I offer this Prayer for Autumn for contemplation as we prepare for the  new Liturgical season of Advent.  It is available from Liturgical Publications, Inc.

Heavenly Father,

you made not only the stars of the heavens,

but you made the seasons the earth.

In every autumn, there are endings and beginnings.

There is the end of vacations,

and the beginning of school.

Cool green leaves fall from their branches,

and become dappled yellows, bright oranges and deep reds.

Help me, when things end that I wish had continued,

to see that in you, there are no real endings.

In you, there are only changes, and new beginnings.

Give me the grace to know,

that even death itself is not the end,

but only a change

from one beautiful thing into another.

Amen

From Fr., Peter J. Krebs, S.T.