As widely reported, the Vatican has authorized a new “Mass for the Care of Creation.” Headlines about a “first green Mass,” to be presided over by Pope Leo XIV this coming week, followed.
While I welcome every bit of even the tiniest attention to the (rich) intersection between “liturgy” and “creation,” the Vatican’s authorization of this “Mass for the Care of Creation” simply is “not good enough” at this point in time. In fact, it barely qualifies as “better than nothing.” Here is why:
First, this is not a full “Mass formulary” but only 5 rudimentary texts for a Mass. The Vatican did not even include a proper Preface in this “Mass for the Care of Creation,” never mind a Eucharistic Prayer, or pointers to which Eucharistic Prayers might be good to use. Some are not.
Second, the prayer texts offered are disappointing, not least in light of the rich Biblical witness as to what it means to worship in communion with all creation. The biblical texts that speak most deeply to that reality – e.g., Psalm 148; Dan 3:52-90 – are sadly absent from this Mass formulary. What remains is a largely anthropocentric posture embodied in the “Mass for the Care of Creation”: we humans should care for creation. This is simply inadequate to the realities of planetary peril we live with, when human beings are busily paving a veritable “highway to hell” (António Guterres) through large-scale, human-induced climate change. And it is human beings – especially those from the so-called first world – who have been fueling this planetary warming through life-styles built on unbridled carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Maybe a stark confession of “sins against creation” (the term is Pope Francis’) would have been a better starting point for the Vatican when it wants to weigh in on how authentically to link creation and worship today?
Third, the preliminary English translation of this Mass formulary leaves much (beauty) to be desired, in the sense of a compelling contemporary prayer language. Do we really want to pray to be “docile” – even if it is to the Holy Spirit?
Fourth, and most importantly, there has been a movement within the Catholic Church and among sister churches to add a proper “Feast of Creation in Christ” (http://www.bit.ly/assisi-2024-report] to the liturgical calendar. Most other churches have moved forward swiftly with this, while the Vatican Curia – despite much pleading – has dragged its feet. Now, without consultation with the many episcopal conferences and groups that have for years worked hard on the theological, pastoral, and liturgical underpinnings of such a feast, the Vatican offers us these texts for another “Mass for special needs.” I for one have a hard time discerning the Spirit’s guidance in this.
I do hope that that this “Mass for the Care of Creation” is only a first small step, and that we may soon be able to celebrate the addition of an annual Feast of Creation in Christ to the General Roman Calendar – a feast with fuller Mass texts, a richer biblical witness, a deeper theological grounding, and all of that in beautiful and compelling prayer language. Our planet in peril deserves nothing less as it continues to groan, under human-induced ecological torments.