The seventh of nine days of prayer and readings as tangible action to respond to the urgent climate change issues we all face.
The seventh of nine days of prayer and readings as tangible action to respond to the urgent climate change issues we all face.
Show Mercy to our Common Home
Despite our sins and the daunting challenges before us, we never lose heart. “The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us… for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love constantly impels us to find new ways forward.”
Laudato Si’, 13; 245
In a particular way, let us pray…
“O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
who are so precious in your eyes…
God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth”
Laudato Si’, 13; 246
God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness
and convey your mercy throughout our common home.
Praise be to you!
Amen.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to the kinds – livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and all the earth and over every creeping things that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them.
And God said to them. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:23-31
Bless the Lord, you sons of men,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, O Israel,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you priests,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you servants,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you who are holy and humble in heart,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Prayer of Azariah and his Companions, Daniel 3:82-87
A reading from the World Peace Day Message ‘Peace with God the Creator, Peace with all of creation.’
Pope John Paul II, 1 January 1990.
In the Book of Genesis, where we find God’s first self-revelation to humanity (Genesis 1-3), there is a recurring refrain: “And God saw that it was good”.
After creating the heavens, the sea, the earth and all it contains, God created man and woman. At this point the refrain changes markedly: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). God entrusted the whole of creation to the man and woman, and only then – as we read – could he rest “from all his work” (Genesis 2:3).
Adam and Eve’s call to share in the unfolding of God’s plan of creation brought into play those abilities and gifts which distinguish the human being from all other creatures. At the same time, their call established a fixed relationship between mankind and the rest of creation. Made in the image and likeness of God, Adam and Eve were to have exercised their dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:28) with wisdom and love.
Instead, they destroyed the existing harmony by deliberately going against the Creator’s plan, that is, by choosing to sin. This resulted not only in man’s alienation from himself, in death and fratricide, but also in the earth’s “rebellion” against him (cf. Genesis 3:17-19; 4:12).
Common Prayer for Earth and for Humanity
Loving God,
Creator of Heaven, Earth, and all therein contained.
Open our minds and touch our hearts,
so that we can be part of Creation, your gift.
Be present to those in need in these difficult times, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.
Help us to show creative solidarity as we confront the consequences of the global pandemic.
Make us courageous in embracing the changes required to seek the common good.
Now more than ever, may we all feel interconnected and interdependent.
Enable us to succeed in listening and responding to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.
May their current sufferings become the birth-pangs of a more fraternal and sustainable world.
We pray through Christ our Lord, under the loving gaze of Mary, Help of Christians.
Amen.
Back to Novena main page.
