Cooler weather and shorter days are notable signs of the transition from summer to fall in much of the northern hemisphere. In many places, it’s also harvest season. 

Harvest celebrations can be found across many cultures and communities. In the midwest, many parishes with German roots hold Oktoberfest celebrations modeled after the famous Bavarian festival held from mid-September until the first Sunday in October. (Beer, after all, comes from grains and hops – and so is intimately connected to the harvest!) Local orchards and farms host apple festivals, corn mazes and pumpkin patches to celebrate nature’s bounty, serving up delectable pies and doughnuts and memory-making experiences for all to enjoy.

But the celebration at the heart of these festivals is serious spiritual business: giving thanks to God for providing for our needs for another year. From ancient times, Christians have marked the harvest in a variety of ways. Some brought the “first fruits” or a portion of their harvest to the parish church to be blessed and shared with the needy. Other communities gathered for large meals to celebrate the completion of the harvest, often including music and dancing along with the meal. In other places, communities celebrated the harvest with processions, often carrying a “harvest crown” or “corn dolly” (a figure made from the last sheaf of grain) to ensure a good crop the following year.

Gratitude is the virtue that prevents us from taking nature’s bounty for granted, and the Church invites us to prayerfully reflect on this on Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Pope Francis established this day to encourage Catholics around the world to pray for our common home. He called this season a time for communities to “reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation and to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care.”

To help savor the fruits of this season, we invite you to try these delicious apple dumplings. Their golden crispy goodness with cinnamon-sugar sprinkled on top is sure to inspire warm thoughts of gratitude to God for this fine planet we are blessed to call home.