Caring for our Common Home
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis's encyclical on the care of our common home, Laudato Si'. To celebrate the occasion, Catholics throughout the world are uniting in solidarity for a more just and sustainable future.
When we hear “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor," as Pope Francis calls us to do, our understanding of our role and responsibility in the world is changed. The theme of the 2020 Laudato Si' Week is "Everything is connected," as we grow through the crisis of the current moment by praying, reflecting, and preparing together for a better world to come tomorrow.
You are invited to join with brothers and sisters in faith across the globe in a week of common prayer for our world, whose interconnectedness is even more apparent in a time of global pandemic. Explore the resources below and to join in a global moment of prayer at 12:00 pm local time on May 24, 2020, by reading the Common Prayer for the Fifth Anniversary of Laudato Si', below.
Loving God,
Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them,
You created us in your image and made us stewards of all your creation, of our common home.
You blessed us with the sun, water and bountiful land
so that all might be nourished.
Open our minds and touch our hearts, so that we may attend to your gift of creation.
Help us to be conscious that our common home belongs not only to us,
but to all of your creatures and all future generations,
and that it is our responsibility to preserve it.
May we help each person secure the food and resources that they need.
Be present to those in need in these trying times,
especially the poorest and those most at risk of being left behind.
Transform our fear and feelings of isolation into hope and fraternity
so that we may experience a true conversion of the heart.
Help us to show creative solidarity in addressing the consequences of this global pandemic;
Make us courageous to embrace the changes that are needed in search of the common good.
Now more than ever may we feel that we are all interconnected and interdependent.
Enable us to listen and respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
May the present sufferings be the birth pangs of a more fraternal and sustainable world.
Under the loving gaze of Mary Help of Christians, we make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
A PDF and more resources for prayer and reflection are available here.
MORE FOR REFLECTION
“I urgently appeal . . . for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.”
- Laudato Si', no. 14
“Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society.”
- Laudato Si', no. 91
- Pope Francis calls for dialogue that includes “everyone.” Who should be included in the conversation who may currently not be? With whom are we called to dialogue about the future of our common home?
- Integral ecology links care for people and care for God’s creation. How is our concern for our fellow human beings connected to our concern for the environment?
- How are you individually called to participate in caring for God’s creation?
