World Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 and aims to recognize the importance of the planet and alert people to the need to preserve the world’s natural resources.
“The climate calamity caused by human beings is here. We’ve just had the hottest year, the hottest decade and the hottest oceans on record. And as a result, we’ve seen historic fires, storms and droughts. The earth needs solidarity, hope and the power of collective action.” (Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General)
Leader: Loving God, you have brought us to this life like an enchanted paradise.
We have seen the sky, like a deep blue glass sparkling with birds in the air.
We have heard the soft murmur of the forest and the sweet music of the waters.
We have tasted fragrant fruits with a fine flavor and the sweet scent of honey.
How pleasant it is to dwell on this earth with you: it is a joy to be your guest.
Reader 1: Deuteronomy 8:7-10
Your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with torrents of water, springs of deep water flowing in the valleys and in the mountains. It is a land of wheat and barley, of vineyards, fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive groves, oil and honey; a land in which you shall not eat bread in scarcity, in which you shall not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose mountains you shall dig bronze. You will eat and be satisfied, and you will thank your God for the good land that has been given to you.
Reader 2: GS/13/VIII/79/A
God, who created all things and gave us everything we are, has the right to our love, to the reverence of our whole being and also to our offering to the Holy One all the creatures put at our service.
Pause
Psalm: (D. António Couto)
My help comes from God, who made heaven and earth.
When I contemplate the heavens,
The work of your hands,
The moon and the stars you placed there,
When I cup my hands,
To collect the pure water from the springs,
When I follow with my eyes the flight of birds
And the waters of rivers and torrents,
I praise you, O God,
For so much love poured out!
Everything speaks of you!
Everything bears the marks of your loving hands.
Day gives your love to day.
Night to night gives your light.
And even my life, O God, speaks of you.
Yes, it was you who formed the entrails of my body,
and created me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, Lord.
Marvelous are your works!
All: This is how I learn to live with my hands raised,
And with my heart lifted and ecstatic. Amazed!
Reader 3: Laudato Si’, 25
Climate change is a global problem with serious environmental, social, economic, distributional and political implications, and is currently one of the main challenges facing humanity. Many poor people live in places particularly affected by warming-related phenomena, and their livelihoods depend heavily on natural reserves and so-called ecosystem services such as agriculture, fishing, and forest resources. They have no other economic resources or resources that would allow them to adapt to climate impacts or face catastrophic situations, and they have little access to social and protection services. Climate change leads to migrations of animals and plants that are not always able to adapt. The lack of reaction to these tragedies is a sign of the loss of a sense of responsibility for our fellow women and men, on which all civil society is founded.
Psalm 65 (adaptation of Manuel Rito)
O God,
thank you for this sun that illuminates the paths of your creation.
Thank you for this ocean,
a reflection of your infinite sea.
Everything sings and shouts for joy!
Thank you for this desert, where the silence and the stars bring us closer to you.
Thank you for this world:
it leads people’s souls.
Everything sings and shouts for joy!
Thank you for this bread, because
human beings can’t live on your word alone.
Thank you for these hills
dressed with flocks and feasts.
Everything sings and shouts for joy!
Thank you for these seeds and these sounds that come from the fields, from the moon
and from space, from the rivers of cybernetics.
They are the handwriting of our shepherds, scientists and poets.
Everything sings and shouts for joy!
Leader: Let us pray that each one of us hears with our hearts the cry of the Earth and of the victims environmental disasters and climate change, committing ourselves personally and collectively to taking care of the world we inhabit.
A PRAYER FOR THE EARTH
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.
Francis
