INTRODUCTORY SONG
I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard My people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear My light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Refrain:
Here I am Lord, is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them, they turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
Give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak My word to them
Whom shall I send? Refrain
I, the Lord of wind and flame
I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them,
My hand will save
Finest bread I will provide,
Till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give My life to them,
Whom shall I send? Refrain
Leader 1:
Pope Francis has established September 1 as an annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. He was inspired by the example of the Orthodox Churches who have observed this day for a number of years. Pope Francis wishes to remind us that: “Christians are called to an ecological conversion whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them.” Thus, “living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience” (Laudato Si’ 217).
The world leaders whose job it is to care for our creation, particularly the United Nations, come together in Paris this December for climate talks. Let us pray that they and their governments will develop the strength to take the necessary measures to heal the world.
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis says: “Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life” (LS 207).
PENITENTIAL PRAYER
Leader 2:
Loving Creator God, we pray for this world - as beautiful as it is, yet with places where the ugliness of war, violence and corruption destroys all you have given us - where it is difficult to see signs of any justice or peace. We pray for the people in these places whose lives are treated with little or no respect or compassion; who live in constant fear of violence or being killed.
We confess our selfishness and failure to listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the Earth. Lord have mercy
All: Lord have mercy
We confess that we have been obsessed with ourselves and forgotten to be grateful for the gifts of the natural world. Christ have mercy
All: Christ have mercy
We confess that our closed horizon has prevented us from looking towards tomorrow, preventing us from handing over to our children a fertile and clean Earth. Lord have mercy
All: Lord have mercy
Transform our lives. May God who established the dance of creation, who marvelled at the lilies of the field, who transforms chaos to order, lead us to transform our lives and the Church to reflect God’s glory in creation. Amen
With the psalmist we pray by sides:
Left:O LORD, our Lord,
how awesome is your name through all the earth!
You have set your majesty above the heavens!
Right:Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have drawn a defense against your foes,
to silence enemy and avenger.
When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place
What are humans that you are mindful of them,
mere mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them little less than a god,
crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them rule over the works of your hands,
put all things at their feet:
All sheep and oxen,
even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
how awesome is your name through all the earth!
EARTH
Leader 3:The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, God’s boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God. The history of
our friendship with God is always linked to particular places which take on an intensely personal meaning; we all remember places, and revisiting those memories does us much good. Anyone who has grown up in the hills or used to sit by the spring to drink, or played outdoors in the neighbourhood square; going back to these places is a chance to recover something of their true selves (LS 84).
Leader1: In silence, press your feet into the ground. Become aware of the earth beneath your feet. Marvel and be grateful for the nourishment you receive from “our mother, sister Earth.”
Leader 4:READING: Psalm 65: 9-13
You visit the earth and make it fruitful, you fill it with riches; the river of God brims over with water, you provide the grain. To that end you water its furrows abundantly, level its ridges, soften it with showers and bless its shoots. You crown the year with your generosity, richness seeps from your tracks, the pastures of the desert grow moist, the hillsides are wrapped in joy, the meadows are covered with flocks, the valleys clothed with wheat; they shout and sing for joy.
Silent Prayer
Let us pray together: O God, we have tried to master creation, but we have not treated it with the respect that is due. Give us eyes to see what is good, to discern what can be changed, and to envision a world where the earth’s goods are shared equitably by all.
AIR
Leader 5: The earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters….The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth, (LS 21).
Leader1 : Become conscious of your breathing. Be grateful for the gift of air and resolve to use your voice to advocate for the purity of Earth’s atmosphere.
Silent Prayer
FIRE
Leader 4:Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day. Its worst impact will probably be felt by developing countries in coming decades…Our lack of response to these tragedies involving our brothers and sisters points to the loss of that sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded (LS 25).
Leader 1: Open and close your hands, aware that our ability to do so is fueled by the sun’s energy that is captured by the plant life that we eat. Rejoice in the energy of the sun and resolve to use your energy to face climate change, one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.
Silent Prayer
WATER
Leader 3:Access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights. Our world has a grave social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water, because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity, (LS30).
Leader 1: Breathe again deeply, taking in molecules of water that have also passed through the bodies of all breathing creatures. Be grateful for the gift of water and resolve to use it with reverence and justice.
Silent Prayer
Leader 2:READING: Laudato Si’ 217
It must be said that some committed and prayerful Christians, with the excuse of realism and pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for the environment. Others are passive; they choose not to change their habits and thus become inconsistent. So what they all need is an “ecological conversion”, whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.
Let us pray together:Creator, this is such a beautiful world, both fragile and resilient. Forgive us when we act as if this world belongs to us, rather than to you. May our desire to love all of life grow; may our ability to act lovingly towards all of life grow. Thank you for these people and this time together. Help us continue to support one another in our journeys; use us to bring about a world that is more compassionate and just, where all people and all creation enjoy and share in life’s bounty.
Amen.
Candle lighting ceremony:‘I will light a light’
Leader 1: I will light a light
In the name of the maker of light
Who lit the world with stars, sun and moon
And breathed the breath of life into all things.
Leader 2: I will light a light
In the name of the revealer of light
Who brought light into the darkness
And stretched out his hands for us
Giving his love to the whole world.
Leader 3: I will light a light
In the name of the inspirer of light
Who lit the world from within
And fills my life with wonder
In the search for learning andwisdom.
Left: We hold these lights
For the Trinity of light and love
God’s presence everywhere
God’s salvation for everyone
God’s inspiration of all things.
Right: We hold these lights
For ourselves and each other
For our families, friends and enemies
For our work, hopes and struggles. For the whole world.
For all things created, visible and invisible
For individuals and communities in need.
Left: We hold these lights to give thanks.
For water, air and soil.
For plants, trees and animals.
For minerals and fossils.
Right: We hold these lights to give thanks
All : For knowledge, skills and ideas.
For inventions and discoveries.For science and the arts.
Left: May our footprint on this earth be light
May we discover the holiness of yourpresence everywhere
May we learn how to value your gifts
without harm or waste
May we enrich the flourishing of
beauty in the things we make and use. Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Leader 1:Creator God,
We are called to love and serve you through honouring the sanctity of your creation and loving our brothers and sisters, especially the poor and vulnerable.
Left:Give us the grace to show true faith in works of love and mercy.
Right:Give courage and strength to all who work in agencies bringing relief to the hungry and the homeless, peacekeeping forces endeavouring to maintain law and order, and organizations striving to protect the environment.
Left:Give wisdom and compassion to the world leaders in the governance of the care of your creation, particularly for the United Nations climate talks in Paris this December.
Loving God we look to you
Leader 6: Declaration:
The Working Group Commissioned by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Vatican, 2011
We call on all people and nations to recognize the serious and potentially irreversible impacts of global warming caused by the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and by changes in forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other land uses. We appeal to all nations to develop and implement, without delay, effective and fair policies to reduce the causes and impacts of climate change on communities and ecosystems, including mountain glaciers and their watersheds, aware that we all live in the same home. By acting now, in the spirit of common but differentiated responsibility, we accept our duty to one another and to the stewardship of a planet blessed with the gift of life.
We are committed to ensuring that all inhabitants of this planet receive their daily bread, fresh air to breathe and clean water to drink as we are aware that, if we want justice and peace, we must protect the habitat that sustains it.
Let us be moved by singing
St. Francis’sCanticle of the Creatures
which so inspires the ecological vision of Pope Francis.
All creatures of our God and King
All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
O burning sun with golden beam,
And silver moon with softer gleam:
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
O rushing wind and breezes soft,
O clouds that ride the winds aloft:
Oh, praise Him, Alleluia!
O rising morn, in praise rejoice,
O lights of evening, find a voice.
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Dear mother earth, who day by day
Unfolds rich blessings on our way,
Oh, praise Him! Alleluia!
The fruits and flow’rs that verdant grow,
Let them his praise abundant show.
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O, praise Him! Alleluia!
O praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
LAUDATO SI’ - YouTube
Uploaded by the Vatican 18 June 2015
Encyclical letter of the Holy Father Francis
on care for our common home
Leader 1:
We conclude our service today with:
Pope Francis’s Prayer for the Earth.
Caretakers of God'sCreation1