The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration to listen and respond together to the cry of Creation: the ecumenical family around the world unites to pray and protect our common home, the Oikos of God.
The Season “Celebration” begins September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends October 4, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations.
Reflection on the Season of Creation from Corrie van den Bosch MSS
Each day, between 4pm-5pm, a network of people from across Australia (and perhaps, beyond) spend time in contemplation. They are members of the Contemplative Evolution Network. This network was founded by Ballarat-based Mercy Sister, Madeleine Duckett, and Corrie van den Bosch MSS has been part of the network for several years. It is a daily commitment to spend that one hour in contemplation, ‘holding in love our broken, suffering world’. Corrie provided the following reflection for contemplation:
Read here:
Reflection:
The diversity of life on Earth can be seen as sacramental, as expressing and representing the abundance and dynamism of the divine communion.
Copyright: Emmaus Productions
2024 Theme “To Hope and Act with Creation”
Amid the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, many are beginning to despair and suffer from eco-anxiety. As people of faith we are called to lift the hope inspired by our faith, the hope of the resurrection. This is not a hope without action but one embodied in concrete actions of prayer and preaching, service and solidarity.
This season, we are also uniting our Christian voices through a joint advocacy initiative to support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty which calls for a halt to new fossil fuel projects.
Season of Creation 2024 Convocation
Caritas Australia’s Catholic Earthcare team is inviting the Catholic community – including schools, parishes, diocese, organisations, and religious orders – to join its 2024 Season of Creation convocation.
Taking place from Thursday, September 12 to Saturday, September 14, the convocation will call participants to ‘Wonder’, ‘Weave’ and ‘Heal’ together. Attendees will enjoy keynote presentations, workshops, discussions, and spiritual experiences, before gathering to transform learnings into action.
Keynote speakers include Sr Anne-Maree O’Beirne RSM, Pedro Walpole and Sally Neaves.
- Anne-Maree O’Beirn is a spiritual director and member of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea and was a founding member of Rahamim Ecology Centre in Bathurst.
- Pedro Walpole is the Director of Research at the Institute of Environmental Science for Social Change in the Philippines and the leader of Ecojesuit the Global Ignatian Advocacy Network (GIAN) for Ecology.
- Sally Neaves is the Eco-Education Coordinator at Rahamim Ecology Centre, a ministry of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Daily convocation themes include:
- Day one: Wonder, during which participants will be invited to gaze with awe and wonder at the gift of creation and to come to a deep awareness of the times we live in.
- Day two: Weave, with a focus on discerning a path forward through story-telling and deep weaving with our communities.
- Day three: Heal, where attendees come together to heal our relationship with creation and act within our communities for change.
Alice Carwardine, Catholic Earthcare Coordinator for Caritas Australia, said “As Catholics we are called by God, and the writings of Pope Francis, to show greater care for our common home. This convocation will give Catholic communities across Australia the opportunity to engage in collective action to bring that mission to bear.”
Events will be held in Cairns, Brisbane, Maitland-Newcastle, Broken Bay, Sydney, Bathurst, Parramatta, Canberra-Goulburn, Sandhurst, Melbourne and Perth.
Find out more and sign up here: https://www.caritas.org.au/soc-convocation/
Media contact: Tara Harvey 0484 002 021 tara.harvey@caritas.org.au or caritasmedia@caritas.org.au
Season of Creation 2024 Prayer Card
Resources for the Season of Creation 2024