By Sister Claire McNichol, SSJ
As we enter into August, the height of summer, let’s recall that the Season of Creation 2024 is about to begin. So, what is the Season of Creation, and how can we celebrate?
The Season of Creation is a monthlong prayerful observance that invites all Christians to pray and care for God’s Creation. It’s a time to reflect on our relationship with the environment, a time for contemplation and a call to action. It’s also a time for personal introspection, to discern ways in which our lifestyles and decisions as a society can either endanger or contribute to the growth of the natural world and those inhabiting it.
Shortly after publishing his 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home,” Pope Francis formally added the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Sept. 1) as an annual day of prayer. In 2019, he officially invited Catholics to celebrate the entire Season of Creation with our brothers and sisters worldwide.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Collingswood, encouraged by our Creation Care Team, has intentionally celebrated the Season of Creation since 2021. During the Season of Creation, we join the ecumenical family in prayer and action for our planet. The theme for the Season of Creation 2024 is “To Hope and Act With Creation,” inspired by Romans 8:19-25: “Yes, we know all creation groans and is in agony even until now.” Though “creation is groaning,” we are being called to celebrate our hope for a future where all people might see Earth – a gift to be cared for, not neglected.
“During the Season of Creation, we are invited to reach out and call our communities to discern how to listen to and respond to the cry of Creation together. The celebration begins September 1, the Feast of Creation, and ends on October 4, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations,” states the “Season of Creation 2024 Guide.”
This year, Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish will open our celebration at 7 p.m. on Aug. 29 at Holy Saviour Church, 50 Emerald Ave., Haddon Township. In anticipation of the World Day of Prayer for Creation, our parish is offering an international rosary for creation. The 15 decades of the rosary will be prayed by someone in his/her language of origin, a beautiful way of remembering that we are part of a global community of prayer united with God our Creator in a diversity of human cultures.
In addition, our parish, in conjunction with the Office of Life & Justice Ministries of the Camden Diocese, will host Dan Misleh, founder and executive director of Catholic Climate Covenant, at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 24 at Saint John Church, 809 Park Ave., Collingswood. He will offer an interactive presentation on this year’s theme.
Please join us in celebration as we renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation, committing to actions on behalf of Earth and our sisters and brothers globally. Mark your calendar today!
Sister Claire McNichol, SSJ, is a member of the Creation Care Team at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish, Collingswood.
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