Don't pray to the Rain God - pray to the God of Rain says Archbishop!

Via the CNS Hub, no less than Abp. Wilton Gregory dusts off his Sacramentary:

The Sacramentary contains an official prayer asking God for rain, and I doubt that any priest in the Archdiocese of Atlanta has ever used this prayer before—I know that I have not used it in my 34 years of Priesthood. Now seems to be a good time to turn to the heritage of Faith that belongs to the Church and to offer the Mass prayers beseeching God Himself to send the rain that we all so desperately need.

I therefore ask each priest to consider offering the Mass text that is found in the Sacramentary under “Masses for Various Needs and Occasions” #35 for Rain during the course of the next few weeks to beg the Lord of all creation to send us the rain that we need. This Mass may be offered on any day that does not have an assigned feast.

I invite all Catholics to include in your personal prayers an intention for rain so that the earth that we are entrusted with will be spared even greater damage. Parishes may also include petitions in the prayer of the faithful asking for an end to the drought that has caused all of us not only inconvenience, but even more importantly a reason to turn humbly to the Lord who created the heavens and the earth for the help that His love and providence can provide for us all.

Georgia and other parts of the south are undergoing a severe drought right now.

An interesting related issue is that the Endangered Species Act is hurting the water supply for humans:

[Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue] also sent a letter to President George Bush seeking a temporary exemption from the Endangered Species Act to reduce water flows from the state. The day before, the state asked a federal judge to immediately force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to curb releases of water from federal reservoirs.

Georgia contends humans need the water more than the federally protected mussels and spawning sturgeon downstream that benefit from the water drawn from Lake Lanier. The corps estimates there's enough water to last about 110 days if the drought holds, before reaching the murky water at the bottom that's more expensive to treat.

Sorry mussels and surgeon - first things first.