Happy Earth Day (tomorrow)! The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 and now, 53 years later, we still have much to do to save our planet. How are you marking this day? Why not spend part of your day outdoors, appreciating nature, or researching new ways that you can care for our earth? If you’d like to know more about the Sisters of Bon Secours’ ecological actions, please visit their Justice, Peace & Integrity ministry’s site here. Please write in the comments and share about your thoughts and activities that work to save the planet. Will you take a few quiet moments now to pray this prayer from Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si?
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.
Amen