We have officially entered the Season of Creation, an ecumenical period that promotes reflecting as a Christian community on what we can do for the world.
CAFOD volunteer David Ostrowski reflects on the theme for the season and how a child's perspective can change everything.
The Livesimply parish in White City, London, have worked closely with the local school to create a garden for the children to enjoy.
This year’s theme for the season is Living Water a title that is quite ironic considering the long, hot summer we have just had in England. The arrival of some rain was for once a welcome relief; seeing the dry landscape return to its green beauty brought a sense of content in knowing that despite the damage this continuous heat brought, things can return to their normal self. Watching the rain, I was reminded of how we and the entire planet are reliant on every single drop of water.
The text for this year comes from Ezekiel 47. As the readers we are presented with a vision of boundless water coming from God present in the Temple. Water that sustains and allows for spiritual growth. This theme of equating water and spiritual growth continues in the New Testament. For example in John 4:13-14, Jesus tells us that the water he will give us will create an eternal well within us.
What does this mean for us during this Season of Creation? Pope Leo XIV in his letter for this season calls us to be against war and violence. It doesn’t just harm our brothers and sisters; it damages the world around us, contaminating resources such as air and water. Pope Leo identifies that this care for the planet and work towards change can only begin from the change in our hearts.
Pope Leo’s words about inner change made me think of a conversation I had recently. I am fortunate to be an older brother with a sixteen-year age gap between us. While I do have the privilege of teaching my little sister much about the world, I often find I can learn just as much from her. Recently, she reminded me how simple a change of heart can be as she shifted my own understanding of what it means to care for creation
It was a warm day, and we were in the park. I had bought her an ice cream on the way back from the bookstore. Out of curiosity, I asked her a question I remember our parents always asking me when I was a child. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. She thought and responded with, “I want to be a cleaner. So, I can look after God’s creation”. I was quite surprised, part of me had expected her to say she wanted to be an astronaut, vet, artist or teacher. My first thought was not of creation or caring for it. Later it occurred to me that in my focus on adult practicalities of careers and money, I had missed the simplicity of her answer. For her, it wasn’t about what she could gain, but what she could give back to God and his creation.
This beautiful answer made me think of Jesus' words in Mark 10:13-16. Here Jesus tells the disciples to let children come to him, and that the Kingdom of God belongs to them. This is echoed in Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:1-5, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” To become like children is not to be childish, but to embrace that child-like innocence rather than being clouded by our adult life. In a world that so easily distracts us from the beauty of God’s nature, perhaps we can learn from a child who wants to simply look after it.
When I was younger, I remember learning about Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. It shaped my early thinking about responsibility towards creation. Admittedly, sometimes as an adult I can forget about this early approach I had. Pope Francis spoke about the need for inner change, recognising again that lasting change in the world around us begins with ourselves. We are called to live not just by faith but by active works. It is our vocation to care for this planet as it reflects the relationship we have with our Creator. By caring for this shared home, we care not just for ourselves, our brothers and sisters, but all the generations yet to come.
The restless heat of the English summer reminds us of not just the physical exhaustion the Earth feels due to climate change, but also the spiritual thirst our hearts are experiencing. Pope Leo and Francis both advocate for an internal change in order for us to challenge a world that is scarred by conflict and environmental neglect. But there is also the wisdom of my little sister, a child with an ice cream in a park, whose humble desire is to care for what is given to us by God. Her answer reminds me that caring for creation does not always have to be a grand act, it can be as simple as picking up litter we find on the ground. By embracing that innocent, active stewardship and stepping out from the distractions of adulthood we can rediscover our vocation to care for this planet. In doing so we allow for God’s Living Water to break the dry season in our own lives, nourishing our common home for generations to come.
