World Water Day (March 22) and Earth Day (April 22) are coming up soon! At A Rocha, we’re gearing up for Good Seed Sunday, which takes place on the Sunday after Earth Day, April 28th. It is a time for Christians across Canada to honour the Creator as they celebrate and care for creation.
This past month A Rocha Manitoba had the opportunity to lead a contemplative chapel at Canadian Mennonite University. We used Psalm 104 to help us think about the different aspects of creation that are mentioned in the Psalm: earth, water, animals, and people. In moments of contemplation, participants were asked to imagine the perspective of each of these aspects of creation.
How would you pray if you were the earth, water, animals, or people?
Below are the four prayers that we used in this service. Feel free to use or adapt them for your communities of worship!
You can download the whole litany here: Earth Day Litany
Prayer from the earth:
Creator of the cosmos, how marvellous are Your works! You made me unique among the planets of the Milky Way. From the fabric of the heavens You brought forth oceans of life-giving waters and soils for great green growing things. I laughed with joy as whales and wildebeests, bees and bears, salmon and sparrows leaped into being. You breathed and humans sprang up from the humus. You looked at it all, and said, โIt is so good!” To the humans you said, “I give this to you to care for. Take, and eat!โ So the humans tookโฆ. And they took and they took and they took! Now my body is beaten, oil like blood oozes, and fires flame in wilderness. Hosea cried out in my defence saying, โthe earth itself becomes sick!โ but still the humans do not listen…
How long, oh Lord, will they ignore my groans? I wait, breathless with exhaustion and anticipation for the children of God to be revealed.ย Restore and renew me, Creator, that all my inhabitants might sing your praises with one voice.
Prayer from Water:
Holy Wellspring, you are the Source of all being and an overflowing ocean of love. From the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, to the peaks of the Himalayan glaciers, the waters of the world praise You! We praise you for the ability to purify, quench, clean, and bring about renewal and transformation. We mourn the fact thatย many in this world do not have access to us for a clean drink or even to splash about and play. We lament that so often we are an excuse for violence, conflict and even death. Aquifer of love, let your justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Make the deserts into ponds, and dry land into cascades. Let those who are thirsty come!
Prayer from Animals:
Creator of Creatures, blessed be your name. We, the congregation of animals, praise you for the furred and feathered, the scaled and slippery, all manner of beast on earth, in the sky and under the water. We thank you for giving each of us a home where we would thrive. We mourn together for our sisters and brothers, the Spix Macaw, the Northern White Rhino and others who, because of human greed and indifference, will never look upon this earth again. We believe the Psalmist who declares, You save humans and animals alike, great Lamb of God. Gather us under your wings like a mother hen. Praise be to you, who sustains and restores us.
Prayer from People:
Mothering God, you formed us from the soil and breathed life into our bones. Thank you for our bodies and our earthy companions of flora and fauna. We are grateful that you chose to teach us how to be human by becoming a human among us. We confess that we have often abandoned our first calling to care for our Earth home. Forgive us for the ways we have wounded creation and our human kin who most feel the effects of a changing climate. Open our hearts to wonder and transformation. Teach us to rebel against the silencing of your creatures, the felling of your forests, and the suffering of your children. Help us to become ambassadors of reconciliation on our way to a new creation. Oh Love Incarnate, may your kingdom come on Earth as it is in heaven.
All prayers written by Zoe Matties – Manitoba Program Manager
Download the litany here: Earth Day Litany
