Friday

1

A Buddhist Prayer

New Mexico IPL uses this as a commitment at each of our Earth Sabbath monthly gatherings

I vow to myself and to each of you:
To commit myself daily to the healing of our world and the welfare of all beings.
To live on Earth more lightly and less violently in the food, products, and energy I consume.
To draw strength and guidance from the living Earth, the ancestors, the future generations, and my brothers and sisters of all species.
To support others in our work for the world and to ask for help when I need it.
To pursue a daily practice that clarifies my mind, strengthens my heart, and supports me in observing these vows.

Saturday

2

Sunday

3

Jesus, who raised the dead to life
Help us to find ways to renew
what we have broken, damaged and destroyed:
Where we have taken too much water,
polluted the air, poured plastic into the sea,
cut down the forests and soured fertile soils.
Help all those who work to find solutions to
damage and decay; give hope to those
who are today working for a greener future.
Amen

Anne Richards,
Mission Theology Advisory Group,
Diocese of London: Shrinking the Footprint

Monday

4

“Let us be ‘protectors’ of Creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world!”

From the Installation Mass Homily of Pope Francis, (2013)

Tuesday

5

Wednesday

6

International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in Armed Conflict and War

On 5 November 2001, the UN General Assembly declared 6 November of each year as the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.  Following on this, on 27 May 2016, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted resolution UNEP/EA.2/Res.15, which recognised the role of healthy ecosystems and sustainably managed resources in reducing the risk of armed conflict, and reaffirmed its strong commitment to the full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals listed in General Assembly resolution 70/1, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

The devastation of war and conflict goes further than those dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods. The environments in which people live become a forgotten victim of war. Water wells are polluted, crops torched, forests cut down, soils poisoned and animals killed to gain military advantage.

Furthermore, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has found that over the last 60 years, at least 40 percent of all internal conflicts have been linked to the exploitation of natural resources, whether high-value resources such as timber, diamonds, gold and oil, or scarce resources such as fertile land and water. Conflicts involving natural resources have also been found to be twice as likely to relapse.

The United Nations attaches great importance to ensuring that action on the environment is part of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace building strategies – because there can be no durable peace if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods and ecosystems are destroyed.

In taking this action, it considered that damage to the environment in times of armed conflict impairs ecosystems and natural resources long after the period of conflict, often extending beyond the limits of national territories and the present generation. The Assembly also recalled the United Nations Millennium Declaration, which emphasised the necessity of working to protect our common environment.

The 6th November is an opportunity for everyone to reflect on the role of war on damaging natural environments and discuss ways to limit environmental destruction caused by armed conflict.

Prayer:

Father, we pray that when the interests and aspirations of nations conflict with one another over the natural resources that you have provided for us, their leaders may not turn to war, but together seek a just and acceptable way forward, so that suspicions may be allayed, misunderstandings clarified, violence averted and peace preserved. We ask this in the name of Christ our Lord.

L. Cumings

Thursday

7

The Soul of All Things

Apprehend God in all things, for God is in all things.
Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God.  Every creature is a word of God.  If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature—even a caterpillar—
I would never have to prepare a sermon.  So full of God is every creature.  – Meister Eckhart

Creation itself is the first and primary face of God. The world itself is the universal religion that precedes all organized religions. Do you really think that God would not have made God’s Self available to the Stone Age people and all historical peoples who were created in “the image and likeness of God,” just like all of us? We monotheists should have been the first to recognize this because we believe in “one God who created all things!”

Or was God just waiting for the Catholics and Evangelicals to come along? Unfortunately, when we Catholics came, we loved to build fancy churches, without any encouragement from Jesus, I might add; and we went quickly inside them, disconnecting our minds and hearts from the natural world, probably because the natural world seemed wild and dangerous to us. Our very word profane comes from pro, meaning “in front of,” and fanum, meaning “temple.” We thought we lived “outside the temple.” Without a nature-based spirituality, it was a profane universe, bereft of Spirit, so we had to keep building shrines and churches to capture and hold our now domesticated and tamed God. Soon we did not know where to look for the divine. We became like fish in a huge ocean looking for water, and often arguing about who owned the water!

Again, note that I’m not saying God is all things (pantheism), but that each living thing reveals some aspect of God’s presence; God is both greater than the whole of our universe, and as Creator interpenetrates all created things (panentheism).  No exceptions. The Judeo-Christian conviction about this was so total, that the ancient myths even had Lucifer created by God (Isaiah 14:12-15) and Satan in the divine council (Job 1:6-12).

St. Francis is the earliest recorded Christian to grant animals and objects subjectivity, mutuality, even naming them as sister and brother. He could talk and listen to them. Few Christians are trained to see all created things in this way, subject to subject. Yet it is the heart of all contemplative seeing. We were told animals didn’t have souls. I fully disagree.

Love is at the core of all beings. When you know this, as Thomas Berry says, the world becomes “a communion of subjects more than a collection of objects,” to state it quite perfectly and profoundly.

When you love something, you grant it soul, you see its soul, and you let its soul touch yours. You have to love something deeply to know its soul. Before the resonance of love, you are largely blind to a thing’s meaning, value, and its power to literally save you. In fact, until you can appreciate and even delight in the ecstatic wag of a dog’s tail and other such ubiquitous signals, I doubt if you have discovered your own soul.

Gateway to Silence:
Brother Sun, Sister Moon, help me see God in all things.

From Richard Rohr’s daily meditations
www.cac.org

Friday

8

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential.

Sustainable energy is opportunity – it transforms lives, economies and the planet.

Facts & Figures:

• One in five people still lacks access to modern electricity
• 3 billion people rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating
• Energy is the dominant contributor to climate change, accounting for around 60 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions
• Reducing the carbon intensity of energy is a key objective in long-term climate goals.

Pray for wisdom, integrity and compassion for all involved in the delivery of this Goal especially in light of the imminent COP25

Saturday

9

“We need an imaginative commitment to new ways of approaching the subject of climate change that does not accept a deterministic or selfish nationalistic policy. We cannot simply look at ourselves and say, ‘we must do better’, and kick the ladder away from the vast majority of humankind that is struggling to find the prosperity that we enjoy so richly. This is not a standalone issue. It cuts across all we do.”

Archbishop Justin Welby (2015)

Sunday

10

World Science Day for Peace and Development

Celebrated every 10 November, the World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the important role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives.

By linking science more closely with society, World Science Day for Peace and Development aims to ensure that citizens are kept informed of developments in science. It also underscores the role scientists play in broadening our understanding of the remarkable, fragile planet we call home and in making our societies more sustainable.

In this framework, in 2019, the Day will be linked to the celebration of the International Year of Indigenous languages, being unique systems of knowledge and understanding of the world. The aim is to raise awareness on the importance of local and indigenous knowledge systems as tools to inform decision-making about fundamental aspects of day-to-day life. These unique sources of knowledge are important facets of the world’s cultural diversity and provide a foundation for local sustainable development.

The celebration of the World Science Day will be organized in the form of multiple initiatives and events, including roundtable, social media communication campaign, online contests, and exhibitions. The events will be organized by UNESCO Natural Sciences Sector, notably the Science Policy and Partnerships section, in collaboration with UNESCO Field Offices and the involvement of Permanent Delegations and National Commissions, as well as UNESCO centres and chairs and relevant UNESCO networks. The events will aim at reaching policy-makers, academia, general public and especially youth.

Monday

11

At Your Name (Yahweh, Yahweh)

 At Your name
The mountains shake and crumble
At Your name
The oceans roar and tumble
At Your name
Angels will bow
The earth will rejoice
Your people cry out

Lord of all the earth
We shout Your name, shout Your name
Filling up the skies
With endless praise, endless praise
Yahweh, Yahweh
We love to shout Your name, oh Lord

At Your name
The morning breaks in glory
At Your name
Creation sings Your story
At Your name
Angels will bow
The earth will rejoice
Your people cry out

Lord of all the earth
We shout Your name, shout Your name
Filling up the skies
With endless praise, endless praise
Yahweh, Yahweh
We love to shout Your name, oh Lord

There is no one like our God
We will praise you, praise you
There is no one like our God
We will sing, we will sing
There is…

Lord of all the earth
We shout Your name, shout Your name
Filling up the skies
With endless praise, endless praise
Yahweh, Yahweh
We love to shout Your name, oh Lord

Lord of all the earth ….

Phil Wickham

Tuesday

12

“Not heaven and earth and the great seas, not the creatures that live in the water and on dry land, not plants, and stars, and air, and seasons, not the vast variety in the order of the universe, so well sets forth the excellency of His might as that God, being incomprehensible, should have been able, impassibly, through flesh, to have come into close conflict with death, to the end that by His own suffering He might give us the boon of freedom from suffering.”
Saint Basil of Caesarea (4^th century)

Wednesday

13

Under the warmth of the summer sun the world awakes and blossoms into every imaginable colour. You created a garden for us to enjoy and within it planted the most magical of flower and trees. You needed no horticultural training to plan your colour scheme, no gardening expert to recommend variety or design. Your garden is perfect its colours harmonious its scale immense spoilt only by the clumsiness of those who tend it.

Creator God who breathed this world into being who is discernible within the harmony of nature, the perfection of a butterfly’s wing, the grandeur of a mountain range, and the soaring eagle and hummingbird, thank you for this world which you have created. Thank you for summer sun which reminds us that your creative breath is still alive and active. Thank you for the warmth of your love sustaining this world: your garden

John Birch.

Thursday

14

The Lord Reigns. . . Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy.

Psalm 96:10,12

Friday

15

Saturday

16

Sunday

17

God, creator of the universe,
Fill us with your love for the creation,
for the natural world around us,
for the earth from which we come
and to which we will return.
Awake in us energy to work for your world;
let us never fall into complacency, ignorance,
or being overwhelmed by the task before us.
Help us to restore, remake, renew.
Amen

Anne Richards,
Mission Theology Advisory Group,
Diocese of London: Shrinking the Footprint

Monday

18

Reflection:

Pope Francis – Laudato Si

 170. “Some strategies for lowering pollutant gas emissions call for the internationalization of environmental costs, which would risk imposing on countries with fewer resources burdensome commitments to reducing emissions comparable to those of the more industrialized countries. Imposing such measures penalizes those countries most in need of development. A further injustice is perpetrated under the guise of protecting the environment. Here also, the poor end up paying the price. Furthermore, since the effects of climate change will be felt for a long time to come, even if stringent measures are taken now, some countries with scarce resources will require assistance in adapting to the effects already being produced, which affect their economies. In this context, there is a need for common and differentiated responsibilities. As the bishops of Bolivia have stated, “the countries which have benefited from a high degree of industrialization, at the cost of enormous emissions of greenhouse gases, have a greater responsibility for providing a solution to the problems they have caused”

Prayerfully reflect on this

Tuesday

19

Creator of all, thank You for summer! Thank You for the warmth of the sun and the increased daylight. Thank You for the beauty I see all around me and for the opportunity to be outside and enjoy Your creation. Thank You for the increased time I have to be with my friends and family, and for the more casual pace of the summer season. Draw me closer to You this summer. Teach me how I can pray no matter where I am or what I am doing. Warm my soul with the awareness of Your presence, and light my path with Your Word and Counsel. As I enjoy Your creation, create in me a pure heart and a hunger and a thirst for You.

Amen

Wednesday

20

Thursday

21

World Fisheries Day

21 November marks World Fisheries Day, celebrating a profession and a way of life that supports the livelihoods of 1 out of every 10 people on the planet

Fisheries and aquaculture provides opportunities for gainful employment. This is especially relevant for developing countries, which now account for 60% of the volume of international fish trade, but there is a need for international collaboration to ensure decent work along the seafood value chain.  Developing countries are key to global fish trade, having increased their share of trade from just 37% of total volume in 1976 to 60% in 2015.

Yet, at the same time, fishing is one of the world’s most dangerous professions. The industry is too often lacking adequate labour regulation, and fishing vessels have been associated with instances of labour abuses, trafficking, forced labour and other abuses of fishers. The same industry that offers so many opportunities to coastal communities in developing countries too often leads to victimization of the most vulnerable.

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has long been involved in working alongside member countries to improve conditions in fisheries and aquaculture. The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the Voluntary Guidelines for Small-scale Fisheries and the recent entry into force of the FAO Port State Measures Agreement- the first internationally negotiated treaty aimed at eliminating IUU fishing – are all steps in the right direction. But more is needed.

Over the past decades, consumers have become more confident that the fish reaching their plates has been harvested in an environmentally sustainable manner. But now those same consumers are asking for guarantees that their seafood has not been harvested through forced labour or slave labour – an issue that has been receiving increasing media attention in recent years

Fish are among the most widely traded food commodities, totalling 135 billion USD in 2015, and fish trade offers significant opportunities for developing countries. FAO believes that ensuring decent work in the sector can be achieved through international collaboration

Pray

• for those whose livelihoods depend on the Fishing Industry
• for those whose responsibility is to regulate the Industry that they may be considerate and compassionate in their deliberations.

Friday

22

Dear God,
Please look after those people who are poor and those who are homeless.
May you guide those who have lost their homes, to new lands of plenty.
Lord, we pray for those who are responsible for the pollution in the seas,
the air and on the land you have created.
May they know the error of their ways and work towards a new sustainability.
Amen.

Toma Oti,
St Anne’s Catholic School, Manurewa, New Zealand

Saturday

23

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”

Rachel Carson
Author: Silent Spring

Sunday

24

God, of the living earth
You have called people to care for your world –
you asked Noah to save creatures from destruction.
May we now understand how to sustain your world –
Not over-fishing, not over-hunting,
Not destroying trees, precious rain forest
Not farming soil into useless dust.
Help us to find ways to use resources wisely
to find a path to good, sustainable living
in peace and harmony with creatures around us.
Amen

Anne Richards,
Mission Theology Advisory Group,
Diocese of London: Shrinking the Footprint

Monday

25

Psalm 19 – The Message

A David Psalm

19 ^1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
    God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
    Professor Night lectures each evening.

^3-4 Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
    unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

^4-5 God makes a huge dome
    for the sun—a super-dome!
The morning sun’s a new husband
    leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The day-breaking sun an athlete
    racing to the tape.

⁶ That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies
    from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts,
    warming hearts to faith.

^7-9 The revelation of God is whole
    and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear     and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,  showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
    and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
    with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
    down to the nth degree.

¹⁰ God’s Word is better than a diamond,
    better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,
    better than red, ripe strawberries.

^11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
    and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
    Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
    Keep me from stupid sins,
    from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,  scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;  these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
    on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
    God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

Tuesday

26

COP 25/CMP 15/ CMA 2 will take place from 2-13 December 2019.

Santiago, Chile – Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 25).

Delegates to the Conference will be beginning their travel to the Venue.

Pray for their safety on their journeys, and that they will be committed to positive discussions and deliberations during the Conference.

Wednesday

27

“The world has been created for everyone’s use, but you few rich are trying to keep it for yourselves. For not merely the possession of the earth, but the very sky, the air, and the sea are claimed for the use of the rich few. … The earth belongs to all, not just to the rich.”

St. Ambrose of Milan (340-397)

Thursday

28

“I used to think that top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that thirty years of good science could address these problems. I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with these we need a cultural and spiritual transformation. And we scientists don’t know how to do that.”

 Gus Speth

Friday

29

Buy Nothing Day

Whether or not you’ve participated in it, you’ve definitely seen the reports of people going from being their best selves to absolute monsters around the “Black Friday” sales!

Dubbed as a 24-hour shopping detox, the “Buy Nothing Day” anti-shopping day began in Canada 25 years ago to protest mass consumerism the “Black Friday” sales resulted in and it quickly spread around the world.

Instead of taking the opportunity to buy as much as possible on Black Friday, you could do the opposite and buy absolutely nothing. The rules are simple – just don’t buy anything at all for 24 hours. Many people are surprised how difficult this actually is. The aim is to make people think more about their spending and to make better decisions about what they buy and where they buy it from.  As well as spending less and not buying unnecessary items, Buy Nothing Day aims to raise awareness of how to be a more ethical consumer. For example, you can avoid buying ‘fast fashion’, that is, very cheap clothes that are worn a few times before being thrown away. Or you could decide not to automatically upgrade your mobile at the end of a contract. These kinds of decisions can help to protect the environment as well as saving you money. 

So, if your anyone tries to convince you to rush out to any of the “Black Friday” sales …. just tell them you’re celebrating “Buy Nothing Day” instead. Rather than push people out of the way to get the last pair of 10-cent socks, heat up some leftovers and settle in for a day of Netflix and chill.

Saturday

30

International Day of Climate Action

Weather extremes and reports of disasters make it clear: Climate change is dramatically picking up speed. At the same time there is a continuing increase in carbon dioxide concentration and other climate-damaging emissions. Scientists make it clear that there is an increasingly urgent need of acting now in order to stabilise our planet Earth in a habitable condition.

The Climate Action Day is a worldwide movement of young people who are not indifferent to climate change and global injustice. Since 2012 young people in several countries of the world start concrete actions for climate protection before every UN-Climate Conference. United we are strong for climate protection!

Become part of this worldwide movement and and encourage young people to become involved.  Why should we leave it to the politicians to decide on the future of our planet Earth?