Bending the Arc

January is National Slavery & Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month in the United States. The Alliance to End Human Trafficking, formerly U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking has just released their January newsletter, Stop Trafficking!  Read it here.

Other important Monthly Updates include:

1. Information about the Annual Conference in Boston, April 15-17. This year’s theme is United in Prevention: Current Trends and Prevention Strategies. Father Greg Boyle, SJ will be this year’s keynote speaker.
2. International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking - Feb 8. Download a prayer vigil here
3. What would you do? High School Video Contest. CSA is a sponsor of this contest. Please share with students and education professionals in your areas.
4. Support the Alliance with apparel. Available in different styles, sizes, and colors. Order here.
    

As Catholics, we are called to be people of peace. Yet gun violence continues to devastate our nation, taking thousands of lives each year and inflicting deep physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds on families and communities. In response, Nuns Against Gun Violence (NAGV) invites all people of faith to join our third annual Lenten Fast to End Gun Violence.

During Lent, we will unite our minds, hearts, and bodies in a spirit of sacrifice—whether through fasting from food and drink or choosing another meaningful discipline—to pray for an end to gun violence and call our civic leaders to enact life‑saving legislation. This year’s fast will help deepen our awareness of how gun violence impacts individuals, families, and communities, especially children and teens.

Participants are encouraged to engage in three components:

Prayer – Join our virtual Ash Wednesday Prayer Service on February 18 at 2 p.m. ET bit.ly/2026NAGVAshWed 

Education – Receive weekly reflections from those directly affected by gun violence, along with scripture and resources.

Advocacy – Use your fast as a public witness for change. Resources available at nunsagainstgunviolence.org.

Sign up now to receive more information: bit.ly/2026Fast

May our Lenten prayers and fasting strengthen our desire to build a society rooted in peace.
 

PFAS—so-called “forever chemicals”—are a group of synthetic chemicals widely used in plastics and consumer products. They don’t break down easily, they accumulate in the environment, and they’re increasingly being detected in drinking water across the United States. Exposure has been linked to a plethora of human health issues, such as cancer, immune suppression, reduced fertility, and developmental abnormalities.

How many Americans have been potentially exposed to PFAS through their drinking water? How can you avoid these? Hear answers to these questions and more at the Green America webinar, “The Plastic Problem: Solutions for Greener Living,” with live Q&A, on January 22 at 2 pm. 

Register here

Plastics show up in daily life and even more so when you’re on the go. Here are six realistic ways to reduce plastic waste while traveling, whether locally or internationally. Read the guide.

Green America and its members push corporations to do their part in reducing plastics and PFAS use. As individuals we can also make different choices for better outcomes for people and the planet every day. Learn more at https://greenamerica.org/ 
 

A D.C. apartment complex has found a creative way to save more energy and is able to heat residents’ showers with waste heat from a brewery downstairs.

The Bridge District is a newer neighborhood in Washington D.C. that was designed to be as sustainable as possible. For example, when someone takes a shower at the apartment complex, the water is heated by a brewery downstairs.

Atlas Brew Works, a solar-powered brewery that serves craft beers, moved into the building in November. At most breweries, the heat that’s generated from the brewing process would be vented outside. But in the new building, any hot water that the brewery doesn’t reuse is sent into a heat exchanger, which transfers heat to the hot water loop for the apartments. (The water itself never mixes; tenants are not showering in brewery water.)

When the brewery is operating at full capacity and the complex’s 757 apartments are fully occupied, around 60% to 70% of the heat for the apartments’ hot water can come from the brewery. The complex is also designed to be able to harvest heat from other businesses. A small grocery store that will soon open can share waste heat from its refrigerators, for example.

Read the full story in this article from Fast Company
 

Looking for meaningful ways to engage with native plants beyond your own yard? Our upcoming webinar features Robin Wall Kimmerer, author, botanist, and founder of Plant Baby Plant, and Esther Bonney, youth organizer and founder of Nurture Natives. Drawing on their work in education, storytelling, and youth leadership, they will explore how people of all ages can take part in the native plant movement through shared learning, relationships, and local action.

Event Details

“Intergenerational Care for Land and Community: A Conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer and Esther Bonney“
Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT, 5 p.m. MT, 4 p.m. PT
Location: YouTube Live (link provided with registration).
This webinar will be recorded and shared with registrants after the webinar premiere.

This conversation is presented in partnership with Plant Baby Plant and Nurture Natives. All donations made at the time of registration will be shared between Plant Baby Plant, Nurture Natives, and Wild Ones to support community-rooted projects that build intergenerational relationships and put native plants into the ground.

Get more details & register

+New Ways Ministry is sponsoring a retreat for LGBTQ+ people and friends Friday-Sunday, March 6-8, 2026 at the Siena Retreat Center in Racine.

Brian Flanagan, PhD. is the John Cardinal Chair of Catholic Theology at Loyola University in Chicago. He will be leading the retreat, which will combine talks, synodal conversations, silent meditation, communal prayer, and socializing.

Learn more and register at https://www.newwaysministry.org/walkingtogether/ 

Following Dr. Flanagan’s stay in Racine, he will be traveling to Fond du Lac and will be hosted by the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA), where he will be making a presentation on Monday, March 9 at 5:30 pm. Participants will walk through similar experiences of listening and reflecting on what we can be doing as a church to support our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. 

Interested in CSA’s March 9 event? Please register here.

On the First Friday of each month, CMN invites you to a virtual prayer vigil, a sacred space to lament upcoming executions and bear witness to the sanctity of all human life. Join to stand in solidarity with people facing execution, their victims, and all who are impacted by the unjust system of capital punishment. 

First Friday Prayer Vigils include time for guided prayer, petitions, Scripture reflections, and contemplative silence. Due to the New Year’s Day holiday, January’s vigil will be on January 9, 2026, at 1:00 pm CT, featuring scripture reflection by Marie Dennis, director of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Institute for Nonviolence and a Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. 

You won’t want to miss this! Learn more and Register here: https://catholicsmobilizing.org/our-work/death-penalty/prayer-vigils/

In a recent Vatican News story, Marie Dennis reflects on Pope Leo’s call for an unarmed peace for a wounded world. Read or listen to that story here.

In the Social Justice Resource Center January 2026 Newsletter, several staggering statistics were shared about the amount of plastics in our oceans. Here are just a few:

• In total, 14 million tons of plastic are entering our oceans every year.
• By 2050, there will be more plastic (by weight) in our oceans than fish.
• 33% of sea turtles (my favorite sea creature) will ingest plastic in their lifetime, and more than 50% of the dolphin and whale populations already have.
• 274 marine animals die each day from plastic entanglement.
• 73% of beach litter is plastic.
• A large source of plastic pollution are microplastics, tiny pieces of plastic less than 5mm in length, originate from larger plastic items breaking down and from synthetic clothing fibers shed during washing.
• There are 20 times more microplastic particles in our oceans than stars in our galaxy.
• The country producing the most plastic waste is the United States at 46 million tons.

Americans cannot seem to live without the convenience of plastic, but we must try! Stopping the demand for plastics starts with you. Here are 10 small ways you can have an impact in 2026:

1. Stop buying bottled water, drinks and sodas in plastic. Period.
2. Wean yourself from single-use plastics. For one, bring your own reusable tote bags, containers, straws and utensils to stores and restaurants (I cringe every time I see a cart full of yellow plastic bags walking out of the grocery store!).
3. Avoid liquid soaps and detergents in plastic bottles. Purchase bars, tabs or sheets (without microplastics) instead.
4. Buy in bulk, looking for eco-friendly packaging or using glass jars whenever possible.
5. Choose clothes made from natural fibers like cotton, wool and hemp.
6. Put pressure on manufacturers to use smarter packaging. Give your money to more sustainable competitors.
7. Ditch microbeads - avoid face wash, toothpaste with microbeads or larger laundry beads and scent boosters that go down the drain and eventually into rivers, lakes and oceans.
8. Go for the cone! Get your ice cream in a cone and avoid the plastic cup and spoon.
9. Avoid plastic wrap and baggies! Secure snacks and sandwiches in beeswax wrap, cloth sacks, or glass containers.
10. Recycle properly. Do not “wish cycle.” Improper recycling contaminates products that could be properly recycled. Remember, while good, recycling is the last resort. Avoiding plastics altogether is the best!

For more sustainability guidelines and tips, read the CSA Sustainability Guidelines.