We pray with Pope Francis that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.
On the 1st of September we begin the season of creation, a five-week period where we reflect on God’s creation, our part in it, and our impact on it. This was the subject of the encyclical “Laudate Si”, written by Pope Francis in 2015. In the encyclical he prophetically warned that the earth, labouring under many decades of abuse, would become increasingly inhospitable to human life. He pointed to global warming and the increase in extreme weather events that we are witnessing today, even in our own country.
He made the point that the rich global north had drawn most of the benefit from the extraction of the mineral wealth of countries in the global and was mostly responsibly for the current environmental crises around the world, which affects disproportionally the poor. The wealthy have the means to live with environmental crises, while the poor do not have that luxury. We are encouraged by the encyclical to take up the cause of environmental justice as an existential obligation.
This is why Pope Francis asks us to pray with him this month for the earth and all victims of natural disasters. Below is a prayer taken from “Laudate Si,” which I encourage you to sit with reflectively during the coming weeks.
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.
