Ecological education is not new. For many years there have been people in Townsville Catholic Education who have sustained and nurtured an environmental vision.
Gumburu Environmental Education Centre opened in 1995 and is located in the mountain top village of Paluma. The Centre provides a rich experience of rainforest living for the many students and adult groups who stay each year. Gumburu has been a beacon to the rest of the diocese, encouraging us to integrate our care for the environment in everything we do.
Not long before he died, Pope John Paul II reminded us that we are to take up "ecological vocations"which, in our time, has become more urgent than ever.
"If you love your native land do not let this appeal go unanswered!!...devise programmes for the protection of the environment and ensure that they are properly put into effect."
Pope John Paul II - June 1999
Prayer for the Environment
God of the sun and the moon
Of the mountains, deserts and plains
God of the mighty oceans, of rivers, lakes and streams
God of all creatures that live in the seas and fly in the air
Of every living thing that grows and moves on this sacred earth...
Help us to love and respect the earth
To repair what we have damaged
To care for what You have made good and holy
Give us the wisdom and the passion
To change our minds, our hearts and our ways...
For our sake now
And for every generation to come.
We ask this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
