Forests, Faith, and Care for the Land — Congregation of Sisters of St Joseph in Canada, Theater News

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At Ignatius Jesuit Centre, care for the land is not separate from spiritual life. It is part of it.

Set on over 600 acres in Guelph, Ontario, the land at IJC holds forests, fields, wetlands, and trails that are actively cared for through conservation, farming, and community engagement. For us, ecological stewardship is not only about protecting natural spaces, but about restoring right relationship — with the land, with one another, and with God’s creation as a whole.

As we mark Earth Day, we are reminded that forests are more than landscapes to be preserved. They are living communities. They hold memory, shelter biodiversity, regulate climate, and offer spaces for reflection and renewal. They also require ongoing care.

At IJC, this care takes many forms. Through our conservation work, we are restoring native habitats, managing invasive species, and working to establish long-term protections for the land. Our Old Growth Forest Project, in particular, is a commitment to thinking beyond our own lifetimes; to steward a forest that future generations may inherit, even if we will never see it fully mature.

This long view is deeply connected to our spiritual practice. In a culture that often prioritizes immediacy and extraction, both faith and ecology invite us into something slower and more attentive. Forests teach patience. They remind us that growth happens over decades, that resilience is built through interconnected systems, and that care is often quiet and unseen.

Alongside conservation, Ignatius Farm continues to be a place where people learn through direct relationship with the land — growing food, tending soil, and participating in ecological cycles. Increasingly, this work is being integrated with opportunities for reflection, retreat, and education through our emerging Centre for Integral Ecology. The Centre is being developed as a place of formation, where people can engage the ecological and spiritual dimensions of life together through hands-on learning, shared reflection, and dialogue. In this way, we are responding, in a practical and grounded way, to Laudato Si’’s call to care for our common home — bringing faith, ecological understanding, and lived practice into closer relationship.

This invitation is already being lived out through the participation of volunteers and community members. On any given week, people gather to remove invasive species, helping native plants and trees to regenerate. Others join in planting trees, tending the community orchard, or supporting restoration projects across the property. On the farm, volunteers seed, harvest, and care for the soil, learning directly from the rhythms and limits of the land. These are not abstract acts of care, but physical, relational ones — ways of coming back into contact with the living systems that sustain us.

At its core, this work is an invitation. Not only to protect the natural world, but to reconsider how we live within it.

Prayer Intentions

We invite you to join us in holding these intentions in prayer:

• For the healing and restoration of forests and ecosystems under pressure around the world

• For the plants, animals, birds, and unseen life that share this Earth with us, in gratitude for their presence and with hope for their healing where they have been harmed

• For the patience and long-term vision needed to care for the land across generations

• For all who work in conservation, farming, and ecological education, that they may be sustained in their efforts

• For deeper awareness of our interconnectedness with all of creation, and the courage to live differently in response

Courtesy of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre