With Fall Coming, Let Us Listen to God’s Creation and Pray, Catholic Bishops Say

Catholic News Agency ^ | 9/6/22 | Kevin J. Jones

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Denver Newsroom, Sep 6, 2022 / 08:00 am The “beauty of the fall season” in many parts of the country is a great time to make yourself more open to God and to join Pope Francis in praying for God’s creation, the U.S. bishops have said.

“Our gratitude for plentiful harvests and the beauty of colorful leaves, early sunsets, and cooler air invites us to make some interior space to listen more carefully to creation, to each other and to God,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said Sept. 1.

The bishops’ message for the World Day of Prayer for Creation came from Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Justice and Human Development, and Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.

Pope Francis established the day of prayer in 2015. It is commemorated Sept. 1. It begins a month long “Season of Creation” that ends on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

The day of prayer is in keeping with the theme of the pope’s 2015 encyclical “Laudato si’,” (on care for our common home). The theme of this year’s day of prayer is “Listen to the Voice of Creation.”