Prayers of the People, In the Beginning,1st Sunday in the Season of Creation '15

for Sunday, October 11, 2015 ~ Readings: Gen 1:1-31, Ps 33:1-11 [from the Anglican Chant by John Randall], Pope Francis*, John 1: 1-14 [from “The Message”]

Welcome to the 

Season of Creation!

        The Season of Creation 
originated in the Anglican Church of South Africa in 2008 and is designed for us to explore our faith from a Creation perspective. We are to realize our place in the order of God’s creating and to see and act upon the need to care for our entire life-support system - the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil in which we grow our crops - not merely humanity, but our total environment, as it pertains to ALL life. 

         From the early days of the Season of Creation at SsAM [www.SsAM.org], we established that “the primary aim of the events of the season is to enable adults and youth to celebrate and experience the inextricable link which binds together the destinies of all of God’s creatures.” It is a moment of pause to remind ourselves that God calls us to see “what great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions” and for us to renew our commitment to making real the biblical vision of the earth at unity with itself. It is a vision of human beings of all races, backgrounds and walks of life in local communities and among the nations of the earth, living together in love and peace with justice for all. "As disciples of Christ, we are called through our Baptismal Covenant, to be instruments for the healing of our broken world," and with a renewed commitment to personal and communal prayer and action.

         We will use Biblical and other readings that pertain to the specific theme of each of the 6 weeks. The alternate readings used will follow the prayers on this page.  

     We begin this Season at the Beginning. Professor Wangari Maathai,** 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, describes the Book of Genesis as "the book for environmentalists." "If we had been created on Tuesday," she said, "There would have been nowhere for us to stand! God, with infinite wisdom, waited until the last day!" 



LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Almighty Creator, grant us the wisdom to allow ourselves to stand in humble awe of You, and the inherent miracle of Your Divine Architecture. Inspire us to be conscious of, and more active in, our calling as stewards for humanity, for all forms of life, and for the eco-systems and environment to sustain us all.

 O God, Omnipotent and Everlasting

RESPONSE:   Help us weave the whole of Creation together in Your love 

~ Almighty Creator, strengthen our voices to reach all those who govern on this Planet, in our nations, and in our communities, so that they may support, enact, and enforce legislation to promote universal peace, justice, and the preservation of all Creation. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God, Omnipotent and Everlasting

Help us weave the whole of Creation together in Your love

~ Almighty Creator, cast the light of Your presence into the shadows of those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit. Let the Word that is Christ bring comfort, peace, and rest. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God, Omnipotent and Everlasting

Help us weave the whole of Creation together in Your love

~ Almighty Creator, ease the hearts of all who mourn, as those who have gone ahead now enter the glorious Life-Light of Christ. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God, Omnipotent and Everlasting

Help us weave the whole of Creation together in Your love

~ Almighty Creator, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud…

O God, Omnipotent and Everlasting

Help us weave the whole of Creation together in Your love

~ Almighty Creator, we give thanksgiving for those who are chosen as Stewards of Your Church and bring us the Word that is Christ, and the words that are of Christ, to inspire us to live in Christ through each moment of our lives. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God, Omnipotent and Everlasting

Help us weave the whole of Creation together in Your love

The Celebrant adds: Holy God, Sovereign and Eternal, In the Beginning, You proclaimed every facet of Your work to be Good. May all of our work in Your Creation give glory to Jesus our Christ, the incarnate Word, and to the Holy Spirit, the vital Spark, who together with You, reign as One God through all time and throughout the known and unknown expanse of the Universe.  Amen.

*A reading from Pope Francis:

          Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society. Moreover, when our hearts are authentically open to universal communion, this sense of fraternity excludes nothing and no one. It follows that our indifference or cruelty toward fellow creatures of this world sooner or later affects the treatment we mete out to other human beings. We have only one heart, and the same wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not be long in showing itself in our relationships with other people. Every act of cruelty toward any creature is “contrary to human dignity.” We can hardly consider ourselves to be fully loving if we disregard any aspect of reality: “Peace, justice, and the preservation of creation are three absolutely interconnected themes, which cannot be separated and treated individually without once again falling into reductionism.” Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river, and mother earth. 

~Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si': On Care For Our Common Home, (May 24, 2015) 90, 91)

The 266th and current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church is Jorge Mario Bergoglio [1936- ], an Argentinian by birth. He was elected on March 13, 2013, and took the name of Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. The title of Pope is a title he holds ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign/Head of State of the Vatican City.

**Professor Wangari Maathai [1940-2011], a Kenyan environmental and political activist, Member of Parliament as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, was educated in the United States and in Kenya. In 2004, she was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was honored for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace".

Requests for prayers or meditations for this space or private use may be sent to Leeosophy@gmail.com. All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.