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Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate  United States Province

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2026 Season of Creation Reflection #5 September 23rd, 2026

2026 Season of Creation

(Reflections by Maurice Lange, Justice & Peace Director at Presentation Sisters & founder of the Oblate Ecological Initiative)
 
We continue with our Reflections for this Season on Pope Leo’s latest letter and its theme: .
 
“They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” — (Isaiah 2:4)
 
REFLECTION #5: What leads to human conflict and exploitation of Creation? Along with hearts needing to be renewed, Pope Leo points to “an ethical and cultural crisis, including the loss of a sense of limits…”
Thomas Berry further claims that (western) humans rage against Earth’s limitations.*
Allow the claims from Pope Leo & Thomas Berry to sink in……
 
Such loss + rage is on clear display in our misguided consumer demands. The current Administration as well as big tech mince no words in their rage against limitations.
 
ACTION: : Earth’s limitations – from the length of the seasons to the carrying capacity of landscapes – can actually evoke our nobility as humans. Living with a sense of place, living humbly and living in relationship with Earth make us grateful for Earth’s dynamic of generosity – which we partake in with every breath.
 
“The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations.”
(Laudato Si #66)
 
FULL REFLECTION: https://bit.ly/3VKNVnK
 
Visit the Presentation Sisters, US Province’s WEBSITE: https://pbvmunion.org/…/laudato-si-action-platform…/
 

 


2026 Season of Creation: Immersed in Living Water September 11th, 2026

(By Maurice Lange, Justice & Peace Director at Presentation Sisters & founder of the Oblate Ecological Initiative)

The world is celebrating the Season of Creation, that runs from September 1 to October 4. It is a time to pray, reflect, and take action for the gift of our common home.
 
This year’s theme, “Living Water,” is based on Ezekiel 47:9,12, which invites Christians to recognize water as a source of life and a precious gift from God. It also reminds us that our care for creation is deeply connected to our care for one another.

These reflections are inspired by Pope Leo’s 2026 letter for the Season of Creation. Each ponders 1 of 9 topics in Leo’s writing, with focus given to the 2026 theme of “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

“The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life.” (Laudato Si #2)

READ: 4th part of Pope Leo’s letter for the 2026 Season of Creation (view PDF)

REFLECTION: How is your heart this Season of Creation? : Similar to the season of Lent, our observance of the Season of Creation has the ability to center us. Our special focusing these 34 days brings us to the heart. “…the human heart…the center of the person – the place where reason, desire, will and conscience converge.” Pope Leo points our attention to the condition of the human heart being linked to Earth’s degradation and war’s wounds. Such outward torment belies interior discord, division and distortion. 

* What integral ecology project, initiative or ministry inspires & challenges you?
* Where might you be feeling divided, distorted?
* What are you attending to?

ACTION: What if our culture spent some percentage of its time on healing of the heart as it does on social media?! It is this healing or “conversion of heart” that Leo calls for. To assist us in this conversion, I encourage you to make time for prayer in this regard: sit peacefully with this recent, deeply meaningful Hiroshima/ Nagasaki prayer service – co-sponsored by our Presentation Sisters.

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  • Visit the Presentation Sisters, US Province’s WEBSITE

READ MORE OF MAURICE’S WEEKLY REFLECTIONS


Concluding the 2025 Season of Creation – “Seeds of Peace and Hope” October 8th, 2025

(By Maurice Lange, Justice & Peace Director at Presentation Sisters & founder of the Oblate Ecological Initiative)

Pope Leo says at the end of his letter for the 2025 Season of Creation “…may integral ecology be increasingly accepted as the right path to follow.”

“An integral ecology is also made up of simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness.” (Laudato Si #230)

READ: 9th (final) part of Pope Leo’s letter for the 2025 Season of Creation (view PDF)

Photo: “La Vista” from bluffs overlooking the mile-wide Mississippi River – home of Oblate Ecological Initiative & La Vista Ecological Learning Center

REFLECTION: “Among the Church’s initiatives that are like seeds sown in this field…”. In this critical time, I am SO heartened to see the Church sowing the seeds of ecological initiatives. In addition to the Borgo Laudato Si project, examples from the Laudato Si Movement and Catholic Climate Covenant inspire! These ministries are the fruits started as seed from Pope John Paul II in 1990: “A new ecological awareness is beginning to emerge which, rather than being downplayed, ought to be encouraged to develop into concrete programs and initiatives.”

* What integral ecology project, initiative or ministry inspires & challenges you?

ACTION: This Season of Creation has been completed, and, our work continues: as there are plenty of models out there of anything but integral ecology. Why not become the change you wish to see in the world? Encourage and join with others as models in becoming seeds of peace and hope which will indeed multiply… and bear much fruit

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  • Visit the Presentation Sisters, US Province’s WEBSITE

READ MORE OF MAURICE’S WEEKLY REFLECTIONS


2025 Season of Creation: “Seeds of Peace and Hope” Reflection #6 October 1st, 2025

(By Maurice Lange, Justice & Peace Director at Presentation Sisters & founder of the Oblate Ecological Initiative)

We continue with our Reflections for the 2025 Season of Creation on Pope Leo’s letter and its theme: “Seeds of Peace and Hope”. 

“The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God.” (Laudato Si #84)

READ: 6th part of Pope Leo’s letter for the 2025 Season of Creation (view PDF)

Maurice tills his garden

REFLECTION: “The biblical texts…tell us to ‘till and keep’ the garden of the world.” Pope Leo quotes or references Pope Francis’ legacy 10 times in this letter! Here we read from Laudato Si (paragraph 67-Reflection Page 2) about tilling and keeping. When I till my garden, I am working with it. I know that neither I nor my garden would exist without microbes.

That kind of recognition humbles one.  > (humbles = humus = brought back to Earth)

Thomas Berry calls for humans to be in a mutually-enhancing relationship with Earth. Francis and Leo both set forth Thomas Berry’s call as implied in the sustainable wisdom of the Bible.

ACTION: Tyrants don’t consider microbes. We should! If we are to be effective in our ecological vocations, tilling and keeping, we should engage in wonder and awe at the billions of microbes in one teaspoon of healthy soil. Learn what is literally beneath your feet, and what you owe your life to, by watching this short video from the BBC: “Why Soil is One of Most Amazing Things on Earth”.

(Image 1: Garden: Maurice Lange)
(Image 2: Soil on a Farm: by Meganelford0, Pixabay)

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  • Visit the Presentation Sisters, US Province’s WEBSITE

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2025 Season of Creation: “Seeds of Peace and Hope” Reflection #5 September 25th, 2025

(By Maurice Lange, Justice & Peace Director at Presentation Sisters & founder of the Oblate Ecological Initiative)

We continue with our Reflections for the 2025 Season of Creation on Pope Leo’s letter and its theme: “Seeds of Peace and Hope”. 

“For (indigenous communities), land is not a commodity but rather a gift from God and from their ancestors who rest there, a sacred space with which they need to interact if they are to maintain their identity and values.” (Laudato Si #146)

READ: 5th part of Pope Leo’s letter for the 2025 Season of Creation (view PDF)

REFLECTION: : “Nature itself is reduced at times to a bargaining chip, a commodity…”
Pope Leo does not mince words. Neither does this photo.

  • Where have you experienced Creation being reduced to a commodity?
  • How is such denigration of Earth, which “is like a sister…and mother” to us, akin to misogyny? to rape?
  • What within myself prefers to remain unconscious in terms of how I relate with Earth?

ACTION: Pick up and sit with Elizabeth Johnson’s powerful words in the updated (2022) small but classic work “Women, Earth, and Creator Spirit”. 

(PHOTO CREDIT: Vlad Chetan, Pexels.com)

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“…our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.” (Laudato Si #1)

  • Visit the Presentation Sisters, US Province’s WEBSITE

READ MORE OF MAURICE’S WEEKLY REFLECTIONS

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