Use this prayer for small meditation groups, before staff or parish meetings. This can be used as a template for any of meeting day – simply use the appropriate day’s readings, and then consider the reflection. The leader may prepare some questions from the readings to prompt discussion.
CHECK IN
Sit quietly in a circle. Some music in the background might help people find a contemplative space. The person leading the session invites people to share a word or a phrase about how they are feeling as the prayer session begins.
READING
Genesis 1:1, 11-12, 29-31
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth . . .
God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it.’ And so it happened: the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw how good it was.God also said: ‘See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give them all the green plants for food.’ And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed – the sixth day.
OTHER SCRIPTURAL TEXTS
- Genesis 2:4-15, Man to till and keep
- Genesis 9:8-17 God’s Covenant with All of Creation
- Psalms 8 (Divine Majesty and Human Dignity)
- 51 (Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon),
- 65 (Thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty),
- 104 (God the Creator and Provider),
- 146 (Praise for God’s Help), 147 (Praise for God’s Care for Jerusalem), and
- 148 (Praise for God’s Universal Glory);
- Matthew 6:25-34 – Do not Worry
- John 1:1-5 – The Word Became Flesh
- Romans 8: 18-25 –Future Glory
- Colossians 1:15.23 – The Supremacy of Christ
- Revelations 21:1-5 – The New Heaven and the New Earth
CONTEMPLATIVE SILENCE
A PRAYER FOR OUR EARTH
Leader: All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your tenderness all that exists. Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.
All: Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
Leader: O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
All: Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.
SHARING
In their own time, people are invited to share their response to the reading or prayer for our earth. What struck them? How do they perceive the gift of God’s Earth? Where do they find the Earth is good? How may they protect the earth?
The sharings are received in silence. After everyone in the group has finished their sharing, people are then free to add anything they wish to.
REVIEW AND CLOSING
When the sharing and discussion is finished, group members are invited to enter a reflective space again. They are then invited to share a word or phrase describing how they are feeling at the end of the meeting – how has the meeting moved them?
The group closes the meeting with a shared prayer, e.g. Glory Be.
This article first appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of Madonna magazine.