Litany for Earth Day

Leader:        This is the world the Lord has made;

People:        Let us rejoice and be glad in it

Leader:        The Bible tells us that on the sixth day
                   of the Creation, God looked over
                   everything God had made;  it was so
                   good, so very good!
       
People:        The stars and moon, the mountains and
                   valleys, the forest and fields, the
                   oceans and the babbling brooks; all of
                   it was good, so very good!

Leader:         The animals and birds and humans created
                  in God’s image; all of it was good, so very
                  good!

People:        But our appetites for stuff grew big.

Leader:        So the poor were exploited and the Creation was filled with the waste of consumption.  
People:        The water, soil and air were filled with toxins;

Leader:        The poor were exploited so profits could be made.

People:        This was not what you intended for your Creation, for we who were created in
                   your image.

Leader:        Forgive us Creator God, for we know not what we do.

People:        Forgive us Creator God, for now we know not what to do.

Leader:        Forgive us Creator God, for under our watch, we made co-victims of the poor and our
                   environment.

 

Leader:        Who will speak for the poor?

People:        “Speak up for the people who have
                   no voice, for the rights of all the
                   down-and-outers.  Speak out for
                   justice! Stand up for
                   the poor and destitute!” (i)

Leader:        I know that the LORD secures
                   justice for the poor and upholds the
                   cause of the needy. (ii)

People:        LORD, you have called us to be good
                   and faithful stewards of the earth;

Leader:        Teach us how to reduce our
                   demands upon the Earth.
 

People:         LORD, you have called us to be
                    good and faithful stewards of the
                    earth;

Leader:         Free us from coveting more than
                                                                                        we need, to live and to share with
                                                                                        our neighbors in need of better
                                                                                        shelter and an environment that
                                                                                        they too can call “good.”

People:        LORD, you have called us to be good and faithful stewards of the earth;

Leader:        Teach us to listen to your Creation.

People:        Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
                   or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which
                   of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

                   In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all humankind. (iii)

Leader:        Hope is found where we live in harmony with our neighbors and with the
                   environment we call the Creation.

People:         Hope will be found when we are committed to justice for all who call the planet home.