Accessibility tools from ReciteMe
Menu
HomeNewsThe Season of Creation: 1 September – 4 October 2022

The Season of Creation: 1 September – 4 October 2022

August 9 2022

The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration to listen and respond together to the cry of Creation: the ecumenical family around the world unites to pray and protect our common home.

The unprecedented early release of Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation can be viewed here.

The Season begins on 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations. Learn more from this video.

What is the Season of Creation 2022?

Watch Video

This year we will unite around the theme, “Listen to the Voice of Creation.”

The Psalmist declares, “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge…their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the Earth, and their words to the end of the world.” (Psalm 19: 1-4)

During the Season of Creation, our common prayer and action can help us listen for the voices of those who are silenced. In prayer we lament the individuals, communities, species, and ecosystems who are lost, and those whose livelihoods are threatened by habitat loss and climate change. In prayer we centre the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.

May this 2022 Season of Creation renew our ecumenical unity, renewing and uniting us by our bond of Peace in one Spirit, in our call to care for our common home. And may this season of prayer and action be a time to Listen to the Voice of Creation, so that our lives in words and deeds proclaim good news for all the Earth.

This year’s global celebration is especially vital as the climate emergency and ecological crisis continue to wreak havoc on God’s creation and the most vulnerable. The Christian community is uniting around the theme, “Listen to the Voice of Creation.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many around the world have become familiar with the concept of being muted in conversations. With respect to the climate crisis, too many voices are also silenced, including the voices of scientists, biodiversity experts, and those who suffer the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

In order to listen to the voice of creation, we must first contemplate the beauty of God’s creation, said Father Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, coordinator of the Sector of Ecology and Creation at the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

“Creation speaks to us eloquently of the glory of God but we fail to contemplate, to listen. The root cause is probably we don’t have the right attitude,” he said. “That is the basic perspective we need to recover. Recover creation as a temple… as a holy place.”

The symbol is the burning bush.

Today, the prevalence of fires is a sign of the devastating effects that climate change has on the most vulnerable of our planet. By contrast, the fire that called to Moses did not consume or destroy the bush. This was a flame of the Spirit that revealed God’s life sustaining presence. Moses was told to remove his sandals, for he was standing on holy ground in God’s presence. May this symbol move us to remove the “sandals” of our unsustainable lifestyles that disconnect us from creation and our Creator, contemplate our connection to the holy ground where we live, and listen for the voice of creation.

It’s time to listen to the cry of the earth.

It's time to listen to the cry of the earth... #SeasonofCreation

Watch Video

Celebrating the Season of Creation (General Resource)

Liturgical resources for each Sunday during the Season of Creation are available here. There are also event checklists to help plan ecumenical prayer services and guidance on getting involved in advocacy. Please visit the Season of Creation website and look at the resources available including the SoC Creation Guide.

Season of Creation

Visit Website

Suggestions for Parishes

  • Hold a prayer service to celebrate creation (a suggested format is available from here);
  • Include environmental prayers at Masses during September (suggested prayers are available to download here);
  • Include the Season of Creation prayer in the Parish bulletin (download here);
  • Organise a prayer walk to celebrate nature in your community;
  • Organise a community litter pick;
  • Allow a section of the Parish gardens to go wild and support nature;
  • Create a pledge tree and invite parishioners to make pledges to live more sustainably;
  • Write to your MP expressing concerns about the lack of Government action on climate change and restoring nature (download the SoC Creation Guide for ideas);

Suggestions for Families and Parishioners

  • Start a conversation about the climate crisis and agree on some actions to live more sustainably;
  • Make a pledge or pledges to live more sustainability and display them on your fridge door as a reminder;
  • Participate in the Earth Examen;
  • Calculate your carbon footprint and identify ways it could be reduced;
  • Ideas for living more sustainably.

Want to go further

Celebrating the Season of Creation (Music Resource)

Frances Simmons has kindly shared a list of music for the Season of Creation. She says,

“This is a world-wide, ecumenical event which is intended to give thanks for God’s creation and to raise awareness of the issues that humankind is causing the future of creation.

Being ecumenical means that often suggested music is unfamiliar to Catholics and, in many cases, is not in our hymn books.

So to try to remedy this I have put together a compilation of hymns that are either in Celebration for Everyone or Laudate (or both) and which are relevant to the season…”

Click here to access the full list of suggested music.

Pray, organise, celebrate, act!

The Diocesan Environment Group are keen to know of events and actions which are taking place in Parishes to celebrate the Season of Creation – please send brief details if you are willing to share details to Chris Myers by email: chrisj.myers57@gmail.com.