Issued by the Catholic Center for Studies and Media - Jordan. Editor-in-chief Fr. Rif'at Bader - موقع أبونا abouna.org

Published on Saturday, 23 May 2020
Vatican: Prayer for fifth anniversary of Laudato Si'

Amman-en.abouna.org :

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of the encyclical on the care for the environment, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis has invited Catholics to participate in a nine-day global campaign of prayer and action from May 16-24.

The year's events will include online conferences with global experts, a Laudato Si' documentary, a musical and a number of cultural multimedia events. There is also an international drive to plant one trillion trees. Particularly significant is the multi-year plan to gradually achieve total sustainability, starting with local families, communities, and institutions.

Marking this anniversary, the Vatican Dicastery for promoting Integral Human Development issued the following prayer with the theme of the week is “everything is connected”:

Loving God,
Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them,
You created us in your own image and made us stewards of creation.
You blessed us with the sun, water and bountiful land
so that all might be nourished.

Open our minds and touch our hearts,
so that we may attend to your gift of creation
Help us to be conscious that our common home
belongs not only to us, but to all of your creatures
and to all future generations,
and that it is our responsibility to preserve it.
May we help each person secure the food and resources that they need.

Be present to those in need in these trying times,
especially the poorest and those most at risk of being left behind.
Transform our fear and feelings of isolation into hope and fraternity
so that we may experience a true conversion of the heart.

Help us to show creative solidarity
in addressing the consequences of this global pandemic.
Make us courageous to embrace the changes that are needed
in search of the common good.
Now more than ever may we feel
that we are all interconnected and interdependent.
Enable us to listen and respond
to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
May the present sufferings be the birth pangs
of a more fraternal and sustainable world.

Under the loving gaze of Mary Help of Christians,
we make this prayer through Christ Our Lord.
Amen.