Climate Litany Opoho Church Sunday 29 September 2019

Creation[1]

A Litany of Gratitude

We live in all things and all things live in us
We rejoice in all life.

We live by the sun, we move with the stars
We rejoice in rhythms of living and being.

We eat from the earth, we drink from the rain,

we breathe from the air

We rejoice in the life giving nourishment of this planet

We share with the creatures, we have strength through their gifts
We rejoice in all things created of sea, air and land

We depend on the trees, the bush, the ancient and the new.

We have knowledge through their secrets
We rejoice in all life rooted in the good soil.

We have the privilege of seeing and understanding
We have the responsibility of caring
We have the joy of celebrating
We rejoice in our care for the land and all that the land provides

We are full of the grace of creation, we are grateful

We rejoice in all life

A Litany of Sorrow

We have forgotten who we are.  We have become estranged from the movements of the earth and turned our backs on the cycles of life.

We have forgotten who we are.

We have sought only our own security and exploited simply for our own ends.

We have distorted our knowledge and abused our power.

Response: We have forgotten God’s call to care for creation.

Now the land is barren and the waters are poisoned and the air is polluted.

We have not been good stewards of the land, sea and air.

Now the forests are dying and the creatures are disappearing
and the humans are despairing.

We have not care for the creatures of the land, sea and air.

We ask forgiveness. We ask for the gift of remembering

We ask for the strength to change.

We seek mercy in Jesus holy name.  Amen

A Litany of Committment

As we seek to relax our grip so that the earth, our fragile sister, might rest from our labours, help us to see our world more vividly than we have done in the past. 
Grant us vision for the challenges of this age and give us hearts full of courage for the future.  

As we seek to be wise stewards of the gifts of the earth in timber and oil, coal, and gas, help us to know your world more humanely than we have in the past. 
Grant us the wisdom to walk with care and reverence in this world.  

Deepen our faith and enliven our thinking, nourish our bodies and strengthen our souls, that we may be your message in the world, your servants for the common wellness of the earth.

Make us weavers of a new order, crafters of a new earth. 
Grant us the grace to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, in the love with earth, and with our brothers, and sisters.

May these commitments we make bring new life through God’s holy word, in our communities of faith and in deep solidarity with all creation.   
Amen 

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[1] http://www.letallcreationpraise.org/liturgy/litanies  (adapted)