God’s Earth

The attitude that must characterize the way we act in relation to creation…

… is essentially one of gratitude and appreciation; theworld, in fact, reveals the mystery of God who created and sustains it.Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace 2004

We cannot simply do what we want with this Earth of ours, with what has been entrusted to us … Our Earth is talking to us and we must listen to it and decipher its message if we want to survive.

Pope Benedict XVI 2007

Let us be renewed by God’s mercy, let us be loved by Jesus,

let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives;

…and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can

water the Earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.

Pope Francis 2013

Theheavens

are telling

the glory

of God.

Psalm 19

The earth proclaims

God’s handiwork.

Day speaks of it to day, and night hands on the knowledge to night. Psalm 19

God fashioned a human creature from the dust of the soil, breathed into it the breath of life, and the creature became a living being…

Genesis 2,7

God intended the earth and all it contains for the use of all…peoples, so created goods should flow fairly to all, regulated by justice and accompanied

by charity. All rights whatsoever… are to be subordinated to this principle. Pope Paul VI

The existence of extreme poverty and environmental destruction in our world are not natural forces, nor acts of God, but result from human behaviour.

NZ Catholic Bishops 2006

Consumerism, global environmental change and suffering in the developing world are inextricably linked.

New Zealand Catholic Bishops Statement on environmental Justice, 2006

Every person and every family can and must do something to alleviate hunger in the world by

adopting a lifestyle and consumption compatible with the safeguarding of

creation and with criteria of justice for

those who cultivate land in every country. Pope

Benedict 2006

At the personal level, the suffering of others and the damage to our planet demandthat we look closely at our own lifestyles…NZ Catholic Bishops 2006

Both individual and collective acts of selflessness are needed;

of self sacrifice for the greater good,

of self denial in the midst of convenient choices,

of choosing simpler lifestyles in the midst of a consumer society.

NZ Catholic Bishops 2006

What is needed is an affective shift in mentality, which can lead to the adoption of new lifestyles, in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others, for the sake of common growth…

…are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments.Pope Benedict XVI 2009

Our present crises, be they economic, food related, environmental or social, are ultimately moral crises, and all of them are interrelated.

They require us to re-think the path we are travelling together.

Pope Benedict XVI 2010

On February 16, 2005, the Kyoto Protocol came into effect as international law. On that occasion, Pacific Church leaders led worship at

the WCC Central Committee meeting including use of the following prayer.

A Lenten prayer…All; Through your grace Lord, change us.

Dear Father, You have created Mother Earth in a wonderful and awesome way. You are preserving this beauty of creation every single day thus giving us the rich base on which we can enjoy our lives.

A Lenten prayer

All; Through your grace Lord, change us.

But your creation is not just a gift to us, you have asked us to use it according to your will and to fulfil our given responsibility to protect your creation against all destructive forces.

Our Lenten prayer

All; Through your grace Lord, change us.

We tend to forget this responsibility in our striving for a comfortable life. As a result, our planet with all its beautiful creatures and vegetation is suffering. If we do not change our lifestyle soon we, the people of the Pacific, will suffer the most.

Our Lenten prayer

All; Through your grace Lord, change us.

The rising sea-levels, the increasing number of cyclones, the droughts, the pollution in our air, the increased extreme weather conditions - we can already feel it.

A Lenten prayer

All; Through your grace Lord, change us.

We pray these words knowing that our sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ all throughout the Pacific region join us today in this prayer of concern about your creation and of thankfulness for the coming into life of the Kyoto Protocol.

A Lenten prayer

All; Through your grace Lord, change us.

Let us raise our voices together in the ecumenical family in favour for your creation! Let us make the world community hear our environmental concerns and our suffering! Let us support projects that call upon Australia and the USA who are major producers of climate-change-gases and who have not yet ratified the Kyoto Protocol to do so in the near future!A Lenten prayer

All; Through your grace Lord, change us.

Let us be advocates for our Mother Earth.Let us be advocates especially for our precious and endangered Pacific Islands!

A Lenten prayer

All; Through your grace Lord, change us.

Let us be advocates for our Vanua - the seas and the land! Let us not only talk about change, let us DO your word in our day to day lives! Please give us strength and courage to be workers and fighters for your creation before it is too late.

A Lenten prayer

All; Through your grace Lord, change us.