Jessie Rathburn CoL

Currently serving as Loretto’s Earth Education and Advocacy Coordinator, Jessie Rathburn spends much of her time outside – gardening, hiking, birding, and learning more about the local central Kentucky bioregion. Her background also includes English and writing instruction and operating an urban farm.
A logo of a seven petal white flower surrounded by colorful circles each representing focus areas of the "Laudato Si" Action Platform: Response to the cry of the earth, response to the cry of the poor, ecological economics, adoption of simple lifestyles, ecological education, ecological spirituality, and community engagement and participatory action.

A Love that Lights the Whole Sky

Late on a February evening, while attending yet another webinar on how people of faith can respond to the climate crisis, I was startled out of my Zoom stupor. For many, the silver lining of COVID has been the knowledge…

Six children in blue and white school uniforms gardening together outdoors.

Loretto Carbon Offset Fund Honors Anthony Mary

On my first visit to the Loretto Motherhouse, I discovered tree identification tags on several of the massive, ancestral trees scattered throughout the Motherhouse campus. Soon, someone put a pamphlet in my hands, “Visitor’s Guide to Loretto Motherhouse Trees.” Maidenhair,…

An illustrated poster of a green landscape, with a blue lake, a full rainbow, and a blue sky with white fluffy clouds. The text in the sky says: Care for our mother Earth. In the rainbow, the text says

Earth’s Gratitude

‘Am I living in a way that Earth would be grateful for me?’ This is the question I was faced with recently after reading a Robin Wall Kimmerer article on returning Earth’s gifts. My gratitude for Earth, though undoubtedly inadequate,…