Constitutions:
In accord with our tradition
We commit ourselves to promote peace
in family life, in the church, and in society.
We strive to respect the dignity of all persons
and to value the gifts of creation. #11
Earth is a revelation of God and the sustainer of all life.
We recognize that the exploitation and destruction of Earth’s air,
water, soil and species is a sacrilege.
We are committed to a spirituality of peacemaking
which compels us to live in right relationship with the entire community of life.
In this way “we engage in the struggle against the reality of evil and
Continue the work of establishing God’s reign of justice and peace.
Acts of the 21st General Chapter
Prayer:
O God, we thank you for this earth, our home;
for the wide sky and the blessed sun,
for the ocean and streams,
for the towering hills and the whispering wind,
for the trees and green grass.
We thank you for our senses
by which we hear the songs of birds,
and see the splendor of fields of golden wheat,
and taste autumn's fruit,
and rejoice in the feel of snow,
and smell the breath of spring flowers.
Grant us a heart opened wide to all this beauty;
and save us from being so blind that we pass unseeing
when even the common bush is aflame with your glory.
Let ours be a time remembered
for the awakening of a new reverence for life,
the firm resolve to achieve sustainability,
the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace,
and the joyful celebration of life.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen
Quiet Reflection
Reading: Chief Seattle
Teach your children what we have taught our children
that the earth is our mother.
Whatever befalls the earth
befalls the sons and daughters of the earth…
This we know.
All things are connected
like the blood which unites one family.
So if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it.
Care for it as we’ve cared for it.
Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you take it.
And with all your strength,
with all your mind,
with all your heart,
preserve it for your children and love it. . .
as God loves us all.
Prayer:
We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics,
(mention mountains in your geographic area)
the high green valleys and meadows
filled with wild flowers,
the snows that never
melt, the summits of intense silence,
and we ask that they:
Teach us, and show us the way.
We call upon the waters that rim the earth,
horizon to
horizon, that flow in our rivers and streams,
that
fall upon our gardens and fields,
and we ask that they:
Teach us, and show us the way.
We call upon the land which grows our food,
the nurturing soil, the fertile fields,
the abundant gardens and orchards,
and we ask that they:
Teach us, and show us the way.
We call upon the forests,
the great trees reaching
strongly to the sky with earth in their roots
and
the heavens in their branches, the fir and the pine
and the cedar,
and we ask them to:
Teach us, and show us the way.
Quiet Reflection
Prayer:
We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and
the seas,
our brothers and sisters the wolves and
deer,
the eagle and dove, the great whales and the
dolphin,
the beautiful Orca and salmon who share
our home,
and we ask them to:
Teach us, and show us the way.
We call upon all those who have lived on this earth,
our ancestors and our friends,
who dreamed the best
for future generations,
and upon whose lives
our lives are built,
and with thanksgiving, we call
upon them to:
Teach us, and show us the way.
And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred,
the presence and power of the Great Spirit of love
and truth
which flows through all th e
universe…
to be with us to:
Teach us, and show us the way.
Chinook Blessing Litany Adapted
"If our role as messengers of God’s good news means anything to us, the chorus of people begging for peace will touch a special place in our hearts. "
Patricia Lynch, CSJP