Adult Faith Formation

About the Season of Creation: September 1st-October 4th
The Season of Creation is celebrated annually by tens of thousands of Christians around the world. During the Season of Creation, we pray and act to protect God’s creation. The Season of Creation is celebrated by Christians across the ecumenical spectrum, and the leaders of many faith traditions have encouraged us to participate.
The season begins on September 1, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and runs through
October 4, the Feast of St. Francis, who is the patron saint of ecology in many traditions.
This season is a special time for the Creator and each other. Some of us pray, some of
us do hands-on projects, some of us advocate. We all protect creation.
The momentum continues long after the season ends. By seeding ongoing prayer,
changes in lifestyle, and advocacy, the season grows hope in our communities each
year. It’s powerfully good work that’s urgently needed.

Season of Creation Prayer for 2021

Creator of All,
We are grateful that from your communion of love you created our planet to be a home
for all. By your Holy Wisdom you made the Earth to bring forth a diversity of living beings that filled the soil, water and air. Each part of creation praises you in their being, and cares for one another from our place in the web of life.
With the Psalmist, we sing your praise that in your house “even the sparrow finds a
home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young.” We remember that you call human beings to keep your garden in ways that honor the dignity of each creature and conserve their place in the abundance of life on Earth.
But we know that our will to power pushes the planet beyond her limits. Our
consumption is out of harmony and rhythm with Earth’s capacity to heal herself.
Habitats are left barren or lost. Species are lost and systems fail. Where reefs and
burrows, mountaintops and ocean deeps once teemed with life and relationships, wet
and dry deserts lie empty, as if uncreated. Human families are displaced by insecurity
and conflict, migrating in search of peace. Animals flee fires, deforestation and famine,
wandering in search of a new place to find a home to lay their young and live.
In this Season of Creation, we pray that the breath of your creative Word would move
our hearts, as in the waters of our birth and baptism. Give us faith to follow Christ to our just place in the beloved community. Enlighten us with the grace to respond to your
covenant and call to care for our common home. In our tilling and keeping, gladden our
hearts to know that we participate with your Holy Spirit to renew the face of your Earth, and safeguard a home for all.
In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus Christ.
Amen.