Today, 1 September 2026, marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, a time when the global Church invites us to reflect deeply on our relationship with God’s creation and to recommit ourselves to caring for our common home. This year’s theme – Living Water – speaks directly to one of the most urgent crises of our time: the struggle for access to clean water and the injustice that disproportionately affects women and girls worldwide.
Mary Ward, our foundress, taught us that “this is verity; to do what we have to do well.” Verity is truth lived out. As members of the Congregatio Jesu and the wider Mary Ward Family, we understand that caring for creation is not optional; It is central to our faith and our mission.
Water as Justice
The theme of Living Water reminds us that water is not merely a resource; it is life itself. Yet millions, particularly women and girls, lack access to safe, clean water. They walk miles to fetch water, miss school, fall ill. This injustice demands our response. Our sisters worldwide are already engaged in this work, ensuring clean water access, improving sanitation, building wells, and educating communities about hygiene and water conservation.
Our Commitment to Laudato Si'
Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’ has shaped our congregational commitment to integral ecology. Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation (JPIC) are not separate from our mission, they are at its heart. We joinded the seven-year plan of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, guiding our provinces and regions in concrete action for climate justice and creation care.
This commitment flows from our Ignatian spirituality: recognising God’s presence everywhere, we see the sacredness of creation and our responsibility as co-workers with God. Our sisters engage in environmental advocacy, combat human trafficking that exploits vulnerable people and destroys ecosystems, support Indigenous peoples in reconciliation and land stewardship, and champion girls’ and women’s rights, recognising that justice for people and justice for creation are inseparable.
A Call to Action
The Season of Creation invites all of us, sisters, associates, companions, and friends, to examine our lives. How do we use water? How do we care for God’s Creation, our common home? What are we doing to protect it? Where do we stand with those on the margins who suffer most from environmental degradation?
This is not despair; this is hope rooted in action. As Mary Ward reminds us, we are called to do what we have to do well. This Season of Creation, we commit afresh to living this verity: protecting water, cherishing the earth, and walking in solidarity with all God’s creation.
The living water flows. Will you join us?
