Every year, the Season of Creation invites us to rediscover our shared calling to care for our common home. But this year feels different, more grounded and more personal, because the stories within these pages come from the very soil, classrooms, and communities of Xavier Ateneo. They are not abstract reflections on ecology; they are lived experiences of students, faculty, staff, partners, and volunteers who choose to act and serve.

From the Atiman Kinaiyahan tree-growing activities, where students nurtured wildlings and propagated seeds, to the brown bag sessions that challenged us to confront corruption, climate realities, and our own ecological conversion, Xavier Ateneo showed what it means to blend education with action. Across the city, the XU community responded with compassion to the fire victims of Barangay 17, proving that caring for our common home also means caring for human lives shaken by disaster.

Along the coast of Alubijid and Bonbon, volunteers planted mangroves, cleaned shorelines, and stood with fisherfolk, simple acts that echo a promise of protection and renewal. Our faculty, and partners advanced sustainability efforts through waste-to-energy innovations, landscape risk assessments, and ecosystem service mechanisms in Mt Kalatungan, showing how science and community engagement work together for the common good.

What binds all these stories is a quiet but persistent hope: that when we come together, students and faculty, professionals and volunteers, communities and institutions, we can build a future where creation is not only protected but cherished.

Read more about Xavier Ateneo’s stories of stewardship, solidarity and hope through the 2025 Season of Creation Magazine prepared by the Laudato Si’ University Committee.