Forgiveness and Repentance

 As we continue celebrating the Season of Creation let us follow our gospel's theme of forgiveness this day as we pray...

Litany of repentance

God of light, life and love, God of land, and sea, and sky, Who called creation into existence and wove it into a rich tapestry, a fine mat, a web of life

Your Spirit hovered over the face of the primordial waters, and was breathed into humankind after You made us equally in Your image. Your Word was made flesh and embodied Your divine love as it took root and bore fruit in us, restoring our relationship with You.

Yet we have not honored this relationship with You and the rest of Your Creation. We have disrespected the web of life We have devalued the fine ecological mat that You wove with so much love. We have uprooted Your tree of life and sold it as logs. We have forgotten that we sweat and cry saltwater and have polluted Your oceans and rivers… oceans that cry for justice and rivers that call to righteousness.

Instead of everything that has breath praising You, all creation groans in pain as trees and phytoplankton choke on carbon belched from our desire for more, and our care for less. All around we see the consequences of our ecological sin as we extract and exploit, as we defile and pillage our sister and brother creation: Heatwaves and wildfires, bitter winters, droughts and floods, rising sea levels and rising ocean temperatures, more extreme cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes

Yet we are blind Creation roars in pain Yet we are deaf You call us in Christ, to speak truth to power and peace to this planet, our common home Yet we are silent.

God of hope and healing, May your Rivers of Righteousness Wash away our apathy, our greed and selfishness and reveal the deep relationships You created for us with all creation. Nourish us with the water of life that restores, turning deserts of despair into oases of hope.

May the waves of Your embrace Transform us back into guardians of Your creation. May the currents of Your justice Carry us to Your lagoon of peace Where all creation may enjoy Life in abundance

We pray in the name of the one who came so that the whole cosmos may have everlasting life, Jesus the Christ, Amen.

(Rev. James Shri Bhagwan, General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches)