Prayer
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.
Pope Francis
Laudato Si’ Prayer
Knowledge
Laudato Si’ Week starts this Sunday, May 21. Many suggestions are coming from the Holy See as to how we can celebrate. This week is meant for us to connect to the Spirituality of Creation, which is one of the seven goals of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform.
As Fr Joseph Tetlow, SJ, describes it, “Spirituality implies a direct relationship with God. The experience of a desire for a direct relationship with God is hardly new. However, it can be confused with other experiences. Experiencing holy rites and believing truths can be religion; doing good and keeping laws can be morality; yearning for absolutes, for transcendence, can be noble humanism. Experiencing God, however, is spirituality.”
So, in its simplest definition, ecospirituality is experiencing God in creation – leading us to right relationship with the earth. It is also a source of renewal for us when we feel overwhelmed by the climate challenges before us. It is a gift that gives us peace
Action
If you haven’t already, Pope Francis invites to watch The Letter, a film about the meeting between Pope Francis and global climate activists.
On Saturday, May 27th at 7:00 PM Rome time ( 1:00 PM in EST), you can participate in “Responding to The Letter”. This will be a global celebration on Zoom with the activist in the film.
On Pentecost Sunday, at 3:00PM Rome time, (9AM EST?) join the church in Assisi as they celebrate the Mass of Creation and commission Laudato Si’ animators. This celebration will be available to view on You Tube. The recording will be available for view later in the day of you cannot watch in the morning.