To “Hope and Act with Creation” is the theme chosen by Pope Francis for this year’s World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which is celebrated every Sept. 1. Also beginning on Sept. 1 is the Season of Creation 2024, the ecumenical celebration held each year from Sept. 1, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to October 4th, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The Season of Creation Ecumenical Steering Committee has developed its annual guide to provide resources and ideas of how the faithful can participate in this year’s Season of Creation. Some of those ideas are:
- For an offering, ask children and adults to gather symbols from nature and take them to the holy table. These symbols can represent the “fruit of the earth and work of human hands,” alongside the bread and wine and serve as a reminder of the voices of all Creation that join in the feast.
- In light of this year’s theme, see how you might intentionally include the needs and participation of groups and individuals in your community that work with social justice, peacebuilding, or on issues that acknowledge the need for joint collective action in a healthy relationship with Earth.
- Invite the children and youth of your community to create a small model or a drawing or a painting of a seed and all the Earth’s creatures that are needed to make it grow and blossom: water, soil, pollinators, work of human hands.
- Find out which native trees and plants are easy to grow and beneficial in your zip code by checking the California Native Plant Society’s website www.calscape.org. Add a few of the plants to your parish landscape or provide their seeds and seedlings to your congregation. You can incorporate this activity to the end of a prayer service and offer a reflection on how we are all called to bear the first fruits of hope. Commit to checking on how these seeds and plants have grown at next year’s Season of Creation.
- This year the Season of Creation encourages parishes and faith groups to engage with the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT). The Treaty brings together nations, civil society, and faith groups to reduce fossil fuel use. Sept. 21 is scheduled as the Global Day of Action for individuals, communities, organizations, and all levels of government to endorse the Treaty. All signatures will be used to influence decision-makers at the next UN conference on climate change, COP29, scheduled for November 2024 in Azerbaijan.
“To Hope and Act with Creation”
In his original invitation to the Season of Creation, issued in 2019, Pope Francis asked Catholics across the world to participate in the annual event by increasing our prayers and efforts on behalf of our Common Home.
The Holy Father offered three ways each of us can help improve the lives of all who dwell on earth – prayer, lifestyle choices, and advocacy.
Beginning with prayer, the pontiff asked that we allow ourselves to be “inspired anew” by closeness to nature, reminding us that from the beginning, God’s gaze rested lovingly on His Creation. “From habitable land to life-giving waters, from fruit-bearing trees to animals that share our common home, everything is dear in the eyes of God.” The Holy Father reminds us of the words of Saint Bonaventure, who said that “marveling at Creation’s order, variety and beauty can help us to love and praise its Creator.” (The Breviloquium, II, 5, 11)
In this year’s message for the first day of the Season, the Pope speaks especially about hope. Acknowledging the troubles that we face, including wars, natural disasters and environmental degradation, Francis reminds us that the Holy Spirit is with us, accompanying us at every moment of our lives, and “guiding us on the path of charity.”
In our area of California, we’re not strangers to disaster, struggle and tribulation. We’re also not strangers to the beauty and possibilities offered by God. One of the themes Pope Francis speaks of frequently is that the way we respond both to the tribulations and to the possibilities matters. Each of our actions matter. Each of us matters.
“Hope, then, 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 life of a Christian, then, is one of faith, active in charity and abounding in hope, as we await the Lord’s return in glory.”
For reflection:
• How does God’s Creation speak to me of hope?
• None of us can do everything, but we can all do something. Are there actions I can take to care for Creation, and build a culture of hope and life?