By Franciscan Sister Elise Saggau | Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls
On Sept. 1, 1989, the first day of the Orthodox church year, Patriarch Demitrios declared a day of prayer for creation. Soon thereafter, the World Council of Churches promoted a special annual season dedicated to creation. It would begin on September 1 and extend until October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, commonly acknowledged as the patron saint of ecology.
Since then, Christians around the world have honored this season annually. In 2015, Pope Francis, in keeping with his landmark encyclical “Laudato Si’,” directed that a World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation be celebrated on Sept. 1. Thereafter, this was to be observed annually in the Roman Catholic Church. It calls on “every person living on this planet” to care for our shared earth. In 2019, he promoted celebrating the entire Season of Creation as well.
This year, the theme for the Season of Creation is “Living Water.”
It is based on the vision of the prophet Ezekiel (47:9) wherein he sees water flowing from God’s sanctuary, becoming an ever-deepening river that rejuvenates the parched lands. This image not only emphasizes both spiritual reflection and ecological responsibility, but it also highlights how human well-being is interconnected to environmental health.
The Season of Creation is a privileged time for us to pay closer attention to the many ways, large and small, that we may be contributing to the damage of our ecological systems. It reminds us to be consciously aware of how we use things, how we may be wasting things, how we may be living in ways that contribute to ecological harm. It is also a time for us to recognize ever more clearly how we connect to the larger systems that sustain us and all human beings.
This year’s observance asks us particularly to examine our use of water. We must recognize how precious clean water is — how dependent we are on it for our lives. We must use it sparingly and not simply waste it as though there were an endless supply. St. Francis’s “Canticle of the Creatures” reminds us that “Sister Water is very useful and humble and precious and chaste” and thus to be used with great reverence and care. We must actively safeguard it and all created things. We are called to contribute to the renewal of creation and to environmental healing.
But the Season of Creation, above all, reminds us of our utter dependence on our Creator and on all the gifts of the earth that sustain us. Throughout this observance, let us, the members of the Diocese of St. Cloud, join the world’s 2.2 billion Christians in prayer and action for our common home.
At the time this publication went to press, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was awaiting confirmation from the Vatican of a new Mass setting for Care for Creation for use in the United States.
