This resource is a guide for our movement members to use collectively or individually every month. Each month this prayer guide brings reflections and testimonies from different members of our global movement to inspire you to pray, contemplate, reflect, and act for creation. This month’s edition was prepared by Anna Johnson from the United States, Agnes Richard from Canada, with the support of Suzana Moreira, from Brazil, and the strategic work by Guada García Corigliano from Argentina, design work by Marco Vargas from Ecuador, as well as work from others of the Communications team spread across the Americas and translators spread across the world.
If you prefer, you can download this resource in PDF format by clicking here.
How to use this prayer guide for an encounter
This year we are making some changes to this guide so it can better support you and your community. Here are a few tips for you to use this guide as the structure of an encounter:
- Read the full guide to familiarize yourself with the content and plan how you will use it in the encounter.
- Hold the encounter through the three steps: Hear Creation’s Song, Creation’s Cry, and Creation’s Call, making sure to prioritize time for common prayer, contemplative silence, and personal and shared reflection.
- After the encounter, remember to thank the participants and start planning for the next one, as well as continue to pray throughout the month with the month’s intention and prayer.
Hear Creation’s Song
For more commitments to transition out of the fossil fuels market
“Many people know that our current progress and the mere amassing of things and pleasures are not enough to give meaning and joy to the human heart, yet they feel unable to give up what the market sets before them.” (LS 209)
View from the top of Grouse Mountain in British Columbia.
Prayer of the month
Prayer for Divestment by Jane Mellet
Creator God,
Through You all things were made, the stars in the sky, the birds of the air, the breadth of life beneath the seas. Beauty surrounds us, like a love letter inscribed on this earth. Blessed be Your name. But we have not lived up to our vocation as protectors of Your handiwork.
The Earth has been plundered and cries out to us. Through our use of fossil fuels we have filled the skies with gases which are harming our world, Your creation. We know that it is the poor who suffer the most from our actions and we ask forgiveness.
We also know that things can change and that we can embark on new paths, restoring our
common home and clearing the skies. We pray that those who have decision making powers,
will divest from the fossil fuel industry, challenging big corporations to leave behind this era of destruction and pollution.
We pray that political leaders make way for affordable forms of clean energy for all. We ask that workers be treated fairly as we make this transition. Move the hearts of those who seek only profit at the expense of the earth and the poor.
May we be guided by Your Spirit, in courage and determination. Help us to embrace new possibilities, new sources of energy, and set out on this path of renewal.
We ask this through Jesus Christ Your Son, Amen.
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.
Hear Creation’s Cry
Monthly reflection to deepen our eco-conversion
Collaborating for a Clean Energy Economy
Agnes Richard, Laudato Si Movement Canada Chapter Leader
My ecological conversion began in 2013 when I watched the film “Revolution”, by Rob Stewart. Up until that point I thought I had been good at doing my part for the environment and creating sustainable habits in my family. With this film I realized the climate crisis was already far advanced and the efforts I had been making were not adequate to the scale of the problem. I became very concerned and worried.
During the next five years I embarked on an intense learning curve. I attended a University of California online course, Climate Change in Four Dimensions, became certified in Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, and eagerly explored Pope Francis’s letter to the world, Laudato Si’. I felt acutely the present and future pain of humanity and species under threat of extinction. At the same time, I was experiencing a powerful drive to find a way to enable social change and meet the challenges climate change would bring to the planet.
Laudato Si’ was a game-changer for me. It seemed to be the message and approach I had been looking for: A document that respected scientific knowledge and connected it to Catholic spirituality.
I became a certified Laudato Si’ Animator and in September of 2019, with a dozen others, helped launch a Canadian chapter of the Laudato Si’ Movement. This quote from the Encyclical seemed to speak directly to us.
“A true “ecological debt” exists, particularly between the global north and south, connected to commercial imbalances with effects on the environment, and the disproportionate use of natural resources by certain countries over long periods of time.” (LS 51)
Since many extractive companies working all over the planet are listed on Canadian stock exchanges, we felt compelled to address this “commercial imbalance”. Cognizant of the impact we have, institutions with financial resources have the potential to either help or harm God’s creation in a profound way. We decided to create a resource that could help Catholic dioceses and churches, education and health institutions, and religious communities in Canada assess their financial assets through the lens of caring for creation.
A team of five collaborated on research and writing for the free, online Catholic Eco-Investment Accelerator Toolkit.
We worked from two interconnected principles. First, for all people to realize their potential as caretakers of both each other and the earth, the climate as a common good must be promoted. Secondly, in the words of the Catherine Donnelly Foundation, “investment has the potential to transform capitalism and turn one of our greatest resources into a force for solving problems rather than creating them.” We can do well by doing good. We hope that by consulting the virtual pages of the Toolkit, many will find the resources needed to propel a shift away from fossil fuels and towards a clean energy future.
Now, when the Fossil Fuels Non-Proliferation Treaty is gaining important momentum, we also invite our community to join us in endorsing the FFNPT through the Faith Letter.
Agnes Richard at the September 2024 Climate March in Ottawa, Canada meets others promoting the Fossil Fuels Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Questions for reflection
- How does Agnes’ ecoconversion journey resonate with your own?
- Though we are all called to care for creation, our responsibilities are not the same. Agnes and her fellow members of the Canadian Chapter were able to find a way for more bold action for our common home because they reflected and understood the reality where they live in. What are the conditions in your country related to the fossil fuel industry?
- As individuals, we may not be able to bring about the structural change needed to transition out of the fossil fuel market, but as a united voice we can create big impact. How can you help bring more awareness to your community about the dangers of the fossil fuel market and the importance of COPs?
Hearing Creation’s Call
This month’s call to action: The COPs
COP 16 on Biodiversity took place in Cali, Colombia, between October 21 and November 1, 2009. As for COP 29 on Climate Change, it will be held in Azerbaijan from November 11 to 22. The Holy Spirit is guiding our leaders to obtain positive results at the end of these conferences.
In Cali, the local Laudato Si’ Movement chapter has been working hard, leading spaces for reflection, dialogue and commitment.
Coming up: Advent
Advent is a special season that will soon be upon us. We’ll live it more deeply by focusing on the theme “Laudato Si’ Advent: Contemplation and Christian Hope”. Prepare your heart for the practice of Christian contemplation during the coming Advent.