Opening Prayer: Leader or Priest
Creator God, Pope Francis reminds us that “To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! (3/19/13).”* As the heavy clouds of climate change: drought, floods and fires crowd in upon us, may we experience the conversion that will bring hope to this suffering world. May our desire for economic development not blind us to the misguided wisdom to increase pipeline capacity to carry across our country, unrefined oil from the tar sands destined primarily for foreign refinement imaposing high risks on Canadians with little if any gain.
We pray: Father, forgive us for we know not what we do.
May we courageously speak out so that the short-sighted greed of the oil industry in our present generation, will not rob future generations of their rightful inheritance to the beauty of earth, fresh air, clean water and safe places in which to live. We pray: Father, forgive us for we know not what we do. Protecting fresh water supplies is a major global concern. The water of our Baptism invites us to help heal and protect this life-giving gift. Earth’s dwindling supply of potable water is becoming contaminated by industrial and agricultural chemicals and used for profit rather than for people and creation. We are subverted by greed.
We pray: Father, forgive us for we know not what we do.
Creator God, open our eyes and hearts to behold the beauty of your Sacred Creation so that we do not scar it with the pipelines of short-term gain. We ask that through contemplation we be led to preserve it for harmony and happiness, for future generations and for justice on the Earth.
We pray: Father, forgive us for we know not what we do.
Lacking trust in you, Giver of Life, we make hasty decisions. Teach us to be untiring in seeking the common good so that all will experience the fullness of life you offer.
We pray: Father for give us for we know not what we do.
For the protection of our county’s lands, for all the creatures that inhabit this land, for human, animal and food sources, dependent on a healthy, pollution-free environment and whose well-being and even survival is threatened by the proposed pipelines crisscrossing our county,
We pray: Father, forgive us for we know not what we do.
For oil company officials, oil investors, workers in the oil industry, economic and political leaders and all who see increased oil production as beneficial, that they may be more conscious of the global impacts of this industry. We pray: Father, forgive us for they know not what we do. That our government leaders and industry magnates demonstrate the political will needed to ensure a Canadian culture of protection of the environment.
We pray: Father, forgive us for we know not what we do.
We pray for the Canadian public that we insist that our government officials ensure that the right to clean water is written into our Constitution.
We pray: Father, forgive us for we know not what we do.
Closing Prayer:
With Pope Francis we pray: “Let us be renewed by God’s mercy … and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish. (3/31/13)* Amen
*Both quotes of Pope Francis are from “Quotes from Pope Francis on Creation/Environment: assembled the USCCB Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development.”
Prepared April 2014 by The Ecology Committee of the Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada
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