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2026 Season of Creation Final Reflection October 2nd, 2026
(Reflections by Maurice Lange, Justice & Peace Director at Presentation Sisters & founder of the Oblate Ecological Initiative)
2026 Season of Creation Reflection #5 September 23rd, 2026
2026 Season of Creation
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)
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
- Week 1: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection
- Week 2: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection
- Week 3: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection
- Week 4 2025 Season of Creation Reflection
2025 Season of Creation: “Seeds of Peace and Hope” Reflection #3 September 5th, 2025
(By Maurice Lange, Justice & Peace Director at Presentation Sisters & founder of the Oblate Ecological Initiative)
“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: 3rd part of Pope Leo’s letter for the 2025 Season of Creation (view PDF)
Image by Adriano Gadini, Pixabay; Tatiana S. , Pixabay
REFLECTION: “…the prophet contrasts justice and law with the desolation of the desert …”. Indeed, Isaiah contrasts these quite well: justice provides peace and fecundity while injustice ravages and desolates. You’ve heard of “desertification”? (cf: Laudato Si #89) It is a process of ecological degradation in which fertile land becomes arid and loses or reduces its productivity. Much of Earth is currently undergoing a process of desertification due to human factors including climate change. Pope Benedict XVI once observed that: “the external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast”. What is fostering internal desertification?
ACTION: While working with the soil of my garden, I’ve thought that if more people had direct contact with Earth, they would be healthier. For God’s caress to be felt in our world, Pope Leo reminds us that together with prayer, both determination and concrete actions are necessary. *
“…reducing water consumption, planting trees, reusing…all of these reflect a generous and worthy creativity which brings out the best in human beings.” (Laudato Si #211)
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Visit the Presentation Sisters, US Province’s WEBSITE
READ MORE OF MAURICE’S WEEKLY REFLECTIONS
- Week 1: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection
- Week 2: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection
- Week 3: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection
- Week 4: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection – COMING SOON
- Week 5: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection – COMING SOON
2025 Season of Creation: “Seeds of Peace and Hope” Reflection #2 September 2nd, 2025
(By Maurice Lange, Justice & Peace Director at Presentation Sisters & founder of the Oblate Ecological Initiative)
“Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.”(Laudato Si #246)
READ: 2nd part of Pope Leo’s letter for the 2025 Season of Creation (view PDF)
Image by Alexa, Pixabay
REFLECTION: “…a spirit from on high will be poured out on us…”. Like those unexpected seeds that blossom next to roadways, Pope Leo tells us that we too are seeds: of peace and hope. With God’s help I’ve created several fertile gardens over the years. With first some imagining and then digging, that which was seemingly lifeless sprang into fruitfulness. (Well… the addition of a little manure helped as well!) So too, God’s Spirit is poured onto us for fertilization. Those gifts within us which lie dormant are enabled to bear much fruit. The possibilities within our seed-ness are realized: the building of God’s reign of justice and peace
ACTION: Sept. 1 was the World Day of Prayer for Creation and the beginning of the Season of Creation. Just as the life within seeds is coaxed forth by soil, warmth and moisture…we pray for the creation of positive and healthy environments, so that the goodness of many people may be evoked.
“The current global situation engenders a feeling of instability and uncertainty, which in turn becomes ‘a seedbed for collective selfishness’ … …a change in lifestyle could bring healthy pressure to bear on those who wield political, economic and social power.” (Laudato Si #204,206)
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Visit the Presentation Sisters, US Province’s WEBSITE
READ MORE OF MAURICE’S WEEKLY REFLECTIONS
- Week 1: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection
- Week 2: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection
- Week 3: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection – COMING SOON
