From Eucharistic Adoration in the home of Padre Pio to children discovering creation in Australia, the Franciscan family exploring ecological conversion in Kenya, communities defending water and territories in Brazil, and a Laudato Si’ Animator opening new doors in the Philippines, the first days of the Season of Creation reveal streams of Living Water already flowing around the world.
Living Water Stories 2026
Every story is a drop. Together, we become a river of Living Water.
The Season of Creation 2026 has begun.
From September 1 to October 4, Christians around the world are coming together in prayer and action for our common home under this year’s theme, Living Water, inspired by the vision of the prophet Ezekiel:
“Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live.” (Ezekiel 47:9)
But where can we see this Living Water today?
Throughout this Season of Creation, Living Water Stories will follow the people and communities bringing this theme to life around the world.
Some stories will begin in prayer. Others beside rivers, in parishes, schools or communities experiencing the consequences of the ecological crisis. Still others will show what happens when contemplation becomes conversion and conversion becomes action.
Our first journey takes us to Italy, Australia, the Philippines and Zambia.
Four very different places. Four different expressions of faith.
One river of hope.
In the home of Padre Pio, water and Eucharist meet
In San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, home of St. Padre Pio, the Season of Creation began in a profoundly Eucharistic way.
On September 2, the Laudato Si’ Community of San Giovanni Rotondo organized a Eucharistic Adoration outside the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, presided over by Fr. Franco Moscone, Archbishop of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo.
During his homily, Archbishop Moscone offered a simple but profound connection: without water, there would be no Eucharist either.
The bread and wine we bring to the altar depend upon soil, rain, water, farmers and the relationships that sustain creation. The Eucharist itself reminds us that our spiritual lives cannot be separated from the Earth that nourishes us.
But the reflection did not remain only in contemplation.
Archbishop Moscone also recalled tragic experiences of severe pollution in the region. In a territory that has experienced ecological wounds, Living Water becomes more than a biblical image. It becomes a call to protect life.
The celebration was organized by the local Laudato Si’ Community, which includes Laudato Si’ Animators among its representatives, and was broadcast through Padre Pio TV.
A local prayer became part of something much larger: a global river of prayer for our common home.
In Brisbane, children learn to see creation differently
Thousands of kilometers away, in Brisbane, Australia, Living Water is flowing through much smaller hands.
Children and families are being invited to experience the Season of Creation through prayer, creativity and simple actions at home.
They can create reusable beeswax wraps, grow grass from eggshells, prepare meals using leftovers, make water feeders for birds and explore their surroundings through a creation scavenger hunt.
A Living Water Prayer Experience invites children to “dive into” God’s Living Water—to immerse themselves in it and learn how to share it with others.
Another prayer experience invites them outside to notice leaves, birds and flowers and recognize that all creation joins in praising God.
These may appear to be small activities.
But perhaps ecological conversion begins precisely here: when we learn to notice.
When a child recognizes that a bird needs water, that food should not be wasted or that a tiny seed contains the possibility of new life, they begin to discover that creation is not something separate from us.
We belong to it.
And we are called to care for it.
In Kenya, the Franciscan family asks what ecological conversion demands of us
In Kenya, the beginning of the Season of Creation brought together Franciscan spirituality, education and the search for concrete responses to the ecological crisis.
Laudato Si’ Movement joined the Franciscan Family, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and other partners for the Franciscan Jubilee Symposium, a space for reflection and dialogue on how faith can respond to the challenges facing our common home.
Among the conversations was the transition toward clean and renewable energy—a reminder that ecological conversion asks us not only to contemplate creation, but also to reconsider the systems and choices that shape our relationship with it.
For the Franciscan family, this call has particular resonance.
More than 800 years after St. Francis of Assisi praised God for “Sister Water,” Christians are confronting a world in which water, climate, energy and the wellbeing of vulnerable communities are increasingly interconnected.
The symposium concluded with the official launch of the Season of Creation 2026, turning reflection toward the journey ahead.
In Kenya, Living Water therefore begins with an encounter: between faith and the ecological crisis, Franciscan spirituality and today’s choices, contemplation and transformation.
In Brazil, defending territories means defending water and life
In Belisário, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Living Water is taking the form of solidarity across borders.
Leaders and organizations from Angola, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico are gathering for the Latin American Exchange on Mining-Free Territories, taking place from August 31 to September 4.
Organized by the Diálogo dos Povos network, the gathering seeks to strengthen international cooperation in the defense of mining-free territories, the rights of nature and alternatives to extractivist models.
Participants are not only meeting around tables. They are visiting territories, listening to local communities, sharing experiences and collectively developing strategies to protect life, water and the commons. The gathering coincides with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and the opening of the Season of Creation.
Here, prayer for creation encounters the realities of communities whose land and water are threatened by extractive activities. Laudato Si’ Movement is participating in this process, contributing to dialogue and coordination in defense of territories and communities. Among those taking part are members of the Movement and Anderson Bezerra da Silva, an environmental engineering student and member of the coordination of the Rio de Janeiro Chapter, helping connect local action with wider processes of international solidarity and cooperation.
The gathering reminds us that protecting Living Water sometimes requires defending the places from which that water flows.
It means listening to communities.
It means questioning models of development that treat creation only as a source of raw materials.
And it means recognizing that a river, a forest, a mountain and the people who depend upon them belong to an interconnected community of life.
In Brazil, becoming Living Water means standing together so that territories—and the life they sustain—can continue to flourish.
In the Philippines, one Animator opens a door
Sometimes Living Water begins with one person.
In the Philippines, a Laudato Si’ Animator was invited by her parish to speak about Laudato Si’ during the visit of a relic of St. Francis of Assisi.
She asked for materials about Laudato Si’ Movement, printed them herself and brought them to her parish.
She distributed prayers and information alongside plants and seedlings as part of the parish’s Season of Creation celebration.
It was a simple grassroots initiative.
But something began to grow.
The parish is now developing an ecology ministry and has expressed interest in receiving a special Laudato Si’ formation for parishioners.
And potentially, an entire community beginning a new journey of ecological conversion.
This is how movements grow—not only through international gatherings or major institutions, but because ordinary people bring their convictions into their communities and patiently open new doors.
Living Water often begins as a small stream.
One river, many streams
San Giovanni Rotondo. Brisbane. Nairobi. Belisário. The Philippines.
Five places reveal different expressions of the same journey.
We receive Living Water through prayer, contemplation and our encounter with God in creation.
We encounter the reality of our common home—its beauty, but also the ecological crisis threatening water, territories and vulnerable communities.
And we are called to become Living Water—through our choices, our ministries, our advocacy, our solidarity and our willingness to act.
A Eucharistic prayer in San Giovanni Rotondo joins a child’s act of care in Brisbane. Franciscan voices gathered in Nairobi invite us to consider what ecological conversion demands of us. In Belisário, communities from across continents stand together to defend water, territories and life. And in a parish community in the Philippines, a seedling placed into someone’s hands by one Laudato Si’ Animator is helping open the door to an ecology ministry for an entire parish.
Each action may appear to be only a drop.
But drops become streams.
Streams become rivers.
And wherever Living Water flows, new life can emerge.
This is only the beginning.
Throughout the Season of Creation, Living Water Stories will continue following these streams around the world—sharing stories of people and communities receiving, encountering and becoming Living Water for our common home.
Where is Living Water flowing in your community?
Your parish, school, Laudato Si’ Circle, religious community, family or organization may already be part of this river.
Share your Season of Creation story with us
Tell us where you are, what your community is doing and how the Season of Creation is helping you become Living Water.
Because every story is a drop. Together, we become a river of Living Water.
“Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live.” — Ezekiel 47:9
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Great stories that give me lot of hope. Thank you.