You commanded us to till and care for the garden of life.

And yet, we have trampled on the beauty of your creation

and neglected to keep your Word.

As we begin Mass today,

we seek God’s mercy and forgiveness for the times

that we have offended against the integrity of God’s creation.

And so, O God of Creation,

You have created land and trees, animals and all living creatures on the earth. We are destroying the forests through poisons and logging; the voices of the birds, insects and forest dwellers are silenced.  Lord, have mercy.

You created the ocean, the fish, shells, reefs, whales, waves, corals. Through the warming of the oceans and as they drown in plastic, their voices are being stilled. Christ, have mercy.

You created Mother Earth, our common home, who sustains us.  Human activities are causing the destruction of her delicate ecosystems as we contaminate the atmosphere with harmful emissions.  Lord, have mercy.

May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our ecological sins, and inspire us to care for our common home.  Amen