Living Water: Season of Creation 2026

Living Water Flowing Across GS Communities in the Philippines

Opening Mass and Liturgy

In Good Shepherd Convent in Quezon City, Mass for Creation was held on Sep 1 and on Sep 5 (with partners in mission). In Heart of Mary Villa, sisters, partners in mission and program participants held the opening ritual using the liturgy sent by the WJPIC team. Our prayer for the opening of this season: “May God the Father, who brought water from the rock, sustain us in our journey. May Christ, the Good Shepherd who is Living Water, refresh us for the work of restoration. And may the Holy Spirit carry us on currents of grace, until ‘justice rolls down like water and righteousness like an overflowing stream.’ Amen”

Walk for Creation

Srs Diane Cabasagan, Cielo Matuloy and Lita Clemen joined the annual Walk for Creation spearheaded by the Laudato Si’ Pilipinas Movement on Sep 5. This year it was held at the Maybunga Rainforest Park in Pasig. Though it was a rainy early morning, there was a good turnout of participants from parishes, schools, and religious congregations and institutions. It was also the first inter-religious Walk for Creation with representations from Muslim, Buddhist and indigenous communities. The park features lagoons and is richly surrounded by various plants and trees including a heritage tree. At the end of the liturgy, everyone shared the traditional breakfast of boiled egg, pandesal and suman.

Online Session with Fr Jojo Fung SJ

The WJPIC team organized a webinar themed: “Living Water: Responding to Today’s Environmental Crisis.” Fr Jojo Fung SJ from the Loyola School of Theology was the resource person. Fr explained the contrasting reality of life-giving living water with the recent destructive floodwaters and climate disasters, naming greed, corruption, throwaway culture, short-term profit, and a development model that prioritizes profit over people and planet as roots of ecological harm. Aside from the group sharing, highlight of the session was the “onening” meditation led by Father giving each one the chance to feel concretely the spirit of being one with all of creation from nearest to the farthest, minute and vast. The gathering became a venue again of sharing best practices of earth care.

Eco-Activities in Good Shepherd Baguio

In Baguio, sisters and partners in mission engaged in several activities expressing care for creation.

On September 16, 2026, Mountain Maid Training and Developmnt Foundation Inc (MMTDFI) and GSCBI staff and student workers participated in a discussion on pollution awareness and Philippine environmental laws. The session was facilitated by Randy Abigon, MMTDFI Safety Officer and Pollution Control Officer at the MMTDFI Center. It was focused on raising awareness of environmental protection, pollution prevention, and the importance of complying with relevant Philippine environmental laws and regulations.

Following this was a two-day workshop on how to make dishwashing liquid of used kitchen oil. On Day 1, Sep 17, participants learned the process of preparing the mixture and developing it into a soap paste. The mixture was then left to cure for seven days before proceeding to the next stage. The activity continued on September 28, 2026, with the dilution process. The activity enhanced the participants’ knowledge and practical skills in waste management and sustainable practices. It is not only beneficial to MMTDFI but can also be applied in each one’s homes and communities, promoting environmental responsibility and the practical reuse of kitchen waste.

On September 22, 2026, the sisters, staff, student workers, along with some Franciscan and Benedictine Sisters held a liturgy highlighting the importance of living water and its vital role in sustaining life. The prayer centered on the gift of living water, reflecting on how it sustains us in our journey and flows through our lives as a source of hope, renewal, and life. Following the liturgy, the participants planted 100 pine tree seedlings donated by the Office of the Mayor of Baguio City beside Eugene’s Vermi House. The tree-planting activity served as a concrete expression of their commitment to environmental stewardship, care for creation, and the protection of the natural environment.

Pilgrimage by Water in Batangas

On October 2, the St Bridget College community came together for the culmination of the Season of Creation through the Pilgrimage by the Water—a morning of prayer, reflection, and renewed commitment to care for our common home.

The pilgrimage gathered the Religious of the Good Shepherd Sisters, IPS personnel, administrators from the College and Basic Education Department (BED), and selected students.

Structured around a three-part Panata—gathering, reflection, and commitment—the journey featured an opening prayer at the SME Driveway, a time of reflection at the Barangay 1 Hall, and the proclamation of the Panata at the Calumpang River Dike.

At the river, participants joined in a Gospel reading, reflection, blessing of the water, and the Bokashi Ball ritual. The procession was led by the cross, candles, and bell, followed by members of the Bridgetine community carrying Bokashi balls as a symbolic act of care for creation.

The pilgrimage concluded with blessing and sending forth, and the singing of the Bridgetine Song—an expression of the community’s collective commitment to protect and nurture creation.

Good Shepherd Home Naga

On Oct 4, 2026, Hablodawani Good Shepherd Home in Naga held their inclusive activity, “Season of Creation: Living Water” joined by all program participants. They reflected deeply on water as God’s precious, life-giving gift, giving thanks, learning together, and promising to do their part to protect and conserve this vital resource. From their FB Page they shared: “A beautiful realization emerged during our session: the program participants saw how each one of us can truly help through simple, small acts of kindness, whether in safeguarding living water or in how we wisely and reverently use it day by day. We are all called to be faithful stewards, and together ,through these small, loving choices, we truly can make a difference. “

Good Shepherd Virac

On September 26,2026, Feast of Blessed Aguchita, the RGS sisters, Contemplative and Apostolic, together with the Partners-in-Mission and scholars held their Season of Creation culmination with a Mass presided by Fr Edison Bernardo, a clean-up drive and planting vegetables and ornamental plants. At the end, Sr Celeste Yuzon gave an input to the scholars on environmental stewardship. The day was a beautiful expression of gratitude for the gift of Creation and a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our common home regardless of age and status in life.

One with the Global Green Lung Initiative

All these initiatives for caring for creation are not an isolated, practice but all are done in solidarity with the whole Province an Congregation. On Sep 26, Feast of Blessed Aguchita the Congregational Leadership Team spearheaded the launch of the Global Green Lung Initiative with simultaneous tree-planting activity across units. There had been ongoing efforts in the congregation for integral ecology and this initiative is meant to unite and strengthen what everyone is doing. In the Province, care for creation has taken many forms. Annual tree planting is done from the north in Baguio and to the south Kalilid, Agusan del Sur. Communities whether in rural or urban setting, cultivates backyard gardening. Last July, 75 trees were planted around Villa Maria Good Shepherd in Cebu to mark their 75th foundation anniversary. In Quezon City, in the Maria Droste Wellness Center, a vegetable garden is flourishing at the 3rd floor of the building. Likewise, efforts are placed as policy on single-use plastic is implemented. Networking and collaboration with local diocese and organizations also keep alive the communal and synodal spirit of stewardship.

Celebrating the Gift of Water

In the Philippines, Season of Creation culminates on Oct 11 Indigenous Peoples’ Sunday and Extreme Poverty Day, recognizing how our indigenous communities have long been our earthkeepers and stewards and at same time being reminded that the call is to listen to the cry of the earth and of the poor. Communities gathered once more for prayer and ritual to conclude the month-long observance of the season of creation. Pope Leo in his message last Sep 1 for the World Day of Prayre for Creation reminded us: “We are called to allow our hearts to be renewed, so that we might seek peace and care for creation. Scripture tells us to guard our hearts, for everything we do flows from them. If we take up this task with humility and faith, we will become collaborators in God’s work of renewal. We will move, slowly but surely, from desert to garden, from division to communion, and from violence to peace.” May all prayers and actions done the past month go beyond the season, take root deep in our hearts and continue to grow as our embodied love for God, for one another and all of God’s creation.