The Season of Creation begins on 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation, and runs through to the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, 4 October. It is a time for us to focus on God’s gift of creation and to re-commit ourselves to care for this precious gift.
The Season of Creation is an ecumenical celebration and this year’s theme is Let Justice and Peace Flow.
A celebration guide is now available on the Season of Creation website:
www.seasonofcreation.org/
Pope Francis has also issued his message for this year’s World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation. In his powerful message, he observes that our heartbeats are not in harmony with the heartbeats of our mothers and grandmothers, the heartbeat of our mother earth, and with the heartbeat of God. The Pope invites us to stand with those who live with climate and environmental justice and to stop the war, as he puts it, against creation itself. This is the only way to bring our heartbeats together into a universal harmony.
The Holy Father calls us to commit ourselves to an all-embracing transformation – a transformation of our hearts, a transformation of our personal lifestyles, and a transformation in public policy.
He also reminds us that the next chapter in the Church’s synodal journey will begin at the conclusion of the Season of Creation. He hopes that this synodal journey will foster deeper communion enriched by greater dialogue.
The full message can be found at:
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2023/documents/20230513-messaggio-giornata-curacreato.html
The Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace will issue Season of Creation resources to help you to participate in this journey of renewal. Look for more information about this in our July bulletin.