Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

Take, take off your shoes,
you’re standing on holy ground;
take, take off your shoes,
you’re standing on holy ground.
Well, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof
from the waters beneath to the heav’ens above,
so take, take, take off your shoes,
you’re standing on my holy ground,
you’re standing on my holy ground.

Jim Manley

Later this month the Bridge St. congregation will celebrate and ponder the infinite beauty and fragility of our planet through the mini-season of the church year called Creation Time. We will take a soil, agriculture, fruit of the land approach this year.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis has encouraged Roman Catholics to be mindful of this season, beginning with September 1st --today-- as World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. This is a natural follow-up to last year's encyclical, which we studied and discussed during Creation Time last year.

In the resources for this day the Roman Catholics are using a Canticle of the Sun (St. Francis) theme, with prayers for Earth, Wind, Fire,and Air.

Perhaps we might all find a spot to take off our shoes and experience the earth as God's gift for today and every day. Here is the Earth prayer:  

One: The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, God’s boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God. The history of our friendship with God is always linked to particular places which take on an intensely personal meaning; we all remember places, and revisiting those memories does us much good. Anyone who has grown up in the hills or used to sit by the spring to drink, or played outdoors in the neighborhood square; going back to these places is a chance to recover something of their true selves, (Laudato Si′, 84).

All: In silence, press your feet into the ground. Become aware of the earth beneath your feet. Pray for a limitless love that embraces God, humanity, nature.

Will ya?!