Laudato Si’: Reflecting and Taking Action to Care for Our Common Home

Meetings, research, presentations, and the sharing of resources have shaped the past year for the Laudato Si’ Committee of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM). Bringing together members from different regions, the committee helps foster reflection and action around integral ecology and the protection of our common home.

Water at the Heart of the Season of Creation 2026

The committee’s most recent initiative focuses on an issue particularly close to the SNJMs: water. In preparation for the Season of Creation, from September 1 to October 4, 2026, committee members have gathered a wide range of resources for the entire Congregation, associates, and partners.

Books, articles, documentaries, and other resources will provide opportunities to explore various water-related issues and reflect on our own relationship with this essential resource. Suggested actions will also encourage practical steps to help protect and preserve water.

This initiative builds on a long-standing commitment. In 2008, the SNJMs took a corporate stand recognizing water as a human right and a common good. Since then, this commitment has been reflected in various initiatives, including the awareness-raising work of the SNJM Water and Ecology Committee.

A Quebec Contribution to the Dialogue

Simon Lantz, partner of the SNJM Quebec Justice and Peace Committee

During the past year, the Laudato Si’ Committee has also explored emerging issues. Simon Lantz, a partner of the SNJM Quebec Justice and Peace Committee, gave a presentation on the impact of digital technologies on water consumption. 20 SNJM leaders from four countries took part in the session to deepen their understanding and, in turn, raise awareness within their own communities.

Quebec is represented on the committee by Julie Tétreault, an SNJM volunteer and the only layperson in the group.

Other activities have enriched the committee’s work, including the viewing of documentaries from Lesotho and elsewhere. Sr. Lorraine St-Hilaire, SNJM, from Manitoba, also developed a retreat focusing on integral ecology from a spiritual perspective. This approach has already been offered to several groups.

An Invitation to Renew Our Relationship with Water

As the Season of Creation approaches, the committee’s work offers an invitation that goes beyond how we use water: to deepen our understanding of it, contemplate its presence in our lives, and recognize our responsibility toward it.

To begin this period of reflection, explore the section below, “Read, Watch and Reflect on Water.” It offers a variety of resources for discovering water as a source of life, a common good, a spiritual reality, and a living environment that needs our protection. As a reminder throughout this month of reflection, you can also use the infographic 5 Ways to Care for Water (in French only).

The Laudato Si’ Committee includes Mamokotjo (Francina) Mokoteli, SNJM (Lesotho); Linda Riggers, SNJM (US/Ontario); Lorraine St-Hilaire, SNJM (Manitoba); Susan Wells, SNJM (CLT liaison); and Julie Tétreault (Quebec). The committee’s future will be determined later this year following the adoption of the new organizational structure at the 36th SNJM General Chapter, held in July 2026.

Members of the SNJM Laudato Si’ Committee

Read, Watch and Reflect on Water 💧

A source of life, a spiritual symbol, a common good, and a fragile ecosystem, water has always been a source of inspiration. Here are a few invitations to deepen our relationship with it.

📖 **Read—Water and Dreams, Gaston Bachelard**

A classic that explores water through poetry, images, dreams, and the imagination. A book that invites us to contemplate rather than simply explain.

🌊 **Watch — Je suis Magpie, by Susan Fleming**

This Quebec documentary takes us to the North Shore to discover the majestic Magpie River, in the heart of Innu territory. One of the last major free-flowing rivers in the region, it was granted legal personhood in 2021, a first in Canada. Through striking images and the voices of people committed to protecting it, Je suis Magpie invites us to see rivers differently: not simply as resources, but as living environments worthy of respect and protection.

🌦️ **Understand—Sécheresses et inondations, chercheurs en action (Droughts and Floods: Researchers in Action), ARTE (2026)**

How can we protect water and ecosystems in a climate marked by both drought and extreme rainfall? This documentary (in French) follows scientists, farmers, and local stakeholders in France and Germany as they search for solutions. Restoring waterways, adapting agricultural practices, and protecting biodiversity are among the approaches explored. A timely look at the close connections between water, climate, and our collective ability to adapt.

🙏 Reflect—Water in the Bible

From the waters of Creation to the waters of baptism, from the Samaritan Woman at the Well to “living water,” water flows throughout Scripture as a symbol of life, renewal, and hope. Why not revisit some of these passages while reflecting on what water means to us today?

🌊 Contemplate—Spend Time With Water

Walk beside a river, stream, or lake. Listen. Observe the movement, the reflections, and the life unfolding around it. Simply take a few moments to recognize that the water we depend on also connects us to the rest of the living world.

🎶 Listen — The River

Listen to this evocative song and read the lyrics.

An invitation to slow down: to look at water, listen to what it evokes, and renew our desire to care for it.