'Season of Creation' 2026
Water is the most basic, essential and precious element of life. Water stands for renewal, blessing, restoration, vitality and hope.
How can we survive a single moment without water? As a person who drinks two bottles of water early in the morning as soon as I get up, I really appreciate the vitality that the water gives me every day.
According to the United Nations, 1.7 billion people lack basic hygiene services at home and 2.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water. This water shortage is one of the serious issues in the world today.
Some of the challenges are water being unaffordable for the poor, the industrial discharge of chemicals and other pollutants into rivers, increasing water consumption, serious droughts and floods and rising sea levels.
Regardless of denomination, whether Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Evangelical or Catholic, we are all in the same boat. As a result, 14 Christian organizations are involved in the Season of Creation Ecumenical Steering Committee to work on this year's topic, "Living Water."
The Season of Creation was begun by the Orthodox Church in 1989, and Pope Francis made it into a global ecumenical movement with the publication of “Laudato Si’ (Praise be to you)” in 2015. In 2019, Pope Francis officially endorsed the movement.
Since then, every year from Sept. 1 (World Day of Prayer for Creation) to Oct. 4 (Feast of St. Francis of Assisi), the whole Christian family, united in ecumenical solidarity, celebrates a worldwide month of prayer and action to protect our common home, the earth.
The theme of this year's water-focused program is “Immersion in Living Water,” calling people to step deeper into faith-driven environmental stewardship for renewal, repentance and healing.
Christians worldwide unite in prayer and action for ecological restoration, biodiversity protection and climate justice inspired by the prophetic vision of Ezekiel 47:1-12, which depicts a life-giving river flowing from God’s sanctuary to heal barren lands and revive ecosystems.
Rooted in that prophetic vision, the initiative invites people to pray, act and advocate for ecological restoration and water stewardship. We are called to step deeper into the water, recognizing the interconnectedness of human life and the earth’s water systems.
“Everything lives where the river goes … Along each bank of the river every kind of fruit tree will grow … Every month they will bear fresh fruit because the waters of the river flow out from the sanctuary.” (Ezekiel 47:9-12)
The flowing water transforms the barren land, heals aquatic ecosystems and produces fruit-bearing trees whose leaves provide healing.
Goals for the Season of Creation are acknowledging the crisis of global water scarcity, pollution and the degradation of freshwater ecosystems; having a special time of prayer and worship beyond denominational borders; and practical action engaging in local community efforts like river cleanups, water conservation projects, sustainability initiatives and climate advocacy for the earth’s healing.
We share a common call to care for God's creation. Thus, we celebrate God as the creator and acknowledge creation as the divine act that invites us to be collaborators, loving and caring for the gift we have been given.
As Pope Leo XIV said, creation care is “an urgent need that involves much more than simply protecting the environment. For it is a matter of justice — social, economic and human.”
The author is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul (Figlie di San Paolo), living and giving the good news to the world by means