Praying for care of creation

Catholics will celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1st September, and many bishops are calling for celebration of a Time of Creation or Season of Creation, 1 Sept – 4 Oct, as has already been celebrated on some continents, including Australia and Europe, for the past decade.

This year, Francis called for “a change that unites us all” in a video project from the pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

“Believers and unbelievers agree that the Earth is our common heritage, the fruits of which should benefit everyone,” Francis says in the video. “However, what is happening in the world that we live in?”

“The relationship between poverty and the fragility of the planet requires another way of managing the economy and measuring progress, conceiving a new way of living. Because we need a change that unites us all,” the pope says.

Prayer services around the world are posted online at seasonofcreation.org.  Links to resources for events are available below.

• The World Council of Churches has compiled a great list of liturgical resources from its member churches to be used during the Season of Creation.
• The Vatican’s Pontifical Council Justice and Peace has prepared this one-hour Eucharistic Adoration service for Creation Day on September 1.
• Season of Creation resources from Uniting Church (Australia): seasonofcreation.com
• Season of Creation Liturgical Resources from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: ecology-resource-liturgy
• Season of Creation resources from ‘Let All Creation Praise’ (United States): letallcreationpraise.org/season-of-creation
• Prayers from Pope Francis’ Laudato Si: A Christian Prayer in Union with Creation and A Prayer for our Earth
• The Anglican Church of Southern Africa has put together these three beautiful toolkits with different themes for the Season of Creation:
  • General Season of Creation One: Season of Creation 1
  • Season of Creation Two including a Blessing of Animals on St. Francis Day (October 4th): Season of Creation Two
  • Season of Creation Three including the life and example of Wangari Maathai: Season of Creation Three
  • Season of Creation Four
• Catholic Season of Creation Toolkit from the Columban Missionary Society.
• Outline for a Catholic Prayer Vigil for Creation from GCCM.
• Interfaith prayers: Click here for GreenFaith’s extensive collection of interfaith prayers for the earth.
• Guided Rosary on Caring for Creation from the Franciscan Action Network
• Eco-Congregation Scotland has developed these materials for Creation Time 2016. They follows the theme, Followers of Jesus, Caring for Creation, emphasising the readings from the Gospel of Luke which appear in the Revised Common Lectionary in September.
• The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in the Philippines have developed the following resources for Season of Creation:
  • Sept 1: Creation Day (Holy Hour)
  • Week 1: Throwaway Culture (MorningPrayer)
  • Week 2: Climate Change (EveningPrayer)
  • Week 3: Celebrating with Sister Water (Paraliturgy)
  • Week 4: Ecological Way of the Cross with Pope John Paul II
  • Oct 4: Kinship with Creation (Evening Prayer)
• The Church of England offers the following resources:
  • Material for Seasons and Festivals of the Agricultural Year from Common Worship: Times and Seasons
  • Resources for worship and prayer produced by the Environment Task Group
  • A series of liturgical resources, including collects, post-communion prayers, forms of intercession and additional material for the Eucharistic Prayer, produced for trial use by the Diocese of Guildford
  • A liturgy for All-Age Worship, produced by Canon Johnson while an incumbent in the Diocese of Manchester .