Lament for species at risk

This month of November can be a melancholy month - darker days, moodier skies, fallen leaves, and days like All Saints Day, Remembrance Day, and Eternity Sunday that all point us toward facing our losses and making space for lament. A lot of us feel grief over the amount of climate-related damage is being inflicted on the earth. Our November worship gathering created space to acknowledge our grief, to name species at risk, and to turn to God for hope in the ritual of communion.

Litany of Lament
Christ, our Wounded Healer, who suffers the pains of creation, we bring to you our prayers of lament for the Earth. In your mercy, receive our prayers as we name the species of our province that are threatened, endangered or extirpated:
    Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison
Christ, our Wounded Healer, who suffers the pains of creation, we bring before you our laments as we name other environmental concerns we carry:
     Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison
Christ, our Wounded Healer, who suffers the pains of creation, we hold before you other griefs and laments that are on our hearts today:
    Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison
Christ, our Wounded Healer, who suffers the pains of creation, Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, have mercy on us. In your kindness and love, you have entrusted us as caretakers for your Creation, to live as your image-bearers in a world you created for your delight. We confess that we have turned from your will, often abusing the natural world for greedy and short-sighted purposes. Now we are facing global climate disruption and other ecological crises as a result of our rebellion. Forgive us of our sins, and the sins of our society, and our failure to care for what you created for good. In your mercy, lead us to repentance, compassion, and life. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

I have set before you life and death . . . therefore choose life. (Deuteronomy 30:19)

​Partial list of species who are threatened, endangered, or extirpated in the province of Ontario:
Eastern Tiger Salamander, Extirpated
Fowlers Toad, Endangered
Barn Owl, Endangered
Golden Eagle, Endangered
Greater Prairie Chicken, Extirpated
Lake Sturgeon, Endangered
Paddlefish, Extirpated
Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee, Endangered
Karner Blue Moth, Extirpated
Mountain Lion (Cougar), Endangered
American Badger, Endangered
American Chestnut, Endangered
Small White Lady’s Slipper, Endangered
Spring Blue-Eyed Mary Extirpated
Four-Leaved Milkweed, Endangered
Blue Racer Snake, Endangered
Eastern Box Turtle, Extirpated
Spotted Turtle, Endangered
Timber Rattlesnake, Extirpated
Incurved Grizzled Moss, Extirpated
Pale-Bellied Frost Lichen, Endangered
Piping Plover, Endangered
Grey Fox,Threatened
Butternut Tree, Endangered
Eastern Flowering Dogwood, Endangered
Red Mullberry, Endangered
Common Five-Lined Skink, Endangered
Algonquin Wolf, Threatened
Eastern Persius Duskywing Moth, Extirpated
Northern Bobwhite, Endangered
and more...

- Wendy Janzen
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