of natural plantings that offer hospitality to all beings and a space for them to flourish. The space expresses Quaker values, led by our human community to be in touch with our animal friends and restore our connection to the natural world. We hope to help humans give pause in their busy-ness to notice, reflect and reconcile with our Earth.
Mass using the new prayers for the care of creation will be held in Queen of Apostles Chapel with Fr. Tom Schroer, SM, presiding, featuring the music ministry of the Spiritus Marianist Lay Community.
Lunch with remarks by Rev. Gayle Covington Fowler, a 2022 graduate of the Environmental Justice Academy sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with the University of Dayton and the Dayton Foundation. She is president of the National Environmental Justice Alumni Association and regional alumni coordinator, roles which have heightened her awareness about the environmental conditions, disparities and deficiencies that are detrimental to the health and well-being of our families and children and contribute to higher mortality rates among people of color. Her leadership was awarded as the 2023 “Individual of the Year” by the Greater Dayton Partners for the Environment. Rev. Gayle is an associate minister at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Dayton and integrates faith and spirituality with inspiring and empowering actions. Her goal is to inspire, educate, and equip others to become champions of their change.
After lunch, the staff of the Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC) and Mount Saint John (MSJ) will lead three optional, concurrent experiences.
- Nature as spiritual practice – a gentle hike through the Marianist Nature Preserve. MEEC Program Coordinator and naturalist Tara Poling will guide us through woods, wetland and prairie in an experience of the interplay between attention and wonder, and how nature can teach us to pray.
- Energy and habitat - a tour of the Mount Saint John solar prairie. Michele Banker, MEEC land manager, and Jeff Bohrer, director of MSJ facilities, will guide a tour of the MSJ solar prairie which provides all of the campus’ electrical needs each year. It was designed with wildlife in mind, and we’ll learn how the installation is providing habitat for God’s creatures.
- Labyrinth walk - a pilgrimage to the center. MEEC Director Sr. Leanne Jablonski, FMI, will lead a prayer experience through the native plant labyrinth at MSJ. The labyrinth is an ancient prayer used by Christians in the Middle Ages as an alternative to Holy Land pilgrimages. Our labyrinth is modeled after the labyrinth in the floor of the Chartres Cathedral.