“Wherever the river flows, everything will live.” (Ezekiel 47:9)
The Season of Creation 2026 invites Christians around the world to reflect on the theme “Living Water.” Inspired by Ezekiel’s vision of a river flowing from the Temple, this theme reminds us that water is not simply a resource. It is a gift from God and a source of life, renewal, and hope.
For many communities across Africa, water is bound up with daily survival. As Kaburu Anthony notes in Water and Human Survival in Africa, access to water is fundamental to the well-being and survival of communities. Drought, flooding, pollution, and limited access to clean water affect families, farmers, children, and entire communities.
Before I became a Jesuit, I believed that a lack of water was simply normal, a whim of nature. In Chad, my home country, competition over limited water has fueled serious conflicts between communities. It was part of my early life, but the conflicts have become much more serious in recent years. In November 2025, a dispute over access to a well—one that did not even provide clean water—at least 33 people dead in southwestern Chad. Another conflict in eastern Chad in April 2026 claimed at least 42 lives. These tragedies remind us that water is not a matter of convenience. For many people, it is a matter of survival, peace, and justice.
Photo Credit: “Social Advancement in Guéra, Chad” by Serge Semur, S.J.
During my Jesuit formation, I also witnessed the hardship caused by water scarcity among refugees in Maban, South Sudan, in 2019. There, even having enough water for basic hygiene could be a daily struggle. Such experiences remind me that the most vulnerable often suffer the greatest consequences of environmental degradation. The ecological crisis is therefore also a crisis of justice.
Ezekiel’s vision offers a message of hope. The river begins as a small stream, but as it flows, it grows deeper and brings life wherever it goes. In the same way, our small acts of care, protecting, conserving, and restoring creation, can feed a greater movement of ecological conversion and renewal. As Pope Francis taught in his encyclical Laudato Si’, care for our common home is inseparable from our responsibility toward our brothers and sisters, especially the poor and vulnerable.
As Jesuits, as members of the American Jesuits International family, as students and collaborators in Jesuit works, and as members of a Church engaged in mission, we are called to find God in all things and to recognize creation as a sacred gift entrusted to our care. Through our schools, parishes, ministries, workplaces, and communities, we can conserve water, protect the environment, educate young people, support vulnerable communities, and advocate for environmental justice.
During this Season of Creation, may God’s living water transform our hearts and our communities. May our prayer lead us to action, and may our actions become streams of hope for a world in need.
The river begins as a small stream. Let us step into the water, go deeper, and become part of God’s river of life. Wherever it flows, may everything live.
