The Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the environment, is an opportunity being taken by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Creation Sustainability Ministry for an ecumenical and interfaith prayer service for Creation.
The prayer service will take place via conference call on Tuesday, October 4 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time. “We’ve invited basically everyone. Anyone and everyone who is interested in Laudato Si’ and who wants to pray about the interconnectedness of Creation and the fact that any of our ministries really are related to the interconnectedness of all Creation,” said Allis Druffel, chairperson of the Creation Sustainability Ministry. Druffel is also the Southern California outreach director California Interfaith Power & Light.
The 30-minute service will use some of the words of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ encyclical on the ‘Care for our Common Home’, and also include some sacred phrases or prayers from other major traditions, according to Druffel.
“Part of this prayer service is to call people who are very active in creation ministries into conversation with God,” Druffel said. “It’s very inclusive and designed for all people just to take a break and understand this interconnectedness is with all of us and the work that we do is for the betterment of all of humanity,” she added.
The service will include two minutes for people to speak aloud intentions they have for action, something concrete they are going to do in the next month, or a prayer they wish to offer up, such as for people suffering the effects of extreme drought. “I just want them to just speak it aloud, and if people talk over one another it’s even greater because it's like we amplify our intentions to God,” Druffel said.
The hope is that the service becomes an ongoing online conference call prayer service, either monthly or bi-weekly. “It would be a short time for people to take a break from their day and get in touch with the foundation that provides the energy for ongoing ministries,” said Druffel.
Interested participants can click here to RSVP for the prayer service and receive a confirmation e-mail with phone-in instructions and preparation for the service.
