Prayer for Creation

O, Creator of the Cosmos,
We present our hearts in prayer.
We are awestruck by Your glory,
Which surrounds us everywhere.
From the birdsong of the morning
To a stormy sky at night,
You reveal Yourself in Nature,
In its gentleness and might.

Through each rainbow that You send us
You renew Your covenant
With the Earth and all life on it,
Telling us of Your intent
That each living thing should flourish,
In its own way, in its place.
You call us to renew awareness
Of our neighbor and their space.

In our eagerness to prosper,
We have ravaged what was good.
Using more than what was needed,
Taking everything we could.
We have changed the gentle order
You intended for the Earth.
Now we humbly ask the wisdom
To be part of its re-birth.

We seek mercy, we seek vision,
And the courage we will need
As we work to help the victims
Of the sins of human greed.
By our choices, in our actions,
May we be part of your plans.
Help us gently till the Garden
You’ve entrusted to our hands.

Finding strength in common purpose,
May Your faithful people be
Voices for a new perspective,
Leaders in simplicity.
Give us guidance, O Creator.
Give us power to achieve
True compassion for Creation
As the legacy we leave.
AMEN.

LESSONS FROM NOAH'S ARK

Everything I need to know, I learn from Noah’s Ark..

ONE: Don’t miss the boat.
TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark
FOUR: Stay fit. When you’re 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
FIVE: Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
SIX: Build your future on high ground.
SEVEN: For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
EIGHT: Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
NINE: When you’re stressed, float a while
TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs the Titanic by Professionals.
ELEVEN: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting.

CEDC Media Center CF

BLESS OUR EARTH, O LORD

O God,
you love our earth;
from sunrise to sunset
you fill land and sea with riches;
the hills rejoice at your touch;
the valleys shout for joy,
yes, they sing.

Open our eyes
to your resplendent world,
that we may care for the earth
as our companion in creation.

May the pure song
of air, water, and trees
broaden our minds,
lift up our hearts,
and guide us to you.

Our resplendent world in its form and functioning
is what enables us to have such a splendid sense of God.

Any degradation of the earth in its primary functioning
inevitably affects our sense of the divine,
just as we lose the full range of our thinking
when we lose our experience of the great birds in flight,
our experience of the animal or vegetative world,
our experience of the rivers and the sea,
or our experience of atmospheric phenomena.

Thomas Berry, CP

A Beautiful Prayer by St. Augustine

I beg of You, my God, let me know You and love You
so that I may be happy in You. And though I cannot do this fully in this life, yet let me improve from day to day till I may do so to the full.
Let me know You more and more in this life,
that I may know You perfectly in heaven.
Let me know You more and more here, so that I may love you perfectly there,
so that my joy may be great in itself here, and complete in heaven with You.
O Truthful God, let me receive the happiness of heaven
which You promise so that my joy may be full.
In the meantime, let my mind think of it, let my tongue talk of it,
let my heart long for it,
let my mouth speak of it, let my soul hunger after it,
let my flesh thirst after it,
let my whole being desire it,
until such time as I may enter through death into the joy of my Lord,
there to continue forever, world without end. Amen.

Prayer to St. Anthony

O Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of
Saints, your love for God and Charity for
His creatures, made you worthy, when
on earth, to possess miraculous powers.
Miracles waited on your word, which
you were ever ready to speak for those in
trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this
thought, I implore you to obtain for me
(request). The answer to my prayer may
require a miracle, even so, you are the
Saint of Miracles. O gentle and loving St.
Anthony, whose heart was ever full of
human sympathy, whisper my petition
into the ears of the sweet Infant Jesus,
who loved to be folded in your arms; and
the gratitude of my heart will ever be
yours. Amen.