MYDDELTON GRANGE

 

     

The Youth Retreat House for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds

 

 

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Text Box: PLANT A TREE FOR LENT We cannot simply do what we want with this Earth of ours, with what has been entrusted to us… We must respect the interior laws of creation… obedience to the voice of the Earth is more important for our future happiness… than the desires of the moment. Our earth is talking to us and we must listen to it and decipher its message if we want to survive. Pope Benedict XVI, July, 2007                                                                         When I was growing up in the holy city of Cleator Moor in West Cumbria, there was an ancient, wind-up record player tucked away in a corner of our attic. The short steel needles were thicker than pencil lead and you had to crank the lever up after every record. It seems light years away from MP3 and iPod technology. There weren’t too many 78 r.p.m. records to play on this machine but one I do remember was the Joyce Kilmer poem, Trees, set to music and sung by the great Paul Robeson. Here’s the opening and closing lines                       I think that I shall never see                       A poem lovely as a tree.                                         …                   Poems are made by fools like me,                   But only God can make a tree.   If the greatest minds on earth were all assembled, including the most brilliant engineers, designers and aesthetes and asked to devise a material as complex, versatile and beautiful as wood, they would fail dramatically. Wood is amazing. We can build structures that are beautiful and that are much bigger than trees but the key word in this sentence is build. Cathedrals do not grow; trees do. A tree may grow as tall as a cathedral but from the moment it germinates, with the exception of its reproductive faculties, it is fully functioning, independent and builds itself. Wood is an expression of complex chemistry and subtle engineering that draws nourishment to the tree and generates tissue growth.   We like trees at Myddelton Grange. We have a lot of them and we want a lot more. It should go without saying that the world today needs more trees: they are crucial in attempts to soften the effects of climate change, in providing an alternative resource to plastics and metals (e.g. a laptop with a bamboo case is being developed in Korea), and in making the earth look beautiful. Some of the trees on our land at Myddelton Grange are hundreds of years old and have stood in silent witness to difficult times in that part of Yorkshire’s specifically Catholic history. Some are only a few years old, trees in the new plantations that have been established since Myddelton Grange opened in 2001. Over two thousand trees have been planted by the retreat team, by the young people who have come on retreat and by others who have joined us on the Diocesan Tree Planting Days. We talk a lot to the young people about responsibilities in life including the importance of good stewardship of God’s wonderful creation. It’s great to be able to take them outside and put the lesson into action by digging and planting.   Not long after we started the scheme, a number of people contacted us requesting that trees be planted in memory of dead relatives and friends. Some of them were able to join in the planting and create a living memorial to their dead. The dedication of trees in this way has become an important part of the planting and a Book of Remembrance has been opened. Each November Masses are offered for those whose names have been entered.   This winter, (it’s the best time to plant), young people going to Sydney for World Youth Day and making a huge carbon footprint have planted trees at Myddelton Grange and a large-scale Diocesan Tree Planting Day is planned for Sunday, February 24th. We hope that we can encourage people from all over the diocese to come and join us as a Lenten exercise. At this time of the Church’s year, we always ask each other, “What are you doing for Lent?” Perhaps some of us can surprise our friends by replying (along with giving up chocolate/crisps, praying more, trying to be nicer to my family, donating to CAFOD), “I’m planting trees.” Prompted by Pope Benedict’s recent encyclical, Spe Salvi, and in preparation for Easter, we are inviting families and individuals to plant trees at Myddelton Grange as a sign of hope in the world.   In recent months, Pope Benedict has spoken out increasingly about environmental concerns, and the Vatican has even purchased “carbon offsets,” credits on the global market to compensate for carbon dioxide emissions, for the energy consumed in the world’s smallest state, the Vatican City. At the first Mass of the Nativity, the pope made special reference to the “ill-treated world” and our “selfish and reckless exploitation of energy”.  It’s clear that the pope wants you to come and plant trees at Myddelton Grange. It’s a positive and very satisfying thing to do and, in a world threatened with a variety of huge ecological problems, it is an expression of love for our neighbour. How is that? The earth is our support system. If, in the way we live, we are not caring for that support system, then we threaten the lives of many people today and in the future.   This year, at Myddelton Grange, we are thinking bigger and hope to plant close to a hectare of land with the native hardwoods of oak, ash, rowan, cherry, birch, hazel and alder. By the end of next winter, we should have doubled our total to four thousand trees. Come and join us on the 24th February and do a bit of personal carbon-offsetting.   Details of the Day. Wear strong footwear and warm outdoor clothing. We have several spades but if you can bring another, it would be helpful. A lump hammer (ask someone) is also an asset (we drive in stakes to support the trees).  12.30   Assemble – eat the packed lunches we have brought   Opening Prayers 1.15      Tree planting 3.30    Refreshments provided 4.00   Benediction  To help cover costs for the day (trees, stakes, guards and refreshments), donations in excess of £5 are invited, but please don’t stay away if personal circumstances make such an offering difficult.                                           Come and plant a tree.                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last modified: 12/05/07                                                                                                                                                                            
Diocese of Leeds Charity No. 249404                                                                      Title picture by kind permission of  Matthew Lloyd