MORNING PRAYER SUNDAY

St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor PRAY and reflect on the duty to care for God’s creation and protect the poor and vulnerable; LEARN about and educate others on both the reality of climate change and its moral dimensions; ASSESS your participation-as individuals and organizations-in contributing to climate change; ACT to change your choices and behaviors contributing to climate change and; ADVOCATE Catholic principles and priorities in climate change discussions and decisions, especially as they impact the poor and vulnerable.

O Lord, hear my prayer, 2x When I call,answer me O Lord, hear my prayer, 2x Come and Listen to me.

2010

CHINA

15 million refugees due to flooding

COLOMBIA

Floods and landslides affected 70% of the country

3 million refugees

PAKISTAN FLOODING SUBMERGED ONE-FIFTH OF THE COUNTRY

11 MILLION REFUGEES

2011 MEXICO

280,000 Refugees TROPICAL STORM ARLENE

Angola 220,000 REFUGEES DUE TO FLOODING

BRAZIL 170,000 Refugees due to Flooding

2012

India 6.9 million Refugees due to Flooding

NIGERIA 6.1 million Refugees due to Flooding

United States 775,000 displaced due to Superstorm Sandy

2013 Philippines

TYPHOON HAIYAN 4 Million Refugees

Two months after Typhoon Haiyan aid agencies warned that up to two million children were at risk for trafficking.

By 2050, analysts predict that million

men, women and children or roughly one in every 45 people on earth

will be displaced due to environmental disasters.

It is virtually impossible to estimate the number of people displaced by environmental disasters who become victims of trafficking.

Let us take a moment to silently remember all victims of environmental disasters… of human trafficking

…and all victims of human trafficking

As we take the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor let us invoke the Holy Spirit to guide us…

O Lord, hear my prayer, 2x When I call,answer me O Lord, hear my prayer, 2x Come and Listen to me.

That our public and private prayer may lead us to a deeper concern for the gift of God’s creation and all impacted by our lifestyles.

That we take the time to learn about Church teaching on the environment and climate change and the impacts of our lifestyles on vulnerable people and all God’s Creatures.

That we have the courage to honestly assess our own contributions to climate change within our homes, and through our everyday lifestyle choices.

That we take the steps necessary to live more sustainably and more simply as a sign of solidarity with those who suffer the consequences of our lack of respect for God’s gift of Creation.

That we become the voice of the poor to ensure that local, state and national policies designed to address climate change do not place additional burdens on the most vulnerable people at home and abroad.

That we may be inspired by the example of St. Francis of Assisi – the Patron Saint of Ecology – and become instruments of God’s healing for our imperiled planet and its inhabitants. We pray…

O Lord, hear my prayer, 2x When I call,answer me O Lord, hear my prayer, 2x Come and Listen to me.

St. Francis Pledge I pledge to: PRAY and reflect on my duty to care for God’s creation and protect the poor and vulnerable; LEARN about and educate others about the causes and moral dimensions of climate change; ASSESS how I as individuals and organizations-in contribute to climate change by energy use, consumption, waste, etc; ACT to change my choices and behaviors contributing to climate change and; ADVOCATE for Catholic principles of solidarity and stewardship of God’s creation in climate change discussions and decisions, especially as they impact the poor and vulnerable.