Earth Day 2021
Care for Neighbor and Creation
This week, we observed Earth Day and its call to care for the fragile, precious earth that is our home. The Society of Jesus calls us to the "care of our common home" as one of its four Universal Apostolic Preferences, noting that "today’s environmental crisis is impacting in a particular way on the poor and vulnerable." The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange invite us to join in the commitment to ecological conversion, and pledge "to be instruments of God for the care of the whole of creation, including concern for nature, justice for the poor, and commitment for a just society."
As we pray and work for justice and righteousness in our communities, explore how our commitment to caring for creation can shape our spirituality, our prayer, and our action.
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A Prayer for our Earth
From Laudato Si'
All-powerful God,
you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness
all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world
and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty,
not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.
Amen.
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