During this season we are encouraged to pray and engage in community events in order to deepen our relationship with our God, our neighbour and the earth we share.
The Season of Creation is an annual celebration uniting Christians in prayer and action for the protection of our common home. The idea of celebrating 1 September as a day of prayer for creation began at the wish of the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios in 1989, and was endorsed by Pope Francis in 2015. The season runs from September 1 to October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
During this season we are encouraged to pray and engage in community events in order to deepen our relationship with our God, our neighbour and the earth we share, being ever more attentive to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
In the letter of Paul the apostle to the Romans, the biblical image pictures the Earth as a Mother, groaning as in childbirth (Rom 8:22). Francis of Assisi understood this when he referred to the Earth as our sister and our mother in his Canticle of Creatures. The times we live in show that we are not relating to the Earth as a gift from our Creator, but rather as a resource to be used.
And yet, there is hope and the expectation for a better future. To hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet, but rather groaning, crying, and actively striving for new life amidst the struggles. Just as in childbirth, we go through a period of intense pain, but new life springs forth.
The theme for the Season of Creation 2024 is ‘To hope and act with Creation’ inspired by The firstfruits of hope (Rom 8:19-25).
Hope is an instrument enabling us to overcome the natural law of decay. Hope is given to us by God as a protection and guard against futility. Only through hope we may realise the gift of freedom in fullness. 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.
To delve deeper into the theological reflection that guides the 2024 theme and symbol, find more information here.
During the Season of Creation, please consider using the following:
Advocacy resources for the Season of Creation
This year the Season of Creation encourages the Christian family to act together by engaging with the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT). FFNPT is an initiative to help catalyse the phase-out of fossil fuels while ensuring a just global transition for workers, communities, and countries. These activity guidelines provide you and your community with tools to understand better FFNPT and how you can take action. It includes an overview of FFNPT with key talking points and action ideas and resources for taking action.
Liturgical Resources
Ideas on how to celebrate this year’s Season of Creation and context about the feast.
Community Invitation Poster
Download this year’s invitation poster to share with your community.
Laudato Si Action Platform
Take concrete actions in the care of our common home. The Laudato Si´ Action Platform offers the Church tools and resources for the journey towards total sustainability in the spirit of integral ecology.
Christian Aid resources for youth engagement: Letters for creation
When we think of campaigning it’s all too common to imagine marches, lobbies and petitions, but Letters for Creation is different. This resource produced by Christian Aid will work different muscles, flexing your church’s creativity in pursuit of making change.
God’s Creation Waits: Children’s Resources for the Season of Creation
Discovering and enjoying God’s creation may be the best gift we can give the generations to come.
Here you will find many ways to help children notice and continue to observe and care for God’s
gift to us. Together, speak to the earth and watch for its teachings!
Event that promotes greener practices in our parishes.
