March 6 - First Sunday in Lent
The above image features a prayer service at Tecaboca, a Marianist Camp & Retreat Center located on 100 acres in the Texas Hill Country. Learn more about their work here.
Our Lenten journey through the Laudato Si Action Platform (www.laudatosiactionplatform.org) continues as we strive to contemplate our role in caring for all of God’s creation. From now through Easter, a different Platform goal will be highlighted each week. Let’s continue our journey this week through the desert.
Goal: Response to the cry of the poor
The Response to the Cry of the Poor is a call to promote eco-justice, aware that we are called to defend human life from conception to death, and all forms of life on Earth. Actions could include projects to promote solidarity, with special attention given to vulnerable groups such as indigenous communities, refugees, migrants, and children at risk, analysis and improvement of social systems, and social service programmes.
Reflection
Lent invites us to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The goal of hearing the cry of the poor invites all of us to think of the impact that the environmental crisis has on all people, especially our brothers and sisters who are economically poor and vulnerable. As you consider giving alms this Lent, think of the environmentally poor. Tornados, hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts continue to worsen as climate change continues, and most impact those already disadvantaged. Throughout our country and the world the poorest often live in the areas most affected by these disasters, and these poorest neighborhoods struggle the most to recover after an event. Do you pray for those most affected by the environmental crisis? Would you fast from something to help them? Do you give alms to shelter them? Are you hearing the cry of the poor?
Challenge
Contribute to a natural disaster relief fund, and pray for those most vulnerable to be affected by the environmental crisis.
Prayer
A Prayer for Our Earth
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.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
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.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray,
in our struggle for justice, love and peace.
- A concluding prayer of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’”
Going Further
Explore more deeply how climate change impacts people living in poverty with these facts compiled by Mercy Corps.