Leading up to the release of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s Social Justice Statement 2021-22, the newly titled Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace have created five prayer cards which focus on the themes of the statement.
The five prayer cards can be downloaded from the Office’s website and physical copies will be available via the ACBC online shop after 5 August.
The prayers address the following themes:
- Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor
- A prayer for conversion
- Sacramentality
- God is a Trinity of Love
- Wonder and Awe
You can access the Social Justice Statement 2021-22: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor and other associated resources here.
Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor
Lord, when we listen with your ears we hear:
the bush grown more silent,
the birdsong less vibrant,
the stream’s sluggish ripple.
Have mercy and open our ears.
Lord, when we look with your eyes we see:
the soil depleted,
the sky smudged,
the oceans rubbished and the great currents slowed.
Have mercy and help us to see.
Lord, when we look with your eyes we see:
the workers who struggle to get by,
the women subjected to violence,
the people who are excluded.
Have mercy and help us to see.
Lord, when we listen with your ears we hear:
the sound of hungry children,
the distress of the mentally ill,
the silent pain of homeless women and men.
Have mercy and open our ears.
Send your Spirit upon us Lord to renew our sight,
to restore our hearing,
and to reclaim your reign of justice for all people
and peace for creation.
AMEN
Prayer of Conversion
Ever present God,
giver and sustainer of everything that has life,
maker and fulfilment of all that exists,
although we fail to respect your creation,
listen to the prayers of our heart:
We too are creatures.
Turn our hearts to your love and care for all creation.
With you we gave names to all living things.
Turn our minds to your vision of the heavens and the earth.
We live off the bounty of earth, sea and sky.
Turn our hands to your stewardship.
Through Christ, in whom all things are made
and held in being,
we pray for the power of your Spirit:
to transform our words and actions,
to care more deeply for all creatures,
to save what is threatened,
to mourn what is lost,
to seek Christ in the cry of the earth
and the cry of the poor,
and
to give glory to your name through all creation.
AMEN
Sacramentality
God of all creation,
the heavens tell of your glory
and the earth is full of wonders
that sing of your goodness.
Sun, moon, starts and sky,
rain, snow, winder and water,
animals, birds, trees and flowers:
all are shaped by your loving hand.
Open in us an attentiveness
that recognises and welcomes
the holy that enfolds us and calls our name.
Form us to be people who delight in life as your gift
to be revered, savoured, and nourished.
AMEN
Trinity of Love
Creator God,
Creative Word,
Creating Spirit,
instil in us the humility of creatures
and the wisdom of co-creators.
May we act and speak and breathe
as if within your dance of divine love.
Open us to marvel at the wonder
of your handiwork.
Enable us to see your spirit within all things.
Teach us to respect all that is created.
Humble us to hear the cry of the earth
and the cry of the poor.
Empower us to respond with all our heart and
mind and spirit.
In Christ and through the Spirit
we seek to be carers within your creation,
Creator God.
AMEN
Wonder and Awe
God of wonders,
you show us your beauty in all created things.
Help us to pay attention
to the taste of the ocean on our lips,
the warmth of the sun on our hands,
the song of birds in the morning and evening,
the fragrance of the earth after rain,
and to the star that guides us.
Creator God,
we stand in awe of all that you have made.
Fill our hearts with gratitude
for every good gift, great and small,
that feeds and forms us,
inviting and enabling us
to become people who are fully alive
in your amazing grace.
AMEN