Secular Franciscan Order – USA �(OFS-USA)
Slides for
Ongoing Formation Packet:
Sister Water
VERSION A
7/25/26
A Call to Be God’s Hands and Feet (Today We Rejoice)
Leader: We rejoice in the abundance of your creation, the lavish generosity of water flowing in dry places, the green plants that spring up out of the ground for food.
People: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Leader: We rejoice in the gift of your son, Jesus, whom you anointed to bring good news to those living in poverty, release to the captives, and sight to those who are blind.
People: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
A Call to Be God’s Hands and Feet (cont.)
Leader: We rejoice in the coming of your Holy Spirit, who guides us, inspires us, and makes us restless while there is hunger, thirst, exploitation, or environmental degradation in your world.
People: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Leader: We have hope today because of your promises that hunger and thirst will be no more, and that your banquet table has room for all.
People: We look to the day when all will be fed.
A Call to Be God’s Hands and Feet (cont.)
Leader: We have hope today because Jesus taught us a new way to love and serve one another, including all creatures.
People: We look to the day when all will be fed.
Leader: We have hope today because of those whose faithful persistence has delivered change.
People: We look to the day when all will be fed.
A Call to Be God’s Hands and Feet (cont.)
Leader: Gracious God, who called the prophets to act in your name, and equipped them to deliver your message of justice,
People: May we be your hands and feet on earth.
Leader: Gracious God, whose spirit inspires your people in every generation to live out the Gospel in our own time,
People: May we be your hands and feet on earth.
Leader: Today we rejoice. We hope. We act. We advocate. And we dedicate ourselves and everything we do to you, God of all.
All: Amen.
Adapted from Bread for the World Sunday Reflection Resource, 2009 with changes. Used with permission. www.bread.org
Context for Integrity of Creation – Sister Water
An Image and Some Quotations
Painting by Sr. Kay Francis Berger, OSF, Used with permission of Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate, Joliet, IL.
The Rule - Article 18
“Moreover they should respect all creatures, animate and inanimate, which “bear the imprint of the Most High”, and they should strive to move from the temptation of exploiting creation to the Franciscan concept of universal kinship.”
General Constitutions, Article 18
“Following the example of Francis, patron of ecologists, they should actively put forward initiatives that care for creation and should work with others in efforts that both put a stop to polluting and degrading nature and also establish circumstances of living and environment which would not be a threat to the human person.”
Canticle of Creation
“Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing,�To You alone, Most High, do they belong,�and no human is worthy to mention Your name...
�Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,�who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.”
Laudato Si, 30
“Access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights. Our world has a grave social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water, because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity.”
Seven Sectors of Catholic Response to Laudato Si
Brief Review of the Water Cycle
Source: The Natural Water Cycle (JPG) | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov) (public domain)
Type 1
Source: The Water Cycle | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov) (public domain)
Type 2
Discussion: Childhood Memories of Water
Discussion: How Do We See Water in Our Faith Life?
Meditation on Water
Note: alternate version available in stand-alone PowerPoint.
Let’s begin by quieting ourselves, allowing the Holy Trinity to influence our minds and hearts.
“Now bring to mind the element of water in our blue-green planet home; the great oceans that cover two-thirds of its surface, the streams and rivers and lakes. (pause)
Picture, too, the huge glaciers and snow-capped mountains that hold our water in reserve for us, releasing it slowly over time for the use of all living beings, and the ice caps that cool our poles and play such a key role in the circulation of air and water throughout our planet.” (pause)
Meditation on Water (cont.)
“Give thanks for the water cycle that draws all this water into our atmosphere, circulating the water across the world, bringing the cleansing rains that feed all of life. (pause)
We take in this water: It composes 70 percent of our bodies and is contained in each and every cell and in our blood and our tears.” (pause)
Meditation on Water (cont.)
Those who lived with Francis tell of him reverencing water by choosing to wash his hands “where the water would not be trampled underfoot after washing.” (pause)
With Francis, we marvel at the wonder of water and honor the lifeblood of our bodies and our bounteous earth.”
Source: Excerpt from Guided Meditation: Coming Home to the Incarnation in Creation found in Care for Creation (A Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth), by Ilia Delio, OSF, Keith Douglas Warner, OFM, Pamela Wood, Franciscan Media, 2008, pages 58-59. Permission granted by Orbis Books. Reprint pending in Fall 2027 by Orbis Books. Spacing and pauses added for visual ease and flow.
Create Rapid List of Water Problems
Simple Actions to Honor Sister Water
A Call to Be God’s Hands and Feet (Today We Rejoice)
Leader: We rejoice in the abundance of your creation, the lavish generosity of water flowing in dry places, the green plants that spring up out of the ground for food.
People: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Leader: We rejoice in the gift of your son, Jesus, whom you anointed to bring good news to those living in poverty, release to the captives, and sight to those who are blind.
People: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
A Call to Be God’s Hands and Feet (cont.)
Leader: We rejoice in the coming of your Holy Spirit, who guides us, inspires us, and makes us restless while there is hunger, thirst, exploitation, or environmental degradation in your world.
People: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Leader: We have hope today because of your promises that hunger and thirst will be no more, and that your banquet table has room for all.
People: We look to the day when all will be fed.
A Call to Be God’s Hands and Feet (cont.)
Leader: We have hope today because Jesus taught us a new way to love and serve one another, including all creatures.
People: We look to the day when all will be fed.
Leader: We have hope today because of those whose faithful persistence has delivered change.
People: We look to the day when all will be fed.
A Call to Be God’s Hands and Feet (cont.)
Leader: Gracious God, who called the prophets to act in your name, and equipped them to deliver your message of justice,
People: May we be your hands and feet on earth.
Leader: Gracious God, whose spirit inspires your people in every generation to live out the Gospel in our own time,
People: May we be your hands and feet on earth.
Leader: Today we rejoice. We hope. We act. We advocate. And we dedicate ourselves and everything we do to you, God of all.
All: Amen.
Adapted from Bread for the World Sunday Reflection Resource, 2009 with changes. Used with permission. www.bread.org
Source: Ordo Fratrum Minorum (Home - Frati Francescani): https://ofm.org/uploads/Cantico_EN.pdf
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory and the honor and all blessing.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no human is worthy to mention your Name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars in heaven
You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather, through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love, and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility.