This year, the theme for the Season of Creation is “Jubilee for the Earth”. We invite you to consider the integral relationship between rest for the Earth and ecological, economic, social and political ways of living. This particular year, the need for just and sustainable systems has been revealed by the far-reaching effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. We yearn for the moral imagination that accompanies the Faith Traditions’ Jubilee.
The global reach of the novel coronavirus this year, has revealed our shared human nature and the inter-connectivity of our economies, political structures, health care systems, food production chains, energy and transportation systems in devastating ways. The pandemic also demonstrated that the entire web of life is rooted in our Common Home, Earth and limited by Earth’s capacity to sustain our economic and ecological demands. The unjust effects of climate change are a consequence of our inability to find a sustainable balance of all life.
From September 1 to October 4, the Christian family celebrates the goodness and gift of creation. During the Season of Creation, we unite as one family in Christ, celebrating the bonds we share with each other and with “every living creature on Earth.” (Genesis 9:10) The Faith family celebrates the Season of Creation by spending time in prayer, considering ways to inhabit our common home sustainably, and lifting our voices in the public sphere.
This year, 2020, also marks the 5th Anniversary of Pope Francis’s important encyclical, Laudato si’ and the Church is using this anniversary occasion to join the ecumenical ecological efforts to save the planet with great energy and commitment.
Let the celebration begin!
Season of Creation 2020 Prayer
Creator of Life,
At Your word, Earth brought forth plants yielding seeds and trees of every kind bearing fruit. The rivers, mountains, minerals, seas and forests sustained life. The eyes of all looked to You to satisfy the needs of every living thing. And throughout time Earth has sustained all life. Through the planetary cycles of days and seasons, renewal and growth, You open Your hand to give creatures our food in the proper time.
In your Wisdom, you granted a Sabbath; a blessed time to rest in gratitude for all that you have given; a time to liberate ourselves from vicious consumption; a time to allow the land and all creatures to rest from the burden of production. But these days our living pushes the planet beyond its limits. Our demands for growth, and our never-ending cycle of production and consumption are exhausting our world. The forests are leached, the topsoil erodes, the fields fail, the deserts advance, the seas acidify, the storms intensify. We have not allowed the land to observe her Sabbath, and Earth is struggling to be renewed.
During this Season of Creation, we ask you to grant us courage to observe a Sabbath for our planet. Strengthen us with faith to trust in your providence. Inspire us with the creativity to share what we have been given. Teach us to be satisfied with enough. And as we proclaim a Jubilee for Earth, send Your Holy Spirit to renew the face of creation.
In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Litany of the Holy Spirit
Dan Schutte Music
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