Zero Hero: Liturgy for primary schools

Leader: God has given us the earth as our home. We share it with everyone. We are a family, and like every family we need to work together to look after our home. Let us begin our time of prayer by listening to some words from the very first story in the Bible.

Reader one: Then God planted a garden in Eden. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden. God took people and put them in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.

Leader: The Garden of Eden in this story represents the whole earth. The first thing God tells people to do is look after the earth, their home. We must listen to this and work together to carry on this command today.

Reader two: Pope Francis wrote a letter called Laudato Si’, addressed to everyone in the whole world, asking them to take care of our common home. He said “We can see signs that things are now reaching a breaking point” and the earth “cries out to us because of the harm we have done” because we haven’t used the earth’s resources wisely.

Reader three: Pope Francis reminds us that “each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost forever” and that most of these are because of things humans are doing. We are chopping down trees, making and throwing away too many things and polluting our rivers, oceans, land and air.

Reader four: We are already seeing more extreme weather like cyclones, flooding and long periods without rain around the world. People are already affected by climate change, but it’s not too late. We can make a difference if we act now.

Reader five: In his letter, Pope Francis also tells us that climate change affects everyone, but it affects the world’s poorest people most. He says that we must work together to protect the earth and look after everyone we share our planet with.

Leader: So, let us pause and think for a minute about our world.

If children have already written messages or drawn pictures on the Zero template, invite them to place them around the candle.

Alternatively, plan time after the reflection to write messages or draw pictures to show how we care for our common home.  

Think about a precious gift you have been given that is very important. How do you look after it and keep it safe?  Draw the kind of world you would want to leave for future generations.

How can we play our part to look after the world? In your Zero shape, write or draw a world you would like to see left for future generations, where everybody can share God’s wonderful world.

[Play some reflective music as the children lay their pictures down. Suggestion: What a Wonderful World]

Leader: Throughout his letter about taking care of the earth, Pope Francis quotes a special prayer written by St Francis of Assisi. St Francis is a great role model for us because he loved the earth and all its creatures, he called them his brothers and sisters. He also had a special care for people living in poverty. So, to finish, let us pray together using a prayer based on what St Francis said. After each prayer your response is “Hear our prayer”.

Reader five: We thank you Lord for the earth which is our home [pause] Help us to work together to protect the planet from harm [pause] Lord in your Mercy…Hear our prayer

Reader six: We thank you Lord for water which gives us life [pause] Help us to not to waste this precious resource [pause] Lord in your Mercy…Hear our prayer

Reader seven: We thank you Lord for all the plants and creatures you have given us [pause] Help us to not do anything which causes them harm [pause] Lord in your Mercy…Hear our prayer

Reader eight: We thank you Lord for all the people we share the world with [pause] Help us to work together to take care of each other and our home, so that no one suffers [pause] Lord in your Mercy…Hear our prayer

Leader: Let us pray:Creator God,Your world is a wonderful and beautiful place, full of variety, full of wonder, full of life.Teach us to care for the earth and help us to build a world that is filled with your goodness.Amen.