Sekeeta Crowley, one of ECI’s Climate Justice Candle volunteers in Co Cork came up with the wonderful idea of creating a virtual ECI Climate Justice Candle community! Under the present circumstances it is no longer physically possible to circulate the ECI candle, however the need for prayer and action for climate justice has not gone away, and the risk of it being hidden during the Covid-19 crisis is real and at a time when it is needed all the more.
Therefore, ECI invites you to designate one of your own candles as your very own Climate Justice Candle. It can be any size – simply make it look special and put it in a prominent safe place in your home. Print out one of the prayers given below (or write your own) and set it by the candle (but not so it risks catching fire!). What you then do is up to you. Involve the family in setting it up. Start a discussion with the children as to why you are doing it and why it is needed. Pray when you can. Perhaps choose a day and a time. Prayerfully consider actions you can take to reduce your own impact on the Earth and use the isolation time to talk to the family!
Post a photo of your candle on Facebook with Shine a Light on Climate Justice as a title and the link to the Eco-Congregation Ireland website – https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/. Please also email your photo to Eco-Congregation Ireland so that we can share it on the ECI website and Facebook page – send to [email protected]. These stories will make up a wonderful collection of climate justice actions under lockdown! Don’t forget to let us know where you are based. Sekeeta has created a prayer card for use with your candle which you can print off, fold length-ways and stick a piece of card inside to stiffen it so you can prop it up against something, should you so wish. Prayers front and back.
Give us your love for the whole of Creation
Creator God, we confess that the way we are using fossil fuels and other destructive forms of energy today is destroying the forests, changing the climate, the seas, the soils, the biodiversity and the balance of life on our fragile planet, dispossessing the poor and future generations. Help us to choose life for all that is a risk-for neighbours near and far and for those that come after us. Give us the knowledge to learn what we do not know but long to understand, so that we may honour and nurture all that makes us one with you. We ask this through Christ Our Lord.
A Prayer for Our Earth (Laudato Si)
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.
Looking forward to receiving your photos!