The Be-Attitudes

Blessed are those who use low energy light bulbs
for theirs is the light of God's wisdom.

Blessed are those who travel by train (and other public transport)
for their lives are on God's track.

Blessed are those who chose a car with low fuel consumption
for they are in God's fast lane.

Blessed are those who insulate their homes
for theirs is the warmth of God's love.

Blessed are those who put themselves out
to use energy from renewable sources,
for they have kindled the flame of the future.

Adapted from John Polhill, © Eggs and Ashes,
WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow. 
(Used with permission)

 Walk lightly

Each leaf, each petal, each grain, each person,
sings your praises, Creator God. Each creature on the earth, all the mountains and great seas, show your glory, Spirit of love.

And yet, the hand of greed has patented and plundered your splendour, has taken and not shared your gift, has lived as owner of the earth, not guest.

And so, the ice is cracked, the rivers dry, the valleys flooded and the snow caps melt.

God our Father, show us how to step gently, how to live simply, how to walk lightly with respect and love for all that you have made.

Amen

Linda Jones
Catholic Agency For Overseas Development

 A Prayer for Operation Noah

Jesus Christ, tempted to turn stones to bread in the wilderness;

Teach us that when we change time for our convenience;
night to day in our living,
patience to speed in our journeying,
winter to summer in our eating,

we change God's calendar,
which brings
the hatchling to the caterpillar,
the bee to the nectar,
the rains to the farmer;
to the one which brings you to the cross.

Give us grace in our simplest actions to choose the life which breathes in the beautiful complexity of creation, to conquer death, and to fit us to be Easter people.

Amen

Eleanor Todd
European Christian Network

 Lord of energy

Lord of energy, teach us to pray ...

Our Creator - source of all power,
we want to align ourselves like iron filings to your magnet.
We want to be drawn to your intent;
to live in a society that responds to your beckoning,
to feel the surge of your life-giving energy.
Grant us wisdom in our use of physical energy.

Help us to live by the standards we choose, not those of others:
to focus our desire on you, not the fake comforts of modern living,
to be satisfied by a sense of your love, not our own power or status.

Because we know that your way is the only true way,
that everything we love and are is a gift from you,
and that to know you as our Creator is to glimpse eternity.

John Polhill, © Eggs and Ashes,
WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow.
(Used with permission)

 Morning Blessing 

Shafts of bright sun, haze of mist
And there again a perfect bow –
God's palette;
The spectrum of promise:
Never again will God bring a flood
To end humanity,
To start anew.

But roll back the scroll,
Read the black fire again
Carefully; read the white,
The unwritten.
Our task:
To take care
Of God's world.
Between the letters,
The warning of our failure.
God will not flood the earth.
But we, who thought our tiny choices
Would have no effect on this world...
We have left it late to awaken.

The sun still shines,
The haze of mist
And there again –
No need for human hand –
The perfect bow
God gave.

Mishkan T'Filah, A Progressive Siddur
World Union for Progressive Judaism Edition

 Prayers of the faithful

1. Lord, we thank you for the beautiful, life-sustaining gift of Creation. We pray that, as individuals and communities, we become better stewards of what you have entrusted to us.

Lord, we pray that we see the world through the eyes of faith. May we bring whatever gifts we can to the work of making your kingdom come on earth.

Lord, we pray that the way we live our lives is guided by your values of love for people, especially the poor, and not by the allure of having more.

Lord, we pray for those in the world already affected by rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events. We pray that humankind responds to their need to live full and healthy lives.

Lord, we pray for our own political leaders. May they be guided by concern for the common good, not by expediency of vested interests.

Lord, hear us.

2. Lord, we pray that we in the Church respond more fully to the Holy Father's call for ecological conversion.

Lord, we pray for the discernment to recognise the teachers and prophets of our times, and the courage to respond to them.

Lord, we pray for this generation of children and generations yet to come. May we preserve for them an environment that is able to meet their needs.

Lord, we pray that we maintain the inspiration and strength to live simply so that others may simply live.

Lord, we thank you for the beauty and diversity of all that lives on earth. We pray that world leaders respond to the call to protect the environment.

Lord, hear us.

3. Lord, help us to trust that you are the bread of life, and not to seek false happiness from worldly comforts and possessions.

Lord, help us to recognise and speak the truth about caring for Creation.

Lord, we thank you for providing so well for us in our society. Keep us mindful of sharing what we have with the needy.

Lord, we pray that world leaders respond generously to the fact that environmental crisis and economic crisis are both hitting the poor the most heavily.

Lord, we pray for world leaders. May they make wise and courageous decisions that promote a healthy, safe climate.

Lord, hear us.

Written by Thea Ormerod
for a Catholic congregation.