Here in West Michigan, we are blessed with a dazzling natural environment, rich with the green of trees and the blue of fresh water, all of which serve as ever-present reminders of the glory of God’s creation – a home common to us all.
In 2015, Pope Francis established Sept. 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, encouraging Catholics around the world to pray for our common home. In his letter establishing the day as an annual celebration, the Holy Father wrote that its purpose was to “offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”
Recently, Pope Leo XIV shared a message for the occasion of this year’s World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, in which he reflected:
“Our Lord Jesus Christ came so that we might have life and have it in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10). This gift of life lies at the very heart of our mission as disciples and of our shared calling to build a civilization of love. As we observe this World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, we are once again invited to contemplate the gift of life and to cherish the earth that sustains it, for they are tangible ways of offering praise to our Creator.”
The World Day of Prayer also marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, Sept. 1 through Oct. 4, which culminates with the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron of ecology and animals. This year’s season is especially significant since this year marks the 500th jubilee of St. Francis of Assisi. The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration of prayer and action for our common home. Together, the ecumenical family around the world unites to pray for and act to protect God’s creation.
Prayer to Care for our Common Home | Oración para Cuidar Nuestra Casa Común (USCCB)
Season of Creation: Sept. 1 – Oct. 4
Season of Creation planning and celebration guide
Global Catholic Climate Movement
In addition, Global Catholic Climate Movement offers many helpful resources at its website including prayers, small group resources, videos, and more.
World Day of Prayer inspired by pope’s encyclical on Care for our Common Home
Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home is the first encyclical to focus on the environment as an integral ecology among all of God’s creation, including the human impact on life and the poor. Its foundation rests in a long history of Church teaching on creation. This encyclical was written with both hope and resolve, looking with candor and humility to humanity’s common future.
The title is taken from the first line of the encyclical, “Laudato si’, mi Signore,” or “Praise be to you, my Lord.” In the words of the beautiful “Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon” of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.
Additional resources
From Michigan Catholic Conference:
Publication: Care for Our Common Home: Reflecting on Laudato Si’
Care for our Common Home
From the USCCB:
World Day statement: Towards an ecological conscience
On the environment
Church teaching on ecology
Prayer to Care for Our Common Home (based on Laudato Si’) | Español
Laudato Si’: Caring for Our Common Home Discussion Guide | Español
Sign up to receive daily reflections with ways to pray, learn, and act to care for God’s creation.
From the Vatican:
Read Pope Francis’ message for the 2024 World Day
Read Laudato Si’ (Vatican website, multiple languages)
Read about Care of Creation on the website for the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The dicastery was established by Pope Francis in 2016 through his motu proprio, Humanam Progressionem.