There are many opportunities for Catholics across the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington to observe this year’s Season of Creation, that began on Sept. 1 (the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation) and end on Oct. 4 (the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi).
Pope Francis first called for Catholics to observe this ecumenical initiative in 2016 and issued annual messages on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation throughout his pontificate. Pope Leo has continued this endorsement of the Season of Creation by asking the Church this year “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.”
One theme among the celebrations being planned by parishes around the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is the use of the new Mass for the Care of Creation, which was promulgated by the Vatican on June 8, 2025. The Vatican, on Aug. 4, 2026, approved English and Spanish texts of prayers and readings for use in the United States. The Mass for the Care of Creation is intended to be celebrated especially during the Season of Creation.
Parishes will also be marking the Season of Creation by the use of posts in their parish bulletins and on their Flocknotes and social media. At the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, there will be a special prayer recited before all Masses during the Season of Creation. Sacred Heart will also hang two large bilingual banners outside the church to promote celebration of the Season of Creation in the larger Columbia Heights community. At St. Camillus Parish in Silver Spring, Maryland a special prayer, drawn from the text of the Mass for the Care of Creation, will be recited at the end of the Prayer of the Faithful during the Season of Creation.
The following are some of the events during the Season of Creation that are open to participation by Catholics, regardless of their home parish.
Sept. 1: The Season of Creation opens with a global ecumenical prayer service that will take place at 9 a.m. Among the speakers will be Dr. Tebaldo Vinciguerra, the Official in Charge of Ecology, Natural Resources, Sustainable Development at the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The prayer service will be available to view online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?…
Sept. 1: St. John the Baptist will host a presentation on “Ecological Conversion: The Environmental Crisis as a Social Justice Issue,” at 7 p.m. (Kazista Room, 12319 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland)
Sept. 1 – Oct. 4: For the entirety of the Season of Creation, Holy Trinity Church in Washington, D.C., will be offering a self-guided pilgrimage of reflection for individuals on its parish grounds, starting in front of the Upper School. Each station pairs Scripture, art, and quiet reflection with this year’s theme of Living Water, inviting you to pause, pray, and consider our shared responsibility for creation. Pilgrims can walk it at their own pace — alone, with family, or with friends. The parish grounds are open from dawn to dusk. (1325 36th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.)
Sept. 6: Holy Trinity Church will open its celebration of the Season of Creation with a Mass for the Care of Creation at all its Sunday Mass times: 7:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m. (1315 36th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.)
Sept. 10: The Catholic Climate Covenant, Franciscan Action Network, Franciscan Federation, and Interfaith Public Health Network (in cooperation with members of the Green Team at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle) will jointly sponsor a webinar on “Moving Beyond Plastics in a ‘Throwaway Culture,’” featuring Judith Enck, author of “The Problem with Plastic.” The webinar will start at 7 p.m., and interested persons can register at https://us02web.zoom.us/webina….
Sept. 13: Holy Trinity Church will be sponsoring presentations and exhibits by environmental groups during the Coffee Hour after its 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Masses. Group presenting on this date include City Blossoms, the Catholic Garden Network, Integrative Strategies Forum (Plastics), and Ward 8 Woods Conservancy. Stop by to gather resources, meet the people doing this work in our region, and find simple ways to get involved. (McKenna Hall – O Street, N.W., between 35th and 36th Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.)
Sept. 13: St. John the Baptist Church’s Eco-ministry will offer an information table at the annual parish picnic following the 11:30 a.m. Mass. (12319 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland)
Sept. 14-15: Holy Cross Church in Garrett Park will hold a Parish Feast Mission on Sept. 14-15 (7 p.m. to 8 p.m.), on “St. Francis of Assisi: Praise that Holds Back Nothing” with featured speaker Brother Thomas Piolata, O.F.M. Cap., Ph.D. Sept. 14 is the Feast of The Exaltation of the Holy Cross. (4900 Strathmore Avenue Garrett Park, Maryland)
This is the logo for the ecumenical Season of Creation, which began Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and concludes Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology. (CNS photo/Courtesy of Seasonofcreation.org)
This is the logo for the ecumenical Season of Creation, which began Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and concludes Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology. (CNS photo/Courtesy of Seasonofcreation.org)
Sept. 19: St. Michael the Archangel Church will hold a Native Plant Garden Maintenance Day on Saturday, Sept. 19, starting with a Mass for the Care of Creation at 8 a.m. and continuing through noon. (805 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland)
Sept. 19: St. Camillus Church will offer an opportunity to care for and improve the gardens and grounds on parish property, including maintenance of its pollinator gardens, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. This is a popular event for students seeking service hours. For more information and to sign up (volunteer slots are limited), contact Tom Melo at melotc@gmail.com. (1600 St. Camillus Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland)
Sept. 20: Holy Trinity Church will be sponsoring a second week of conversations and resources presented by environmental groups during the Coffee Hour after its 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Masses. This week welcomes Interfaith Power & Light, Love & Carrots, the Oblate International Pastoral Investment Fund, Eden’s Products by Restoration 1:99, and Ward 3 Bicycle Advocates / Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). Whether you missed the first session on Sept. 13 or want to go deeper, there’s more to discover and new ways to care for our common home. (McKenna Hall – O Street, N.W., between 35th and 36th Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.)
Sept. 20: Holy Trinity Church will host, at 4 p.m., a contemplative sound bath facilitated by a Native American, Little Raven, that will honor water as a time of rest and renewal — an invitation to still the mind and open the spirit to God’s living water that restores. It will offer a moment of stillness amid a season of action. (Chapel of St. Ignatius, N Street, N.W., between 35th and 36th Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.)
Sept. 26: St. John the Baptist Church will celebrate the Mass for the Care of Creation at 9 a.m., followed by an eco-ministry gathering/discussion. (Mass in Church; discussion in Kazista Room, 12319 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland)
Sept. 27: Holy Trinity Church will host a lecture at 10:15 a.m. by Prof. Elizabeth Ferris of Georgetown University on “Thirst for Living Water: The Cry of the Earth, the Courage of its Defenders: Forced Displacement in Central America”, focused on forced migration from Central America due to climate change. (Trinity Hall, 3518 O Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20007)
Oct. 3: St. John the Baptist Church will hold a Blessing of the Animals at 11 a.m. (12319 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland)
Oct. 3: Holy Trinity Church will host a performance of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” by the National Chamber Orchestra in Holy Trinity Church at 7:30 p.m. (1315 36th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.)
Oct. 4: The Season of Creation will close with a global ecumenical prayer service that will take place at 9 a.m. The prayer service will be available to view online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?…
Oct. 4: Holy Trinity Church will hold a Blessing of the Animals at 2 p.m. in the McKenna Courtyard and Holy Trinity School playground. This will be part of an afternoon of activities celebrating the beauty of creation and our shared responsibility to care for our common home. Pets should be leashed or crated. (McKenna Courtyard, accessible from O Street, N.W., between 35th and 36th Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.)
Wowwwww what a bunch of boring plans. I wish the church would put as much effort into teaching about things like Scripture, the liturgy, the Trinity, the Incarnation, salvation, morality and conscience, and other core aspects of Catholic faith as it does into creating activities for this leftist claptrap season about the environment.
The church has become Greenpeace. It has abandoned Catholic faith. I guarantee you that the parishes mentioned above are run by Democrats who also support abortion and gay marriage. The Church is not the Church anymore. I can’t believe I just wrote that but it’s true.
How about the season of salvation that began 2000 years ago with Jesus’ Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven? I think I’ll focus on this like we do at every Eucharist..
It’s not so much “the church” as a number of bishops, religious, and laity who are preoccupied with preserving creation but not preserving its inhabitants.
It would be interesting to administer a Catholic literacy test to parishioners of these parishes to see what they know and don’t know about Catholicism.
DC is about 85% Democrat. No surprise that green spirituality has such currency there.
Where are the shepherds? We have imposters.
I was dismayed to see a season of creation poster display at my parish when I went to Mass this morning. It had a picture of the earth with speech bubbles saying things like, “I’m sick” and “Please take care of me” and “Why do you pollute me?” and “I’m your home.”
Are we in kindergarten or do we have a mature, adult faith? I mean really. Why do so many Catholics buy into this childish stuff?
What in God’s name is “a contemplative sound bath facilitated by a Native American, Little Raven, that will honor water as a time of rest and renewal”?
Is this press release a parody? You mean this is seriously what a Catholic parish and diocese are doing and promoting?
The ‘sound bath’ event is the latest new age terminology repackaging of ‘sacred music’ that only native americans and buddhists tend to practice. Good ‘little raven sound bath’ and you will find that there are many practitioners using the name ‘little raven wo also offer occult Reiki healing. This is the most transparently occult arts event offered in this ‘liturgical season’
I agree that we have to be careful that we do not mix seeing the hand of God the Creator in nature with pantheism which says all nature is God. The first is Christian, the latter pagan.
The priorities of Cardinal McElroy seem somewhat misplaced.
Plastics are a real problem and climate change may be as well (although it’s still not entirely proven it’s human caused).
Yet, what’s “a contemplative sound bath facilitated by a Native American, Little Raven, that will honor water as a time of rest and renewal — an invitation to still the mind and open the spirit …”?
Or, “forced migration from Central America due to climate change.”?
Might there be higher priorities for the Archdiocese of Washington DC?
Typo in last comment… ‘good’ should have been ‘google’
Claptrap.
This is the prayer being recited before all Masses at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart:
Creator God and source of all life: In this new
Season of Creation, open our hearts to the
beauty and the cry of the Earth. Teach us how to care
for her with love, gratitude, and justice in each of our
actions. Teach us also to commit ourselves, as a
community of faith, to protecting our Common
Home and all the beings who dwell within it.
Amen.
It’s thoroughly protestant with pagan influences. Why are Catholics doing this? Creation month is as bad as pride month.
It depends on how and why one prays it. Is not our God a creator? One can add the sign of the cross if one wishes to do so. To see the hand of God in His creation is not necessarily Protestant nor pantheism. In the book” put out by Tan Press by St. Francis De Sales entitled “Philothea or An Introduction to the Devout Life”, Chap. 13, St. Francis De Sales quotes another St. France. “St. Frances, as she knelt beside a pleasant brook, being greatly enchanted, repeated often, “Even so sweetly and pleasantly flows the grace of my God.” He also quotes many other saints who saw the hand of God in creation and said what he called holy ejaculations. I recommend you read it.
If that picture contained animals, then it would be pornography for people who always vote for Democrats.
A question for everyone. Have any of you seen triplets — in person in the same area at the same time, not just in pictures or videos? As an older woman I had never seen triplets until a few months ago. It all seemed so surreal. I was in my car stopped at a stop light when three identical men came walking across the street. They had light complexions with dark hair and seemingly dark eyes, dressed in white long-sleeved shirts and black dress pants. As they walked along talking together, their gestures and carriage was the same. As first I though Mormons, but there no evidence of that. Afterwards I though of Rublev’s icon, the Holy Trinity, and felt blessed to have experienced it all.
I went to Junior High School with triplets and twins. They were able to take each other’s classes without the teacher knowing what was going on.
I have seen and worked with a lot of identical twins, including members of my family. Eventually I could tell them apart by some distinguishing feature. Usually the parents dressed them differently, so they were easier to tell apart. We had to keep strong hold of their hands as children as one would run around one side of a building and the other one around the other side if we did not. Not funny when it is in a parking lot. Older twins will often gang up on you in a card game, so one of them wins and you lose if only three play. So watch out for “troublesome twins” (Laughter.)
When I was in the First Grade, our school had triplets– a trio of a little girl and her two brothers. The three children were each placed in different classrooms, with different First Grade teachers. They were introduced and honored by the school, at a school assembly. The little girl was in my classroom, and we often played together. I invited them to come to my Birthday Party when I turned age 7.
The intense rejection and disdain expressed in so many comments, while espousing love of the Liturgy and Scripture, are very amusing, if they weren’t so sad. I would gently ask those who reject Care of Creation to prayerfully study both the Scriptures and the Saints. The Old Testament, especially but not exclusively the Psalms, is filled with what were the Liturgies of old, honoring and recognizing the place and power of Creation in God’s Kingdom. The Gospels share how Jesus shared and loved Creation in his teachings (but maybe he was out of touch???). The Epistles teach the work and care of Creation in God’s holy economy, e.g., Romans 8. So many of the saints had an intimate and vibrant relationship with and care for the Creation. They recognized to cherish and care for Creation was to draw ever closer to our Creator. I hesitate to use this phrase, but because it expresses what Holy Mother Church is trying to awaken in us is the reality of SPIRITUAL ECOLOGY. We cannot afford to pretend our infinite, eternal and holy loving God, Savior AND Creator would have us live and serve His Kingdom not just in the pew, the sanctuary or our Liturgical books. He also calls us to join all of Creation in humble love and service of He who made us, together, in Him.
I agree with you, Deacon Harry, about the importance of care for the earth, since we have to live in a clean home, so to speak, so we can enjoy life. Grace is certainly mediated through nature in the sense that Nature is God’s gift to us, for which we should be eternally grateful. And this gratefulness is always mandated even though our citizenship is in heaven where Jesus goes to prepare a place for us, for us who keep his commandments. In fact it should be granted that to honor nature–that is, to respect its dictates– is to honor God. I think what people object to on this forum is the selective application of this principle. On the one hand it is well and good to take care of the earth and study nature’s laws so as to live as peaceably and safely on this our planet. On the other hand violations of nature are regarded as moral imperatives for the LGBTQ+ crowd and their supporters in the hierarchy. This inconsistency I find repulsive.
You are correct, Dan.
I see the crisis within the Church as the rejection or dismissal of belief in the Real Presence. Creation Care ministries, and all Church ministries, should begin and end with inculcating the doctrine of Transubstantiation.
Everything else is a diversion that leads us away from Christ.
I agree, caring for the earth is a sacred responsibility to God, Who made this earth, and gave us our earthly home to responsibly care for. Mature Christians should be leaders in responsible care for our planetary home. The sinful Democrats, hippie liberal leftists, LGBTs, and those sick people who are pro transgenderism, transgender mutilations, transgenders in women’s sports, feminism, women’s “reproductive rights,” free sex, birth control, abortion, IVF and “test tube babies,” surrogacy, gay “marriage” and adoptions, etc., violate and lie about Nature constantly, and tear it to pieces. They will scream at you to not use a plastic straw– while at the same time, scream at you to support their horrific causes, extremely violent to Nature, God’s creation.
Why when I click on a comment on the side bar it doesn’t show that comment under the story?
It’s been like this for a while. I’m not sure if the editor is aware.
It seems to have been fixed and worked this time.
Whereas Democrats obstinately persist in violating natural law, the necessity occasions itself of safeguarding and securing our Republic from further acts of savage indecency that naturally arise from their persistence in violating natural law. Therefore, in order to secure this goal for the good of our Republic, Democrats should be banned from having pets to help preserve our Republic from acts of savage indecency.
Many liberal white women are “dog mommas” don’t you know? I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read, “Proud Dog Grandma”. Liberal white women are crazy. I note that in my parish it’s the liberal white women who are pushing the season of creation on everyone else.
Watch out! There are actually Democrat radical liberal women of all races– Hispanic, Black, Asian, etc. Including Kamala Harris, who lost the 2024 Presidential election to Donald Trump. It is just that in the U.S., you may find a lot of white women who are liberal. Another name for that may be “hip,” or “trendy,” those who follow the latest trends, unable to think for themselves, totally brainwashed, “radicalized.” Makes you sick! Anyway, it is very important to have a big heart, to be kind to animals. The Pope should preach that, too. Animals need and deserve love and kindness. That has nothing at all to do with human beings’ attitudes towards having children, or being liberal, “hip,” “trendy,” and radically brainwashed. Regardless, just be kind to the poor, helpless animals.
I recall, one day, about 20 years ago, talking to a wealthy young woman, a mixed-race (Asian/Caucasian) business owner, married to a wealthy Asian SF lawyer, both “Nancy Pelosi” type liberal, leftist “bad Catholics,” and she was dressed in “trendy,” deliberately-ripped jeans, arranging for the baptism of a new baby she had just had. What awful clothes for any woman to wear! Especially in church! I felt sorry for the poor baby, to have this liberal, feminist, leftist “Nancy Pelosi”-type woman as his mother. She told me all about the “hip,” trendy child-rearing psychology methods that she and her husband followed, and the “hip” “bad Catholic” schools for her kids.The baptism was to be a very “trendy” affair, with a big party of their “bad Catholic” prominent, wealthy, leftist SF friends, afterwards.
You rascal!! 🐕🤓
If you want to be kind to animals, you should not permit those who violate natural law to have access to them.
Yes, I am sure that the Democratic Party has lots of dog mommas.
Whem I was young, people still had at least one family member that had a farm, and many grew up or spent time on family farms. People were closer to Nature and appreciated it. The marvels and beauty of Nature, and all its magnificence and mysteries, brought people closer to God. They marvelled at God’s handiwork in Nature, and would tell you about the beauty and mysterious orderliness of the Divinely-ordained workings of Nature. Many knew all about the different kinds of animals, and birds and their unique songs, and the different plants and flowers, and knew tips on making beautiful lawns, gardens, and more. They knew the basics of farming, too, and how to handle Nature in dealing with the land, the different seasons, the waterways, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc. While we are here on this planet, alive, we must behave responsibly, and with care. This land, and this planet, are God’s Creation, not ours. Our schools must teach children respect, care, love and responsibility for Nature, created by God, the marvels of ecology in our environment, and to always be kind to animals. Keep the air, water, land, and food clean, and feed your family nutritious meals, with love. Be very careful with fire, and potential hazards in Nature.