What is the Season of Creation?
Every year since 2015, the Vatican has called on Catholics to recognize September 1 through October 4 (Feast of St. Francis) as the Season of Creation.
The Season of Creation is a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together. During the Season of Creation, we join our sisters and brothers in the ecumenical family in prayer and action for our common home.
Pope Francis made the Roman Catholic Church’s warm welcoming of the season official in 2015. The Season of Creation begins on September 1, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations. Throughout the month-long celebration, we come together in an annual ecumenical celebration of prayer and action for our common home.
What does our Catholic faith tell us about Creation?
Caring for creation is living out our Catholic faith. The Church, following the teachings of Jesus, throughout time has exhorted believers to work for the common good, which calls for dignifying life in all its forms, caring for our common home, and committing to the construction of more just, supportive, fraternal and peaceful societies. These are some ways to achieve what Pope Francis calls integral ecology in his teaching letter, the Encyclical Laudato Si (2015).
Often, when we speak of creation, it is related to nature, animals, landscapes, the sun, the moon, but we are also aware that the human being is the culmination of our Creator’s creative work, “God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good.” (Gen 1:31), the Sacred Scripture states. As Pope Francis wrote in Laudato Si’, “‘Everyone’s talents and involvement are needed to redress the damage caused by human abuse of God’s creation’. All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and talents.” (LS 14).
World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
In his message to the global Catholic community declaring September 1 the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis reminds us that Christian life is rooted in faith, charity, and hope. In these troubling times, how can we bear witness to hope? “Surely by caring for the flesh of suffering humanity. As people who dare to dream, we must dream with our eyes wide open, impelled by a desire for love, fraternity, friendship and justice for all. Christian salvation enters into the depths of the world’s suffering, which embraces not only humanity but also the entire universe, nature itself, and the oikos, the home and living environment of humanity. Salvation embraces creation as an “earthly paradise,” mother earth, which is meant to be a place of joy and a promise of happiness for all. Our Christian optimism is founded on a living hope.
What is the theme of the 2024 Season of Creation?
To Hope and Action with Creation is the theme of the 2024 Season of Creation. Hope is given to us by God as a protection and guard against futility. Only through hope we may realize the gift of freedom in fullness. This is freedom to act not only to achieve enjoyment and prosperity but to reach the stage in which we are free and responsible. Freedom and responsibility enable us to make the world a better place. Only when we work together with Creation can the firstfruits of hope emerge.
In his message to the global Catholic community declaring September 1 the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis describes hope as “patient expectation, like that of Abraham.” The Holy Father continues: “…hope can be seen as the possibility of remaining steadfast amid adversity, of not losing heart in times of tribulation or in the face of human evil. Christian hope does not disappoint, nor does it deceive. The groaning of creation, of Christians and of the Spirit is the anticipation and expectation of a salvation already at work….Hope, then, is an alternative reading of history and human affairs. It is not illusory, but realistic, with the realism of a faith that sees what is unseen.”
Hope is not merely optimism. It is not a utopian illusion. It is not waiting for a magical miracle. Hope is trust that our action makes sense, even if the results of this action are not immediately seen (cf. Romans 8:24). Hope doesn’t act alone. In his letter to the Romans, Paul the apostle explains the close relationship of hope as a growth process: “endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:4). Patience and endurance are close associates of hope. These are qualities that lead to hope. [source: https://seasonofcreation.org/ ]
What prayer can my family recite daily to reflect on the Season of Creation?
Triune God, Creator of all,
We praise You for Your goodness, visible in all the diversity that You have created, making us a cosmic family living in a common home. Through the Earth You created, we experience love and nourishment, home and protection.
We confess that we do not relate to the Earth as a mothering gift from You, our Creator. Our selfishness, greed, neglect, and abuse have caused the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, human suffering as well as the suffering of all our fellow creatures.
We confess that we have failed to listen to the groans of the Earth, the groans of all creatures, and the groans of the Spirit of hope and justice that lives within us.
May Your Creator Spirit help us in our weakness, so that we may know the redeeming power of Christ and the hope found in Him. May the groans of the Spirit birth in us a willingness to serve You faithfully, so that we may hear and heal Creation, to hope and act together with her, so that the firstfruits of hope may blossom.
Loving and Creator God, we pray that You will make us sensitive to these groans and enable us to have the same compassion as that of Jesus, the redeeming Lord. Grant us a fresh vision of our relationship with Earth, and with one another, as creatures that are made in Your image.
In the name of the one who came to proclaim the good news to all Creation, Jesus Christ. Amen. (source https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/resources/season-of-creation-2024/)
How can we reflect each week on the Season of Creation?
Catholic Climate Covenant has designed a program booklet to help Catholic communities celebrate the Season of Creation and the Feast of St. Francis on October 4. We are invited to become instruments of God’s peace—committing to climate actions as a way to avoid climate despair and sow climate hope.
Each week, we can read the Sunday scriptures through a lens of care for God’s creation. How do we hear all of creation groaning? How can we exercise hope in a biblical context, i.e., lamenting and crying over the destruction to our Earth, but at the same time actively striving for new life amidst the struggles. Our planet and its creatures (including our fellow human beings) are going through a period of intense pain. But our active hope can bring forth new life.
Here are the Sunday readings during the Season of Creation. Click the link on each date for the full readings from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. For further reflection, see the Season of
Creation 2024 Catholic Liturgical Guide, with reflections on the readings, general Intercessions, petitions, final blessings, and music suggestions, which are co-authored by Fr. James E. Hug, S.J. (Sacramental Minister for the Adrian Dominican Sisters) and Amy Woolam Echeverria (Coordinator of International Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation for Columban Missionaries).
- SUN SEP 1 – Deuteronomy 4: 1-8, Ps 15: 2-5, James 1: 17-27, Mark 7: 1-23
Petition: On this World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, we pray that our hope and action in caring for God’s creation will increase. - SUN SEP 8 – Isaiah 35: 4-7, Ps 146: 6-10, James 2: 1-5, Mark 7: 31-37
Petition: During this Season of Creation, we pray for the poor of our world, and particularly the poor of Cleveland, that we may work collectively to make safe and healthy environments for them. - SUN SEP 15 – Isaiah 50: 4-9, Ps 116: 1-0, James 2: 14-18, Mark 8: 27-35
Petition: During this Season of Creation, we pray for ever-deepening trust in the faithful presence and loving work of God in us, among us, and through us to respond effectively to the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor. - SUN SEP 22 – Wisdom 2: 12-20, Ps 54: 3-8, James 3: 16 thru 4: 3, Mark 9: 30-37
Petition: During this Season of Creation, may we take up our prophetic responsibilities in this time of urgent climate crisis to speak God’s truth with courage, calling each other into ways of living on Earth wisely, sustainably, justly, and reverently. - SUN SEP 29 – Numbers 11: 25-29, Ps 19: 8-14, James 5: 1-6, Mark 9: 38-48
Petition: During this Season of Creation, we pray for the success of the work of interfaith communities to promote global unity and restore Earth as a nurturing home for all its inhabitants.
Additional-Fortress Press has made available online Bible studies for the Season of Creation.
How can Catholics participate in the Season of Creation?
Individuals and communities are invited to participate through prayer, sustainability projects and advocacy.
Prayer: Host an ecumenical prayer gathering that unites all Christians for the care of our common home. One option is to host an interactive Feast of St. Francis program, found annually at catholicclimatecovenant.org
Sustainability: Lead a cleanup or carbon-reduction project that helps all of creation thrive (such as improving energy efficiency).
Advocacy: Raise your voice for climate justice by participating in or leading an ongoing campaign that supports our common home. Learn how Catholics are heeding the Vatican’s call to support the international Fossil Fuels Non-Proliferation Treaty: https://fossilfueltreaty.org/faith-letter . [Source: https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/what_is_SoC.pdf ]
Make each day count.
See this slide show with practical, easy things you can do each day during the Season of Creation
(prepared by the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Committee on Care for Mother Earth).
Consider taking on some of these daily actions:
- -drink fair trade, organic tea and coffee
- -reuse items before you trash or recycle them
- -eat vegetarian meals at least twice a week
- -eliminate disposable plates and utensils
- -turn off the air conditioning; open a window!
- -replace paper towels with reusable cloth rags
- -refuse to use single-use disposable plastic water bottles
- -learn about plant and animal species losing their habitats because of climate change
- -learn how climate change is impacting fishers and farmers
- -learn how human trafficking networks are exploiting the climate refugee crisis
- -become inspired by the story of St Francis of Assisi, who lived in simplicity and in harmony with God,
- with nature, with others, and with himself. Pope Francis tells us: “He shows us just how inseparable
- the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior
- peace.” [Laudato Si’ 2015]
How can Catholics pledge to Care for God’s Creation?
The US Catholic Bishops offer this sample prayer/pledge:
Pledge of Commitment to Protect and Heal God’s Creation
We have come to renew our covenant with God and with one another in Christ Jesus, our Lord.We have come to help protect God’s creation.
We have come as followers of Jesus to commit ourselves anew to one another and to heal injustice and poverty.
We have come to stand together against all threats to life.
We have come to discover some new beauty every day in God’s creation: the sunrise and sunset, birds, flowers and trees, rainbows in the sky, the stars, the many forms of life in the forest.
We have come to listen to the “music of the universe”—water flowing over rocks, the wind, trees bending in the wind, raindrops pattering the roof.
We will remember always that God speaks to us through the beauty of his creation, and we will try our best to answer God’s call to reverence all that he has created.
– From Prayers on the Care of Creation, USCCB
[source: https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/what_is_SoC.pdf ]
What more can Catholics do?
Take the Laudato Si’ Action Pledge.
In Laudate Deum, Pope Francis calls “all people of good will” to take action on the climate crisis and “move beyond the mentality of appearing to be concerned but not having the courage needed to produce substantial changes” (LD 56). He particularly calls on us in the United States to make personal changes to our consumerist lifestyles, reduce our fossil fuel use, and to also advocate for systemic actions to address the climate crisis. Join with U.S. Catholics responding to the climate crisis with faith, advocacy, climate action, and education. The Laudato Si’ Pledge is a global campaign by the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) . Read it HERE.