The theme of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is “Seeds of Peace and Hope.” It was chosen, as Pope Leo XIV writes, “by our beloved Pope Francis,” as we also celebrate the Jubilee year as Pilgrims of Hope.

Pope Leo XIV reminds us that, “In Christ, we too are seeds, and indeed, ‘seeds of peace and hope.” He continues, “now is the time to follow words with deeds…. By working with love and perseverance, we can sow many seeds of justice and thus contribute to the growth of peace and the renewal of hope.”

Please join the Wheaton Franciscans in our celebration of the Season of Creation 2025, Working for Peace in Creation. Together, let us be Pilgrims of Hope and Sowers of Peace.

2025 Season of Creation Reflections

On Monday, September 1, the Wheaton Franciscans will join the global ecumenical celebration of the Season of Creation. This year’s global theme is Peace with Creation. Our beloved Pope Francis invited us to be “Seeds of Peace and Hope.” In a theological context, hope does not mean standing still and being quiet, but to act, pray, change, and reconcile with Creation and the Creator in unity and solidarity.

The Wheaton Franciscans have a long history of action, prayer, change, and unity with the Creator and all creation. Beginning next week, our weekly reflections will be excerpts from a theological reflection written by Sr. Gabriel Uhlein in 2005. These excerpts were selected months ago. Our Sr. Gabe left this earthly world on August 18, 2025, to join our communion of saints. She left behind a treasure trove of wisdom and artistry to guide and inspire for generations to come. The full version of Sr. Gabe’s theology reflection, along with other prayer and reflection resources, and our complete Season of Creation celebration schedule, can be found below.

The Wheaton Franciscans, in the lineage of St. Francis and St. Clare, celebrate the land we are privileged to be located upon. We acknowledge that it is located on the ancestral homelands of the Council of Three Fires, and that many other Indigenous tribes also resided on or migrated through this land.

“We affirm the way in which the overflowing goodness of God is revealed in its natural beauty, in the life forms it sustains and inspires, and in the ever-evolving complex relationships that its ecology evokes. The land makes possible great healing, peace, and love, nourishing both body and soul,” Sister Gabriele Uhlein.

Together, let us continue as pilgrims of hope, planting seeds of peace for the sake of all creation.

Jeanne Connolly, Director of Charism and Mission

Written by Wheaton Franciscan Sisters