As we enter the Season of Creation 2024, we are invited to reflect deeply on our relationship with the world around us. This year’s theme, “To Hope and Act with Creation,” calls us to re-examine our role within Creation, not as rulers, but as fellow creatures, sharing in the sacredness of all that God has made.
For too long, we have treated the Earth as an object, a mere resource for our use. But this season challenges us to see Creation as a subject—a living, breathing reality that groans alongside us, yearning for renewal. The biblical imagery of Creation groaning in childbirth (Romans 8:22) powerfully reminds us that the Earth is not just a backdrop to our lives but a mother, our Sister, groaning under the weight of our neglect and exploitation.
Saint Francis of Assisi understood this profound connection when he called the Earth our Sister and Mother in his Canticle of the Creatures. He recognised that Creation is not simply a home but a cosmic family to which we belong. How can we expect to thrive if we disregard the well-being of our family? How can Mother Earth continue to sustain us if we do not care for her?
And yet, amidst the pain and the groaning, there is hope. The hope that Paul speaks of in Romans 8 is not passive; it is not waiting for a miraculous intervention while we remain idle. Instead, it is an active hope, a hope that calls us to action. It is the hope that arises from endurance, from character, and from the belief that our efforts to care for Creation are not in vain (Romans 5:4).
This hope is not a shallow optimism or a utopian dream. It is a trust that, even when the results of our actions are not immediately visible, they matter. This hope pushes us to endure, to be patient, and to keep striving for a world where justice and harmony prevail.
The symbol of this year’s Season of Creation, “The Firstfruits of Hope,” reminds us that our efforts, no matter how small, are the beginnings of something greater. Just as the firstfruits signal the promise of a full harvest, our acts of care and compassion for Creation are the first signs of a renewed world. But these firstfruits do not come without effort. They require us to work in tandem with Creation, to collaborate with the natural world, and to recognise that we are not separate from it, but a part of it.
There is much to learn from different cultures and languages about the nature of hope. In Portuguese and Spanish, the verbs esperançar and esperanzar suggest that hope is an active process, something that we do rather than something we wait for. This reminds us that our hope for a better world must be accompanied by concrete actions—actions that reflect our responsibility to care for the Earth and all its inhabitants.
As we journey through this Season of Creation, let us allow our hope to be ignited by holy anger at the injustices we see and the courage to make a difference. Let us remember that we are part of a cosmic family, entrusted with the care of our common home. And let us act, not out of fear or despair, but out of the deep, enduring hope that new life is possible—that the firstfruits of hope are already beginning to emerge.