September is a school month. We’re all still going to school. As Catholics we learn from the feasts and saints we celebrate and the readings before us, day by day, month by month. 

We also learn from the prayers we say. If we listen closely our prayers tell us to pray from the world we live in. For example: “Grant that all the faithful of the church, looking into the signs of the times by the light of faith, may devote themselves to the service of the gospel. Keep us attentive to the needs of all that, sharing their grief and pain, their joy and hope, we may faithfully bring them the good news of salvation and go forward with them along the way of your Kingdom.” (Eucharistic Prayer)

We need to pray, not just for our ourselves or those close to us, but for all and for the world at large.  

What are the signs of the times we should look for this September? On September 11, we remembered the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York and the thousands killed there. A sign that our world is in danger.

This month in New York City the United Nations meets. In September 2015 world leaders agreed to work together to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.The goals aimed to “eliminate poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change, while ensuring no one is left behind.” They recognized that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address.

We are not on target to achieve those goals. A pandemic and wars are presently dividing us. Doesn’t look good.

If we don’t look on these signs of the times in the light faith we can easily throw up our hands and hide in our own worlds, But faith says the world is in God’s hands, and ours too, so let’s not lose hope or give up.

September is also the Season of Creation. It’s time to open our minds to the created world around us and give it our attention and care. Technology is not the complete answer to climate change. Our religious traditions tell us to see creation as God’s creation. We need to welcome it into our prayer and our care.

Pope Francis in Laudato Si’ says we need to have “ an ecological conversion”. Let’s pray we do.

September is a month to go to school. Every month, every day we’re going to school.