In the Season of Creation, don’t forget Sunday. Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples on the day of the sun.  “Very early when the sun had risen on the first day of the week” Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome came to the tomb, Mark tells the Christians of Rome. (Mark 16:2) The other gospels agree: it was “on the first day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead and showed himself to his disciples. (Matt.28:1; Lk24:1; Jn 20:1)

“On the day named after the sun we assemble to hear the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets,” St. Justin (+165)  told the Romans in his Apology. He connected the day of the sun to the day described in Genesis: “the day God transformed darkness and matter and created the world.” Jesus rose from the dead on the day of the sun. 

In the 4th century, Constantine decreed that Sunday, “the venerable day of the sun”, should celebrate Jesus Christ, the Lord. Gradually, Sunday became a special day in the calendar of the Roman world. A day of rest from work of creation to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Exploring the universe today, modern science affirms the role of the heavens in deep time. Billions of years ago, another sun burst asunder, creating atomic remnants that eventually became the universe we live in now. There is no life without the sun. We would not exist without it. Science adds new dimensions to the mystery of Jesus that takes place on Sunday. 

In his encyclical Laudato Si’ Pope Francis saw the rich significance of the creation story in our Sunday celebration:

“On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day that heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the “first day” of the new creation, whose first fruits are the Lord’s risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality.” (Ls 237)

“In the Christian understanding of the world, the destiny of all creation is bound up with the mystery of Christ, present from the beginning: “All things have been created though him and for him” (Col 1:16).[80] The prologue of the Gospel of John (1:1-18) reveals Christ’s creative work as the Divine Word (Logos). But then, unexpectedly, the prologue goes on to say that this same Word “became flesh” (Jn 1:14). One Person of the Trinity entered into the created cosmos, throwing in his lot with it, even to the cross. From the beginning of the world, but particularly through the incarnation, the mystery of Christ is at work in a hidden manner in the natural world as a whole, without thereby impinging on its autonomy.” Ls. 237

Every Sunday in morning prayer the church prays Daniel’s canticle calling on all creation to praise God: 

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord.

Praise and exalt him above all forever.

Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord.

You heavens, bless the Lord.

All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord.

All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord.

Sun and moon, bless the Lord.

Stars of heaven, bless the Lord.

Every shower and dew, bless the Lord.

All you winds, bless the Lord.

Fire and heat, bless the Lord.

Cold and chill, bless the Lord.

Dew and rain, bless the Lord.

Frost and chill, bless the Lord.

Ice and snow, bless the Lord.

Nights and days, bless the Lord.

Light and darkness, bless the Lord.

Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.

Let the earth bless the Lord.

Praise and exalt him above all forever.

Mountains and hills, bless the Lord.

Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord.

You springs, bless the Lord.

Seas and rivers, bless the Lord.

You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord.

All you birds of the air, bless the Lord.

All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord.

You sons of men, bless the Lord.

O Israel, bless the Lord.

Praise and exalt him above all forever.

Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord.

Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord.

Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord.

Holy men of humble heart, bless the Lord.

Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, bless the Lord.

Praise and exalt him above all forever.

Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Let us praise and exalt him above all forever.

In his Raising of Lazarus, painted in 1890, Van Gogh replaced the figure of Christ at the tomb of Lazarus with Christ, the Sun of Justice. Christ fills the tomb and the world itself with his life-giving light. 

The woman with outstretched arms and golden hair is bathed in the light. In the gospel account Martha, the sister of Lazarus, proclaims her belief in the words of Jesus. “I am the Resurrection and the life.”

 Van Gogh was a man who experienced the suffering of mental illness. It seems he painted his own face as the face of Lazarus.

On Friday, we remember the mystery of the Passion of Jesus. He is the Sun that never sets. In evening prayer every day, especially on Fridays, the church professes belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus. “We believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.”

“Let us give thanks to the Father, for having made you worthy to share the lot of the saints in light. 

He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us in the kingdom of his beloved Son.”

(Colossians 1:12 Evening Prayer, wk 4)

God our Father,

the contradiction of the cross proclaims your infinite wisdom. Help us to see that the glory of your Son is revealed in the suffering he freely accepted

Give us faith to claim as our only glory the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…(Friday evening)

September 3rd is the feast of St. Gregory the Great – greatest of the popes, many say. Gregory’s remembered, not on the day of his death, but on the day he became pope, September 3, 590, which probably was the day he thought himself condemned to death.

Years ago, I lived across the street from Gregory’s home on the Celian Hill in Rome. On my way to school, I would peek through the doors of the library of Pope Agapitus, a relative of Gregory’s, where archeologists were at work learning about what was once the largest Christian library in Rome. Barbarian tribes later plundered the place on one of their regular sweeps through the city. 

Bad times. Gregory was called from his monastery, not just to be pope, but to lead a city under siege. He was never healthy and never had much support. Most of Rome’s leading families moved to safer parts; the imperial government relocated in Milan. The burden of the city and the church fell on him. 

Called to a position he didn’t want, Gregory drew wisdom and strength from the scriptures, especially from figures like Job and Paul the Apostle. In his Commentary on Ezechiel, Gregory saw himself like Ezechiel appointed the city’s watchman, who had to go up to the heights and see what’s coming,

“I’m not doing this very well, ” Gregory says. 

“I do not preach as well as I should nor does my life follow the principles I inadequately preach.

  “I don’t deny my guilt, I get tired and negligent. Perhaps by recognizing my failure I’ll win pardon from a sympathetic judge. When I lived in the monastery I was able to keep my tongue from idle topics and give my mind almost continually to prayer, but since taking on my shoulders the burden of pastoral care, I can’t keep recollected, with my mind on so many things.

“I have to consider questions affecting churches and monasteries and often have to judge the lives and actions of others; I have to take part in certain civil affairs, then I have to worry about barbarians attacking and wolves menacing the flock in my care; I have a political duty to support those who uphold the law; I have to put up patiently with thieves and then I have to confront them,  in all charity.

  “My mind is torn by all the things I have to think about. Then I have to put my mind on preaching. How can I do justice to this sacred ministry? 

“Because of who I am I have to associate with all kinds of people and sometimes I say too much. But if I don’t talk to them the weaker kind of people wont come near me, and then we wont have them when we need them. So I have to listen to a lot of aimless chatter. 

 “But I’m also weak myself and I can get drawn into gossiping and then find myself saying the same things I didn’t care to listen to before. 

  “Who am I — what kind of watchman am I? I’m not standing  on the heights, I’m down in the depths of weakness. And yet the creator and redeemer of all can give me, unworthy as I am, the grace to see life as it really is and power to speak effectively of it. It’s for love of him that I do not spare myself in preaching him.”

You have to admire Gregory. However he felt, he’s the watchman caring for his city and his church. Weakness doesn’t prevent him from serving or being far-sighted. From the Celian Hill Gregory sent monks to England, then the ends of the world, to found the church there.

On his tomb in the Vatican is the simple inscription that describes him so well. “Servant of the servants of God.” 

We shouldn’t limit Gregory’s teaching on service to popes, bishops and priests either. It applies to anyone who directs others, like parents, teachers, politicians, directors and mentors of all kinds. You can’t serve others well if you don’t know yourself and your own weakness.

Van Gogh painted the sower over 30 times. The Sower with the Setting Sun, 1888, is one of those paintings. The sower sows even till night. He passes a dark tree that has been cut, yet it still has some living branches. Perhaps, like the sower, it has borne the burden of the day.

The setting sun, in darker yellow, seems to touch the sower on its course as he ends the work of the day.  Like a halo it blesses him as he goes into the night.

This is the message of the church’s evening prayer. It promises that Jesus Christ, the Sun of Justice, will remain with us as we end the day. God’s promise of life is never withdrawn. It’s  a promise made to us as individuals and a promise made to the world we live in.

Here is a prayer that ends the church’s evening prayer..

Father, yours is the morning and yours is the evening. Let the Sun of Justice, Jesus Christ, shine for ever in our hearts and draw us to that light where you live in radiant glory. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  (Tuesday evening, wk 2)

I am reminded of a hymn we often sing at evening prayers, The Setting Sun.

“The setting sun now dies away, 

and darkness comes at close of day. 

Your brightest beams, dear Lord impart, 

and let them shine within our heart.

We praise your name with joy this night,

Please watch and guide us till the light, 

Joining the music of the blest, 

O Lord we sing ourselves to rest. 

To God the Father, God the Son, 

and Holy Spirit with them one, 

Trinity blest whom we adore, 

Be praise and glory evermore. 

This year’s Season of Creation concentrates on the theme “Living Water”, calling for us all to address the growing scarcity of fresh water and the inequality of access to it. Pope Leo asked for personal action by fixing leaks, taking shorter showers, turning off faucets not in use, and avoiding polluting drains and rivers.

UN agencies report around 2.1 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water, while 106 million rely exclusively on rivers, lakes, or other untreated surface water.

The pope offered this prayer and reflection available on the Vatican website.

Pope Leo asked for an “ecological conversion”today during a Mass for the Care of Creation” celebrated in the Vatican Gardens to begin the Season of Creation: September 1-October 4″ Here are some of his words:

” All creation speaks to us of the greatness of its Creator, if only our eyes and hearts remain open to such a great mystery.

Similarly, the Gospel passage from Matthew (cf. Mt 6:24–34) invites us to contemplate creation, while emphasizing the Lord’s special love for the human person.  As we look upon the birds of the air and the lilies of the field with wonder — so precious in the eyes of their Creator — we come to understand the greatness of God’s love for us.  If the Lord does not fail to bestow such splendid beauty upon plants and animals and provide for all their needs, how much more attentive will he be to the needs of his beloved sons and daughters!

Today, as we accept the invitation to pause and reflect before the works of God, we begin the “Season of Creation” — a period of five weeks devoted to prayer and commitment to the care of our “common home.”  On this Day, therefore, and in the weeks ahead, let us set aside a few moments to pause from the frenzy of our daily lives, in order to savor the profound harmony of which we ourselves are a part.  Let us place in “silent mode” the many noises generated by human activity, so that we may hear the melodious voice of creation, through which God, the Author of all things, speaks to us.

This task of contemplation, which disposes us to an encounter with the Lord, is a first step towards an “authentic ecological conversion, where the effects of our encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in our relationship with the world around us” (Message for the Eleventh World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, 1 September 2026).

From contemplating creation and encountering its Creator, there arises an awareness of our particular place within God’s wondrous plan, and of the responsibility that we bear both personally and collectively for preserving the original harmony. Thus, as we become conscious of our shortcomings and failures, we can renew our commitment to restoring the relationships among all creatures according to the will of their Creator.

For this reason, the Message for today’s World Day echoes “the prophetic call to ‘beat swords into ploughshares’ (Is 2:4)… to transform harm into life.”  It is not yet too late, and the Season of Creation calls us to a profound conversion: “What has been used for destruction can be redirected toward life, toward the care of the poor, the nourishment of the hungry, and the safeguarding of creation” (ibid.).”

We begin the Season of Creation with Van Gogh’s Sower in the Morning Sun, which he painted in 1888. Inspired by Jesus’ parable, the artist pictures the sower sewing on rocky ground, having crossed the path where some seed has fallen. The  birds of the air fly in to devour it.

Behind the sower is the good ground ripe for harvest, but the sower doesn’t see it. He’s intent on the rocky land before him.                                         

The  morning sun filling the sky with yellow light is the sun of creation, the everyday sun, beginning its journey from one end of the skies to the other. ( Psalm 19) Like a bridegroom, like an athlete, it’s on its course. “Nothing is hidden from its heat.”

The sun is also Jesus Christ. He is the Sun that never sets.

The church’s morning prayer often reminds us that Jesus Christ is the Sun that fills our day, though we may be hardly aware of his presence, like the sower in Van Gogh’s painting.

Let us give thanks to our Savior, who came into this world as God’s presence among us. –Christ, King of Glory, be our light and our joy. Lord Jesus, you are the rising Sun, the first-fruits of the future resurrection grant that we may not sit in the shadow of death but walk in the light of life. Christ, King of Glory, be our light and our joy. Show us your goodness, present in every creature,  that we may contemplate your glory everywhere. Christ, King of Glory, be our light and our joy. Do not allow us to be overcome by evil today,  but grant that we may overcome evil through the power of good. (Sunday, Morning Prayer)

In the Season of Creation we bond with creation and advocate for its needs.  Let’s remind ourselves of its beauty this month and ask how to care for its needs.

Sunday, “the day of the sun”, is the most important day of our week. We need to rediscover its beauty and our “Sabbath Rest.” For these first days of September let’s look at the sun, source of earth’s life,  through the eyes of the painter Van Gogh.  

Water is another cornerstone of creation. It pervades  creation and  blesses us with new life in  Baptism. 

September 8th is the Feast of the Birth of Mary. Her name identified the plants and flowers that bring healing and joy to the human family. We will  remember them in the days of September.

 September 14th, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, is a day when “all the trees of the forest shout for joy.”