Who Mary Magdalene is matters to poverty & eco-justice

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The ECOTHEE Symposia held at the Orthodox Academy of Crete (OAC) were held under the auspices of His All Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, to bring people of faith together with scientists to form an eco-justice community to address  the environmental crisis and eco-justice. 

Ecothee 08 was the first academic conference I attended.  The title of my paper was Protecting the Priceless Earth: Lessons from the Magdalene Stories. 

My paper draws insight from David Suzuki, Asian women, Orthodox thought, and ecofeminism to develop a connection between the Gospel Lesson of the Rich Person and Jesus and the related stories of Mary Magdalene to illustrate how authoritative hegemony has divided the Spirit and her Story into parts. 

This conference was also held at the OAC under the Auspices of His All Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.  The title of my paper was Biofuels: Wild Plants among the Wheat.  

The purpose of this paper was to explore the potential benefits and risks of biofuels as an energy option for humanity, with a careful nuanced look at the complexity of energy options and their impacts....To serve this end, this paper focused on second generation biofuels and used the Parable of Weeds among the Wheat as an analogy to move beyond a dualistic world view analysis. It called attention to the ancient practice of gleaning that protected women's rights and included all in the harvest. Subtly it shed light on the relationship of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, because tradition depicts her as a weed.  

My Paper title for ECOTHEE 11 was Living Our Faith: How Can We Go and Sin no More? I chose this title to show how the relationship of Jesus and Mary Magdalene matters to the environment and women's rights. 

In 2012, I initiated an INTER-ECOTHEE Symposium at Bethany-Newton United Church in Surrey British Columbia.

In the fall, I returned to the Orthodox Academy (OAC) for SAPREJ 2012: Sustainable Alternatives to Poverty and Eco-Justice. 

My Paper was Remember--Never Forget the Woman with the Alabaster Jar. I chose to talk about poverty and the environment in the context of Mary Magdalene and Jesus the Teacher. 

Singer, Songwriter, DonStewart and several other Canadians accompanied me to this Conference. The title of my paper presentation for this conference was The Christian Story: God's Promise to Creation.

Dr Lucas Andrianos initiated another SAPREJ in his home country of  Madagascar. The title and theme of this symposium/conference was Forgiveness. My paper was The Woman With the Alabaster Jar: The forgiven Sinner 

ECOTHEE 15 brought me back to  Crete. My paper Mathematics and the Holy City emphasized the need for ecumenism to see and uplift the vision of a New Jerusalem as a global city, adorned as a bride who is blessed and loved by her husband and all their relations.