Happy Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. It's not a Proper of the Church, but perhaps it should be. One could always use the Rogation Days propers for Earth Day, especially For the Stewardship of Creation:

O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the
needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for
your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the
account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards
of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with
you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.

Lesson from Hebrew Scriptures: Job 38:1-11, 16-18

Psalm 104:25-37

Lesson from the Christian Writings: 1 Timothy 6:7-10; 17-19

The Holy Gospel According to Luke (12:13-21)

I'm not sure these Scriptures have much to do with stewardship of creation. I would have picked Genesis 1:1-2:2 for the first lesson, followed by Psalm 104, maybe all of it. I'm not sure about the Second Lesson either; nothing comes to mind specifically, except perhaps for 2 Corinthians 8-9. That passage, however, is more about supporting the community rather than anything else. For the Gospel, I would *not* pick any of the Matthean or Lukan "worry not" pssages, because I think in these days we do have much to worry about. And the suggested Gospel, also from Luke, seems to speak more about one's attitude toward wealth than anything else. Now it may well be that we Westerners' thoughts on what it means to have stuff is exactly what we have to combat in order to think Godfully about creation. Certainlly we have to always think about what our realtionship to our stuff is, and that starts with the realization that none of it is really ours.

Here are some Prayers for Creation that are good for reflecting on our role in what God has first made. The Sisters of Mercy have written a Novena for Creation that is meant to be prayer over nine days.

RFSJ