Prayer
Season of Creation Begins today.
Today, 1 September, marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, a special time in the Catholic Church and across the worldwide Christian community to give thanks for God’s gift of creation and renew our commitment to caring for our common home.
The season begins with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and continues until 4 October, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. It is a time for prayer, reflection and action as we recognise that caring for our environment is an important expression of our faith and our responsibility as stewards of God’s creation.
The theme for the 2026 Season of Creation is “Living Water”, inspired by Ezekiel 47:1–12. The image of life-giving water reminds us of the interconnectedness of all creation and calls us to work together to protect and restore the world God has entrusted to us.
Throughout this season, may we take time to notice the beauty of creation around us, give thanks to God our Creator, and consider how each of us can play a part in caring for our common home.
How Families Can Celebrate the Season of Creation at Home
Throughout the Season of Creation, we invite our families to take small steps to care for the world God has entrusted to us. Together, you might:
Spend time in nature and notice the beauty of God’s creation. Go for a family walk, visit a park or simply spend time in the garden.
Give thanks to God for creation by including a short prayer of gratitude at the dinner table.
Reduce, reuse and recycle by looking for ways to reduce waste in your home.
Plant something together, such as herbs, vegetables, flowers or a tree, and care for it as a family.
Save water and energy by taking shorter showers, turning off lights and switching off appliances when they are not being used.
Have a “creation-friendly” meal by using ingredients you already have and reducing food waste.
Take part in a family clean-up, collecting rubbish from your garden, local park or neighbourhood.
Learn about an animal or part of nature and reflect on the wonderful diversity of God’s creation.
Choose one family action that you can continue beyond the Season of Creation to help care for our common home.
Every small action can make a difference. As the late Pope Francis reminds us, we are called to care for our common home and to recognise that we are all connected to one another and to the world God has created.
Let us Pray,
Living Water
Holy God, whose Spirit hovered over the waters at the beginning, we gather as part of your community of all creation, thirsty for your grace. We give thanks for the gift of water, the veins of our common home, that sustains the cedar and the whale, the pasture and the city. We are grateful for the local waters that nourish our homelands and our fellow creatures. We give thanks that in your well-watered garden, every drop is a sacred testament to your love.
Yet, we confess that we have treated this gift as a mere commodity. We have choked the seas with our waste and watched the warming tides rise in judgment. We lament the cracked earth of the drought-stricken and the salty tears of the climate refugee. Melt our frozen hearts, O God, and let the waters of repentance flow.
Lord of all Life, you promised that wherever the river flows, everything shall live. Stir in us a calling to care for the waters — to protect the watershed, defend the rights of water, and honor the dignity of the thirsty. May your Word be a spring within us, gushing forth for the healing of the nations.
May God our Father who brought water from the rock sustain us in the desert. May Christ our Lord who is Living Water refresh us for the work of restoration. And may the Holy Spirit carry us on currents of grace until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amen.