Illuminations on the Season of Creation readings for Sept. 21, 2025 (Cosmos Sunday)
God creating the Sun, the Moon and the Stars in the Firmament (c.1650), oil painting on copper by Jan Brueghel the Younger (1601-1678). Anonymous collection, sold by Sotheby’s, London, in 2002. (Click image to enlarge.)
Cosmos Sunday
“Praise him you highest skies” –Psalm148:1
First Reading: Proverbs 8:22-31
The Wisdom Behind the World
In this text, Wisdom is portrayed as a woman speaking. She claims to have existed before God created the universe and was a partner with God in the design of each part of the universe.
Psalm: Psalm 104:24-26
A World Created by Wisdom
The whole world is formed by the wisdom of God thereby giving it all its parts, laws, design and purpose. That world even includes domains where God ‘plays’ with wild creatures in the ocean.
Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-20
Christ, the Cosmic Power
Christ is here introduced as the Cosmic One who is not only a force before all things existed but the one who is now the unifying impulse in all creation.
Gospel: John 6:41-51
Living Bread from Heaven
Jesus claims to be have been sent by the Father, the creator of the universe. As such, Jesus is that bread from another cosmic realm who offers life to those on Earth.
The Season of Creation, September 1 through October 4, is celebrated by Christians around the world as a time for renewing, repairing and restoring our relationship to God, one another, and all of creation. The Episcopal Church joins this international effort for prayer and action for climate justice and an end to environmental racism and ecological destruction. The 2025 theme is Peace with Creation. In celebrating the Season, we are invited to consider anew our ecological, economic, and political ways of living.