The following prayers were said at the Catholic Health System Leadership
Forum on Environmentally Responsible Health Care, December 10, 2002.
As we are together, praying for peace, let us truly be with each other.
Let us pay attention to our breathing.
Let us be relaxed in our body and our minds.
Let us return to ourselves and become wholly ourselves.
Let us be aware of the source of being common to us all and to all living
things.
Evoking the presence of the Great Compassion, let us fill our hearts with
our own compassion—toward ourselves and toward all living things.
Let us pray that all living beings realize that they are brothers and sisters,
all nourished from the same source of life.
Let us pray that we ourselves cease to be the cause of suffering to each
other.
Let us plead with ourselves to live in a way that will not deprive other
beings of air, water, food, shelter, or the chance to live.
With humility, with awareness of the existence of life, and of the sufferings
that are going on around us, let us pray for the establishment of peace in
our hearts and on Earth. Amen.
—Adapted from a prayer by Thich Nhat Hahn
RESPONSORIAL
First Reader: And God stepped out on space and looked around. God said,
"I am lonely—I'll make myself a world!" And, as far as the eye could see, darkness
covered everything—blacker than a hundred midnights down in a cypress swamp.
Then God smiled and the light broke! And the darkness rolled up on one side,
and the light stood shining on the other. And God said "That is good!" And God
took the light and made the sun and set it ablaze in the heavens. With the light
left over from the sun, God gathered it into a shining ball and flung it against
the darkness, spangling the night with the moon and the stars.
All: We join with Earth and with each other to rejoice in the sunlight
and sing the song of the stars.
Second Reader: Then down between the darkness and the light, God hurled
the world! And God said, "This is good!" Then God stepped down on the world
and the sun was on the right and the moon was on the left and the stars were
circling around. God walked, and his footsteps hollowed out the valleys and
bulged the mountains up!
All: We join with Earth and with each other to bring new life to the
land, to refresh the air.
Third Reader: Then God stopped and looked and saw that the land was
dry and barren. So God stepped over to the edge of the world and spat out the
seven seas. The lightning flashed and the thunder rolled. And the water above
Earth came down.
All: We join with Earth and with each other to restore the waters,
to celebrate the seas.
Fourth Reader: Then the green grass sprouted. The little red flowers
blossomed. The pine tree pointed its finger to the heavens, and the oak spread
out its branches. The lakes cuddled into the hollows of the ground. And the
rivers ran down to the sea.
All: We join with Earth and each other to renew the forests and to
care for the plants.
Fifth Reader: Then God smiled again and the rainbow appeared and curled
itself over God's shoulder. And God said, "That is so good!" Then God's arm
rose and waved over the sea and over the land, and God said, "Bring forth, bring
forth!" And quicker than the arm could drop, fish and fowl, birds and beasts
swam the rivers and seas, roamed the valleys and woodlands, and split the air
with their wings. And God said, "This is good. This is very good!"
All: We join with Earth and each other to bring new life to the land
and to protect the creatures.
Sixth Reader: God walked around and looked at all that was made—the
sun, the moon, the stars and Earth with all its living creatures. And God said,
"I am lonely still." So God sat down on the side of a hill and thought and thought.
God thought, "I'll make a human." So God kneeled down in the dust and scooped
up some clay from the bed of a river. God toiled over the lump of clay until
it was in God's image. Then into it, God blew the breath of life . . . and man
and woman became living souls.
All: We join with Earth and with each other to recreate the human community,
to promote justice and peace, to remember our children. We join together as
many and diverse expressions of one living mystery: for the healing of Earth
and the renewal of all life.
—Adapted from "God's Trombones:
Seven Negro Sermons in Verse,"
by James Weldon Johnson
LITANY
Reader: Creator Lord and God, in your wisdom you have made us stewards
of your Creation.
All: You have placed in our hands the responsibility of caring for
creation—the beauty of this world: the mountains and the seas, the flowers and
trees, the beasts, birds, bees, and all living creatures of any kind.
Reader: You have given us talents to use and to add to the wonder of
Creation, through the arts, sciences, and technologies that know few limits.
We have reached the moon on foot, explored the cosmos beyond our galaxy; explored
the depths of the ocean floor; produced new forms of food to feed humankind;
and developed new forms of communication and data media that allow us to read,
see, and hear in digital modalities that we could only dream of a generation
ago.
All: And yet we wonder, Creator, why does your creation cry out because
of neglect?
Leader: Have we forgotten, or have we not learned, that the Creation
is vulnerable because of our polluting lifestyle and that the whole of Creation
is dependent on our actions?
All: Our atmosphere is being polluted as the greenhouse effect traps
life-threatening heat and poisonous gases. Our water is being contaminated as
levels of toxic waste increase. Our mature forests and other natural ecosystems
diminish through excessive harvest.
Leader: Our natural resources have become depleted, abused, or misused
through our selfishness, our ignorance, our indifference, or our greed.
All: Likewise, our spiritual well-being is being eroded because we
lack concern for Creation. Challenge us this day, O God and Creator, and help
us change our desire for convenience and comfort into greater concern for the
whole of Creation that we and all the creatures call our home, our community,
our environment.
Leader: Creator Lord, help us develop a new vision and commitment to
faithful stewardship of Creation.
All: That we may become caring and sharing stewards, trustees, and
servants of the Creation you have provided for us.
Leader: That we might seek new ways to renew, restore, reuse, recycle
and reduce consumption of the resources found in all of Creation.
All: We ask for your blessing and guidance as we carry out new stewardship
efforts, so that they might become an impetus for others to help care for Creation
and that we ourselves ultimately gain salvation with you our God and Creator
in heaven.
Leader: May the examples and actions we carry forth from this day be
a faithful witness to this generation and those yet to come.
All: O God and Creator, let us now recognize that our redemption is
not just between you and humankind, but extends to all of creation.
Amen.
—Adapted from "Litany for the Creation"
by Ed Hauser, which is used at Ecosabbath Services
at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Asheville, NC
Copyright © 2003 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.