Pray with Nature: Grow closer to Creator God and Hear the Cry of His Creation

In November last year, schools and community groups across the diocese joined the Laudato Si’ Centre in its #hearthecry campaign to send a powerful message to world leaders at COP27.

This Lent, the centre is continuing its campaign by inviting people across the The Diocese of Salford to use the Lenten theme of prayer to draw ever closer to Creator God and to hear and understand the cry of the earth.

Each day throughout Lent, our centre’s social media channels will post a line of scripture that will help us to reflect on the beauty of creation, alongside a photo of nature taken from a location in our diocese, or across England and Wales.

Dr Emma Gardner from the Laudato Si’ Centre said: “Lent is a season of prayer and reflection, so what better time to take a step back and admire and consider the beautiful world around us?

“From the story of creation itself, to the poetic beauty of the psalms, as well as Christ’s striking imagery in his teachings and parables, nature is an ever-present theme running throughout scripture.

“This Lent, we want to use some of these examples to help us meditate and reflect on the precious gift of creation and the responsibility we have as stewards of the earth.

“Whether you live out in the countryside or in more urban areas, there is so much natural beauty around us and we want to capture this variety in our new Lent campaign.”

During the Lenten season, we are asking you to help us by sending in your favourite photos of nature, whether it’s a raindrop falling into a puddle on the city streets, or breathtaking views from more rural areas.

We will then combine these with excerpts from scripture to help focus our minds on the gift of creation and our faith-based call as Christians to hear the cry of the earth and to respond with positive action.

Whether you’re a school, parish, community group, family, or individual, we would love to hear from you! Simply email photos to communications@dioceseofsalford.org.uk with details of where the photo has been taken.

Thank you for joining us in our Lenten campaign and we can’t wait to see your wonderful photos!