The newsletter insert this week offers a creative penitential rite for this weekend's Sunday Mass. It combines the Gospel call to forgive with our need to be forgiven for climate inaction and the ways in which we have not cared for the earth and its resources.
Penitential Rite
O Gracious God, Creator Spirit, Source of life, you have given order, light and life to the world around us, and you have expressed delight in your creation. You commanded us to till and care for the garden of life. And yet, we have trampled on the beauty of your creation and neglected to keep your Word. As we begin Mass today, we seek God’s mercy and forgiveness for the times that we have offended against the integrity of God’s creation. And so, O God of Creation:
1. You have created land and trees, animals and all living creatures on the earth. We are destroying the forests through poisons and logging, the voices of the birds, insects and forest dwellers are silenced, Lord have mercy
2. You created the wonders of the ocean, the fish, shells, reefs, whales, waves, corals. Through the warming of the oceans and as they drown in plastic, their voices are being stilled, Christ have mercy
3. You created Mother Earth, our common home, who sustains us. Human activities are causing the destruction of her delicate ecosystems as we contaminate the atmosphere with harmful emissions, Lord have mercy
May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our ecological sins, and inspire us to care for our common home, Amen