Michigan Catholics have a few options for Friday night dinner during Lent: fish frys, fish sticks, pizza or muskrat.
A long-standing permission allows local Catholics to eat muskrat, a rodent native to the area, “on days of abstinence, including Fridays during Lent.” The custom dates to the region’s missionary history in the 1700s. Missionary priests realized food was scarce in communities close to the Detroit River, so they did not want to deny settlers an available source of protein. 
The Rev. Tim Laboe, dean of studies at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, grew up in an area of Michigan where muskrat dinners have long been a tradition. He remembers eating muskrat with his grandfather. “I don’t know if I enjoy more eating the muskrat or watching people try it for the first time, because it doesn’t look in any way appetizing.”
Laboe, who said he enjoyed muskrat, recalled a quote attributed to the late Bishop Kenneth Povish, the former head of the Lansing Diocese: “Anybody that eats muskrat is doing an act of penance worthy of the greatest of saints.” 
I have had a number of thought and soul changing experiences with animals. I loved like a family member most of our dogs–especially Winston and Cutie. Constant in their affections, they taught me love and emotions are not limited to human beings. DOG really is GOD spelled backwards. Seeing a great horned owl against the moon in Pennsylvania is an image that will always stay with me. Hand feeding two baby robins from a ruined nest was a bonding experience. I wanted them to remain wild, so I never named them or kept them in the house. Each night I would put them in a short white pine to roost. I could recognize their peeps above the forest cacophony. I was sad when they departed, but happy I helped them to live. From time to time I would see a robin come close and look at me intently. I wondered if that was one of them, or one of their babies coming to check out the legend of the Mother Giant who brought their ancestors from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and fed them worms, oatmeal and mashed cherries. 
In March 2019 I met Maurice at the Kanaloa Octopus Farm in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. This aquaculture project began in an effort to help preserve and increase the declining reef octopus populations. A demand for octopus for food and bait has had a severe impact on their numbers. Scientists are trying to learn how to successfully breed octopuses for food and fishing and leave the wild ones alone. They are making progress, but haven’t been successful yet.
Maurice was rescued from a fishing boat where he was about to become bait or dinner. He is now part of the Kanaloa experiment. Visitors to Kanaloa get to interact with the octopuses. We discovered each one has their own individual traits and personalities. Some are curious, shy, grumpy, reclusive, aggressive, clever or playful. I’m sure there are more parts of their character, but those are the ones I observed in my hour at the aquaculture farm. 
After wiggling my fingers in the water to mimic a fish, Maurice came up from the bottom of his tank to investigate. He gently touched my fingers. I gently touched his tentacle. It was very smooth. The encounter reminded me of the fresco painting of Adam and God in the Sistine Chapel. One touch changed everything.
Ever since I met Maurice I cannot eat octopus and would never use them for bait.
Sr. Janet Corcoran, vice president of mission service at Marian Medical Center in Santa Clara, CA, is just one of the Catholic voices spreading the gospel that bottled water, however convenient, is environmentally, economically and politically wrong. “It’s a matter of getting people to think more consciously about what they are doing,” she said. Her column, “Environmental Tips from a Green Franciscan Sister” is published in a hospital publication.
Concerns about bottled water are bubbling up in Catholic organizations, adding clout to a growing number of municipalities and secular organizations concerned about the issue–with women religious strongly in the lead.
Numerous women’s religious communities are banning bottled water at their motherhouses, retreat houses and conference centers, and some are substituting refillable water bottles for the throw-away kind at sponsored events.
Bottled water has become a lighting rod for several environmental-social justice issues surrounding water. 
There is a negative environmental impact of discarded plastic bottles. I see plenty of those on the beach–used and left by fishermen (both native born and Spanish-speaking immigrants) to wash out into the ocean. There is the oil used to make plastic bottles. And lastly, the prize of the ownership and access to good water, especially for developing countries. Like energy resources–oil, gas, coal–water is now being privatized by corporations.
The United Nations estimates that more than 1 billion people currently lack access to safe drinking water and that by 2025 two-thirds of the world’s population will not have access to drinking water.
Some Catholic groups have borrowed information and ideas from Think Outside the Bottle, a major non-religious player in the anti-bottled water movement.
The organization has launched a web-based campaign that provides information and support. In addition to inviting individuals to sign a pledge to boycott bottled water, the program urges people to send postcards to corporations challenging corporate control of water, to attend stockholders’ meetings and mount other forms of pressure on corporate executives.
I guess what this means for me is to stop buying Poland Spring at Staples or the supermarket, and fill the empties with tap water.
I love Poland Spring. It’s easy to tote to the gym or have in the car. Water in refillable plastic bottles tastes vile. This is going to be a tough one.
As a member of the Social Justice Committee of St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Brooklyn, NY I helped to start the “Coffee Project.” We sold Equal Exchange coffee after Masses once a month; and took special orders the rest of the time. Our parish secretary, a lovely lady, helped out to take care of people who were ill, out-of-town or couldn’t make it to Mass for some reason but still wanted their coffee. She would hold the bags in the office for people to come by and pick up. Sales did quite well–our Social Justice Committee funded other projects and initiatives out of our $1 a bag coffee profits.
We sold Equal Exchange coffee, tea, chocolate and hot chocolate. Everyone enjoyed the coffee, but the chocolate bars were the biggest hit. 
Our motto was: “Supporting fair wages and fair trade–one cup of coffee at a time.” Buying a bag of coffee after Mass made it easy and convenient to help support Catholic social justice initiatives several ways: small farmers were paid a fair price for their coffee beans and had access to credit; and the crops were planted and harvested in ecologically sound ways. Equal Exchange products are mostly organic and shade-grown, which further protects songbirds and wildlife.
Equal Exchange was great organization to work with, and I highly recommend them. We found them through Catholic Relief Services, who maintain a list of fair trade coffee partners on their website.
The Dominican Sisters established An Tairseach, the Dominican Farm and Ecology Centre, in 1998 on their 70-acres of land in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is an organic/biodynamic farm and Centre for Ecology and Spirituality. 
In addition to running the farm and shop, the sisters encourage field studies on the property, and also sponsor courses and retreats. Many of these events are inspired by Celtic Christianity.
A ten-week sabbatical programme is being offered September 7-November 14, 2008 and March 22-May 29, 2009. “Exploring Spirituality in the Context of – An Expanding Universe – An Endangered Earth – The Christian Tradition.” Contact Sr. Marian O’Sullivan for more information.
An Tairseach is the Irish word for threshold. It suggests a new beginning, an alternative and more sustainable way of working with the land as well as a renewed relationship with the whole community of life, human and non-human.
(Sigh…I’m so sorry I didn’t know about An Tairsearch when I was in Ireland in April. Next trip.)
