Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
On this World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, September 1, 2025, we lift our hearts to God who has entrusted us with the gift of our common home. This year we also mark the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical, Laudato Si’. Through this effort and throughout his papacy, our late Holy Father taught us creation is not something to be exploited, but rather a precious gift entrusted to our care.
The theme chosen by our late Holy Father Pope Francis this year—“Seeds of Peace and Hope”—reminds us that we are not passive observers of creation. We are the seeds God has planted, called to bear fruit in lives of holiness, justice, and love. When we nurture the soil of our hearts with prayer, repentance, and charity, God brings forth an abundant harvest that heals divisions, strengthens families, and restores creation.
Yet we cannot ignore the reality around us. Too often, nature is reduced to a commodity to be traded for economic or political gain. Our farms, mountains, prairies, forests, rivers, and oceans—our very sources of life—are treated as though their worth lies only in financial profit. In doing so, humanity forgets that creation is not ours to exploit for the benefit of any single generation, but God’s gift intended for the good of the human person across generations.
Pope Leo XIV affirms this summons to sow seeds of hope and peace in his message for the Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 2025:
“For it is a matter of justice – social, economic and human. For believers it is also a duty born of faith, since the universe reflects the face of Jesus Christ, in whom all things were created and redeemed. In a world where the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters are the first to suffer the devastating effects of climate change, deforestation and pollution, care for creation becomes an expression of our faith and humanity.”
The World Day of Prayer marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, September 1 through October 4, culminating on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron of ecology and animals.
Our unity in prayer is powerful, but Pope Francis reminds us in Laudato Si’ that prayer alone is not enough. With prayer, we must also act—with determination, sacrifice, and love—so that God’s “caress” in creation may once again be visible.
In this Jubilee year, as Pilgrims of Hope, we are invited to see ourselves as part of God’s plan for renewal. May we, as faithful stewards and grateful children of God, continue to sow seeds of peace and hope in our homes, parishes, and communities—trusting that the Lord of the harvest will bring them to full bloom.
- August 26, 2025