OMI logo
News
Translate this page:

Recent News

News Feed

News Archives


Latest Video & Audio

More video & audio >

News Archives » Season of Creation


2025 Season of Creation: Peace with Creation August 26th, 2025

Clergy in maroon robe

Bishop Michael Pfeifer, O.M.I.
Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of San Angelo

The theme for this year’s Season of Creation is “Peace with Creation”. The Season of Creation is an ecumenical initiative that takes place annually from September 1, the World Day of Prayer for Creation, to October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Creation. The Biblical base for the theme, “Peace with Creation”, comes from Isaiah 32:14-18. During the Season of Creation, we join together as sisters and brothers of a universal family celebrating in prayer and action how to renew our appreciation, our commitment, conversion and our care and activities to protect and bring new life to Mother Earth, our Common Home. The Season is in the spirit of truth a time to do a heart-filled assessment of the situation of Mother Earth which is suffering many abuses and misuses by we humans. The Season of Creation is a source of strength and communion encouraging us to truly hope and act justly with all of creation. To begin in a deep spirit of heartfelt gratitude, we thank our loving God for the beautiful gift of all creation.

Pope Francis had designated the first day of the Season of Creation, September 1 st , as the World Day of Prayer for Creation, calling every person living on this planet to pray and to care for our shared Earth. To aide us in our prayer, Pope Leo XIV recently approved and offered the new Holy Mass for the Care of Creation. 

In his Homily, Pope Leo shared, “On this beautiful day, I would begin by asking everyone, including myself, to take stock of what we are celebrating here amid the beauty of what might be called the ‘cathedral’ of nature, with so many plants and elements of creation that have brought us together to celebrate the Eucharist, which means to give thanks to the Lord.” Pope Leo continued, “Our Mission to care for creation, to foster peace and reconciliation, is Jesus’ own mission, the mission that the Lord entrust to us.” In April 2025, Pope Francis announced that “Seeds of Peace and Hope” is the theme of this year’s World Day of Prayer. The metaphor of Seeds indicates there is a long-time commitment, while expressing hope that the Seeds of Peace may have a date when they may emerge in new life across all continents, as we pray and work for peace. This day reminds us of the strong connection between war and the degradation of our planet, which is seen in the waste of resources due to destruction and violence. The World Day of Prayer is another opportunity for us to connect with our Creator, God, and allow the Lord to redefine our relationship with the environment: from one of consumption and control and abuse, to one of care and protection.

READ THE FULL STATEMENT

 


Preparing for the 2025 Season of Creation – “Seeds of Peace and Hope” August 26th, 2025

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

Happy late Summer! As we approach the end of August, the annual Season of Creation is nearly here.
 
So that we may grow in our care for God’s Creation, we join with other Christians and people of goodwill in observing the Season of Creation which begins September 1 and runs through October 4. Pope Leo has written a letter regarding this Season and for the World Day of Prayer for Creation on September 1.
 
I have pondered Leo’s letter for 2025.  The theme for this year (chosen by Pope Francis) is “Seeds of Peace and Hope.” I see that Pope Leo’s prophetic words can be divided into nine areas for reflection.  Therefore, I’ve composed a series of 9 NEW Reflections for this Season of Creation. 
 
This first Reflection serves to prepare us for this Season, and is meant for these upcoming days August 25-31 

Hope would have us recognize that…we can always redirect our steps.” (Laudato Si #61)

READ: 1st part of Pope Leo’s letter for the 2025 Season of Creation

Green leaves among tree branches

REFLECTION: “…the promise of new beginnings…”. In this, the first letter from Pope Leo for a Season of Creation, he invites us to ponder the unexpected. In examining the theme for this year as chosen by Pope Francis, I’m struck by various parts of the phrase “Seeds of Peace and Hope”. Throughout the next several weeks we’ll be examining this theme along with each segment of Pope Leo’s letter.

Leo is probably still pondering the unexpected himself as he has come to know this in his life quite well! During this Season of Creation: what unexpected seeds of peace and hope may be germinating in unlikely places around us?

DOWNLOAD  FULL REFLECTION

ACTION: The Season of Creation begins September 1 and continues through October 4. Procure and keep a Season of Creation journal. You may wish to journal about the implications of sowing and caring for seeds of peace and hope. Notice blue “bachelor button” flowers blooming along roadsides this month!

“(Ecological) education plants seeds when we are young, and these continue to bear fruit throughout life.” (LS #213)

  • Visit the Presentation Sisters, US Province’s WEBSITE

READ MORE OF MAURICE’S WEEKLY REFLECTIONS

  • COMING SOON – Week 2: 2025 Season of Creation Reflection



A Journey with Trees during the Season of Creation October 3rd, 2024

By Sr. Maxine Pohlman, SSND, Director, La Vista Ecological Learning Center

The journey began when the Novitiate groundskeeper along with a volunteer for the Oblates’ NatureCrowd gathered around tall tree Preserve observed the unusual size of a stately Basswood tree on the front lawn of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Novitiate in Godfrey, IL, one all of us passed by for many years without taking notice.  But they did, and we decided to nominate the tree to be certified as a “Big Tree Champion”, winning it a place on Illinois’ Big Tree Register. 

The next step was to measure the tree and have our measurements checked by a “verifier” sent by the University of Illinois Extension, who sponsors this program.  During his visit, the verifier noticed a row of Black Locusts along the drive which appear to have been planted as a windbreak. Recently, our groundskeeper had also noticed those trees and after doing some research, he discovered that very likely it was the Civilian Conservation Corps, nicknamed “Roosevelt’s Tree Army”, that planted those trees almost 100 years ago!  Black locusts and white pines are among the kinds they planted, and white pines are also obvious on the Novitiate land.  So, we measured and verified one of the largest Black Locust and nominated it as well.

We waited with excitement to find out if both trees were large enough, including height, circumference, and canopy spread, to be certified as state champions.  It wasn’t long before we heard from Justin Vozzo, Specialist in Forestry and Coordinator of Illinois’ Big Tree Register, that both trees will now appear on the register as State Champions.  To celebrate, we focused on the trees at our Autumn Equinox celebration on September 21st (see photo).  Participants expressed gratitude for the Oblates who have taken care of this land and these trees for decades, giving them the chance to grow and serve the ecosystem in so many ways and survive long enough to become champions!

More important than this recognition by the State, however, is the importance of Big Trees for the ecosystem. Justin Vozzo shared his thoughts about the value of the program: “The Illinois Big Tree Registry program provides a unique opportunity to get people excited about trees, the benefits they provide, and the challenges they face. Many of our champion trees are awe-striking, and when people see them, they want to learn more about these incredible organisms. All trees provide valuable services including reducing stormwater runoff, removing pollution from the air, and protecting crops from wind damage to name a few. However, trees face many challenges which prevent most from ever becoming champion-sized. For example, pesticide drift, construction damage, and extended droughts all stress trees and can even lead to their death. It is important that we try and reduce and minimize these effects on all trees so that we can all benefit from the services they provide. No one knows which tree might be a future champion, maybe hundreds of years from now, but one can almost surely say that in the future, our champion trees will be affected by what people did or did not do to support them”. 

This year’s Season of Creation will long be remembered as one that aligned us more deeply to the importance of caring for creation at this precarious time on our rare and precious planet.


Celebrating the Season of Creation at Sacred Heart Church: Oakland, CA October 2nd, 2024

Contributed by Fr. Jack Lau, OMI

Sacred Heart’s GreenTeam (Oakland, CA) and parishioners gathered on the Autumn Equinox and the
International World Day of Peace for a city wide clean up “From Creek to Bay.” We joined with 35 other groups from all over the city, over 500 volunteers! For our part, we collected over 250 Gallons of trash.
 
After the clean-up, we gathered at Noon at the Hiroshima Peace Garden@Sacred Heart for a prayer service for peace. The Garden is on MLK JR. Way and is part of our public space that is an oasis of peace for all peoples and pets. Preparations are being made now for the Annual Blessing of Pets which will be on October 6th. That will conclude our Parish Celebration of the Season of Creation.
 
 
World Day of Prayer for Peace: https://bit.ly/3zyJcLn
 
Season of Creation Bookmarks: https://bit.ly/3XFAp27
 
 

Week 3 – 2024 Season of Creation: “To Hope & Act with Creation” September 18th, 2024

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


Reflection
#3: September 2 – 7

READ: 3rd part of Pope Francis’ letter for the 2024 Season of Creation (below)

REFLECTION:

                       (Image by Almeida from Pixabay)

Hope. I ponder that with all the pushback Pope Francis has received, what he writes about hope in this Season of Creation is not removed from his own personal journey – with hope connoting: “remaining steadfast amidst adversity” and “not losing heart” in troubling times.

His reflection on hope leads Francis to ponder a medieval visionary who, despite violent times, proposed a new spirit of coexistence among peoples. Francis’ further writes that his own call for universal social harmony in Fratelli Tutii needs to be extended to Creation.

As such, Fr. Thomas Berry, the great, recent visionary, does not lose heart in setting forth the Ecozoic Era: a time of where humans and the rest of the natural world are mutually enhancing.

Let us choose life, then, so that we and the descendants of all species shall live. (cf Deuteronomy 30:19)

READ FULL REFLECTION

ACTION: I encourage you to remain steadfast…and even take on a new layer of hope. Each day this week sit with Thomas Berry as he illustrates the Ecozoic Era.

“Human life is incomprehensible and unsustainable without other creatures…” (Laudate Deum #67)

 

Return to Top