Reflection on the Season of Creation 2026
LIVING WATER: A RIVER OF HOPE FOR OUR WOUNDED EARTH
September 1 – October 4 | Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
“Wherever the river flows, every living creature will live… for wherever the water goes, it will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes.”
— Ezekiel 47:9
The Season of Creation invites us to listen with the eyes of our hearts to the cry of our common home. From September 1 to October 4, we are called to a deeper time of prayer, reflection, conversion, and action, inspired this year by the theme “Living Water” and the vision of Ezekiel 47:1–12.
Ezekiel sees water flowing from the Temple—a small stream that becomes a mighty river. Wherever it flows, life returns. Barren places become fruitful, and what was wounded is renewed.
Water gives life. Water heals. Water renews. Water connects.
Yet today, our Earth is deeply wounded. We witness devastating earthquake, typhoons, floods, landslides, droughts, wildfires, extreme heat, rising seas, and the destruction of forests, rivers, oceans, mountains, and agricultural lands. Natural resources are increasingly exploited, while many communities lose their homes, livelihoods, and hope.
And often, the poor and most vulnerable suffer the most.
So we ask ourselves:
What have we done to the rivers meant to give life?
What have we done to the forests meant to shelter us?
What have we done to the land that feeds us and the seas that sustain us?
Perhaps the deeper question is not only, “What is happening to our Earth?”
But:
“What is happening to us?”
Because when the Earth is wounded, humanity is wounded.
The ecological crisis is not only an environmental concern. It is a moral, human, spiritual, and JPIC concern. The cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor are deeply connected.
Becoming Living Water
Ezekiel reminds us that the river began as a small stream. This gives us hope.
Our actions may seem small, but small acts of love can become rivers of transformation.
We become living water when we:
• choose simplicity instead of excess;
• protect rather than destroy;
• plant rather than uproot;
• conserve water and natural resources;
• reduce what we consume and waste;
• educate others to love and care for Creation;
• stand with communities affected by disasters and environmental injustice;
• and courageously speak when profit is placed above life.
As Salvatorian Sisters committed to Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation, we are called not merely to observe the ecological crisis but to become prophets of hope and guardians of life.
May our communities become streams of compassion.
May our ministries bring healing to people and to the Earth.
May our spirituality lead us from words to prophetic action.
Walking with St. Francis
As we journey toward October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, may we learn again to see Creation as our sacred family—the Earth as our sister and mother, the water as a precious gift, and every creature as part of God’s beautiful work.
St. Francis teaches us to encounter God not only in prayer, but also through Creation.
May we recover that sense of wonder.
May we protect what God has entrusted to us.
And may every person affected by environmental destruction become, for us, not a statistic, but a brother and sister who deserves our compassion, solidarity, and action.
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us!