Still basking in the joy of having a successor of St. Peter who hails from the land of my birth (though admittedly still a bit disappointed that he’s not a Cubs fan), I, like many, have been eager for signs of how the new pontiff might carry forward the legacy of his predecessors. As a theologian with an interest in both of God’s “books,” I’ve especially kept an eye out for what he might have to say on the subjects of Scripture and creation.
As providence would have it, this week we were blessed to witness not one but two major developments in the Church’s engagement with the theme of creation and ecology. First, it was heartening to learn that Pope Leo XIV will continue the annual tradition of commemorating the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, accompanying it with this brief message. I plan to examine that text in my next column. For now, perhaps even more noteworthy was the pope’s approval of a new liturgical formulary: the Mass for the Care of Creation.<
I’ve looked into it a bit but haven’t yet found much analysis of this development beyond what is said in the decree itself issued by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and the brief discussion by Vatican officials at the press conference where it was first presented to the public. Since little online discussion seems to have emerged so far, I thought it opportune to share some analysis here in the hope that it might prove fruitful for clergy celebrating a Mass according to this formulary and for the laity assisting at it.
The Decree Promulgating the Mass for the Care of Creation
Some readers may be curious as to what a “formulary” is in the first place and how this new liturgical initiative is situated within the Church’s existing liturgical framework. A formulary is essentially a set of prayers, texts, and rites prescribed for use in the celebration of the Church’s public worship. As Cardinal Czerny recalled at the above-mentioned press conference, the current Roman Missal issued by John Paul II in 2000 contains 49 Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, each accompanied by a formulary appropriate to its particular intention.
The newly promulgated Mass for the Care of Creation appears alongside other liturgical texts related to current needs, such as those prayed “at seedtime,” “after the harvest,” “for fine weather,” and “in time of famine,” among others. Having signed off on the Church’s latest Mass for a specific need, Pope Leo for his part will inaugurate the effort of invoking God’s grace to guide us in rightly caring for our shared home with a Mass on July 9 at the Borgo Laudato Si’, an education center at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo devoted to the Church’s vision of integral ecology.
The opening line of the official decree issuing the formulary is already striking, as it cites St. Augustine’s prayer: “Let Your works praise You, that we may love You; and let us love You, that Your works may praise You.” By opening in this way, the Church wishes to draw our attention to a unique and reciprocal relationship: God’s works are occasions for contemplation that draw us more deeply into the love of Him, and that very love, in turn, compels us to exercise a greater commitment to loving stewardship of the world he made. As Cardinal Arthur Roche observes in promulgating the decree, the Scriptures often exhort us to contemplate the mystery of creation and thereby “to give endless thanks to the Holy Trinity for this sign of his benevolence.” To this, he adds that the precious treasure of God’s good earth “is to be loved, cherished and simultaneously advanced” as we inhabit it well and pass it down from generation to generation.”
The word “advanced” is key here, because—unlike much of secular environmentalism—Catholicism’s ecological vision goes beyond mere conservation. While we do seek to preserve particular places and species, faith teaches us that we are also called to elevate creation, leading it to God (or back to God, as it is sometimes expressed). The popes have spoken of this dynamic on numerous occasions, but here Cardinal Roche highlights one striking example from Benedict XVI’s 2006 Corpus Christi homily.
Here, as elsewhere, the Bavarian pontiff describes the Blessed Sacrament not only in terms of Christ’s real presence but moreover as the humble vehicle for the transfiguration of the entire world. The transubstantiated host, Benedict often said, is “the anticipation of the transformation and divinization of matter in the Christological fullness.” Benedict, in this text recalled by Cardinal Roche, teaches:
This little piece of white Host, this bread of the poor, appears to us as a synthesis of creation…in some way, we detect in the piece of bread, creation is projected towards divinization, toward the holy wedding feast, toward unification with the Creator himself.
Having said this, Cardinal Roche laments that in our time not only the Eucharist but creation itself has fallen into widespread neglect, an era in which “it is evident that the work of creation is seriously threatened because of the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods God has endowed to our care.” Recognizing how dulled many have become to the vital importance of creation, he goes on to explain: “This is why it is considered appropriate to add a Mass formulary for the care of creation to the Roman Missal.
Structure and Theology of the New Formulary
Two cardinals were present to offer commentary at the Vatican press conference marking the release of this recent decree. Archbishop Vittorio Francesco Viola, O.F.M. did a helpful walkthrough of the order of the Mass following the new formulary, where we encounter a thoughtfully shaped structure. Inasmuch as space allows, in this section I offer my own commentary on it, praying that it may be of added spiritual benefit to readers.
The Entrance Antiphon of the Mass is Psalm 19:2: “The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” As Archbishop Viola explains, the idea here is to open the liturgical celebration “by expressing wonder at how creation reflects the glory of God,” as he notes that an absence of the capacity for awe leads us to see ourselves as masters, consumers, and exploiters of creation rather than its loving stewards. This point about wonder is crucial. Not only does the Church hold that wonder at creation inspires greater responsibility for it, but this disposition represents a point where Christians can make a real contribution to the betterment of the world, for wonder and joy are contagious yet often lacking in secular environmental circles.
From here, Viola expounds that the Collect prayer “devoutly synthesizes the theology of creation inspired by Holy Scripture,” according to which Christ is the firstborn of all creation, the Father has called all things into existence, and mankind is called to safeguard his work. The prayer is thus to be “made docile by the breath of your Spirit of life,” so that we “may safeguard in charity the work of your hands.”
The Liturgy of the Word, meanwhile, may be seen as presenting a “challenge and an opportunity” to commit to putting the Word of God into practice. Without a corrective lens to approach these texts rightly, he notes that one “risks supporting positions that are inconsistent with the truth of Revelation,” which Pope Francis identified as a “distorted anthropocentrism” on the one hand and a “misguided biocentrism” on the other. What we need instead, the Argentine pontiff emphasized, is a “situated” or “theological” anthropocentrism that distinguishes man from creation without dissociating him from it, recognizing the human person as a being endowed with unrivaled dignity and for that very reason entrusted by God with the sacred task of extending his loving rule throughout the world.
The placement of Wisdom 13:1–9 as the first reading is fitting. As the last book of the Old Testament to be composed, it serves as a natural bridge to the New, and its message about creation is powerful: knowledge of the created order—“the good things that are seen”—should lead us to “know him who exists.” As Viola observes, this text encourages us to discover the beauty of the Creator in that of creatures, “from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator” (Wis 13:1, 5).
Two options for the Responsorial Psalm follow, each “a song of blessing for God’s creative work” that “unites the assembly with creation that sings the glory of God.” The same psalm from which the Entrance Antiphon is taken, Psalm 19 praises God for how all creatures, though without speech or language, nevertheless possess a “voice” and “words” that reach “to the end of the world.” The other option is Psalm 104, whose sapiential dimension connects especially well with the first reading, declaring: “How manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all.”
The second reading from Colossians 1:15–20 integrates seamlessly with the first, as St. Paul describes Christ as “the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation” in whom all things were created. This Christological reading of the Old Testament presents Christ as Wisdom incarnate—“a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness” who is also “the fashioner of all things” (Wisdom 7:22, 26). In this way, it reveals that creation cannot be fully understood apart from Jesus and that the deepest motivation for a truly Catholic, integral ecological approach arises from knowing Christ as both its origin and end.
For the Gospel, two passages are again proposed. Matthew 6:24–34 has us contemplate creation as a revelation of the Lord’s providence and beauty in “the lilies of the field and the birds of the air,” beckoning us to trust in his providence and appreciate that God’s good handiwork surpasses all human artifice. Meanwhile, Matthew 8:23-27 recounts Jesus calming the storm at sea. To me, this was a somewhat surprising choice for this liturgy, as it shows the Lord intervening in nature, interrupting its natural rhythm. Yet, while it might be tempting to see this as denying the goodness of a certain feature of the created order (i.e., destructive storms), a deeper point emerges: the reaffirmation that, even as God ordinarily allows creation to follow its own laws, he remains its sovereign Lord—and for this reason we who are “of little faith” need not be afraid.
Moving into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we come to the Offertory Prayer, in which the minister asks the Father to receive the gifts brought before the altar and “perfect in them the work of your creation” as they become for us the food and drink of eternal life. This point is further developed by the reminder that the entire history of salvation—of which creation is the foundation and beginning—finds its fulfillment in the Lord’s Passover, where bread and wine are elevated to their fullest dignity imaginable (just as oil, water, and the human body reach their highest earthly perfection in their respective sacramental contexts). According to Viola, the dignity conferred on creation that is especially evident in its role in the sacraments “demands our contemplative gaze on created things, which changes our relationship with them.”
Next comes the Communion Antiphon, Psalm 99:3: “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” I find this one to be particularly intriguing. The official commentary simply states that this verse “accompanies the assembly nurtured at the Eucharistic banquet and contemplating the work of salvation that unites humans to all creatures.” This leaves its deeper significance open to reflection. What does the “salvation” here entail?
I typically take this verse to mean that the gospel has been preached to people of every land and nation. But, then again, maybe this proclamation of the Good News is more comprehensive. After all, Jesus tells us in Mark 16:15: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” There’s also St. John’s vision of the “new heaven and a new earth” to be revealed in the fullness of time, as well as Paul’s teaching that Christ has willed “to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven” (Col 1:20). A host of biblical and traditional texts could be marshaled to support the choice of this verse as the communion antiphon, but perhaps none are more striking than the simple yet bold language of Benedict XVI when he speaks of “the salvation of the cosmos” and the words of Pope Francis describing eternal life as “a shared experience of awe, in which each creature, resplendently transfigured, will take its rightful place.”
Finally, the Prayer After Communion fittingly takes on an anagogical tone, imploring the Father that the sacrament we have received may “increase communion with you and with our brothers and sisters,” so that, nourished by the fruits of this mystery, “we may learn to live as one in harmony with all creatures” as we await “a new heavens and a new earth.” This biblical reference to the new creation offers an eminently appropriate conclusion to the Mass for the Care of Creation: The Church not only prays that reception of the sacrament may transform the way we dwell in the world but also expresses hope for a fulfillment that can come only in heavenly glory—where God is praised by “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea” (Rev 5:8–14).
Insights Related to the Vatican Commentary
Having surveyed the elements of this new formulary of the Mass for the Care of Creation, I now wish to reflect on the Vatican’s official commentary with a few thoughts of my own.
Emphasizing the continuity of this undertaking under Pope Leo with the ministry of prior pontiffs, Cardinal Michael Czerny underscored that creation is “not an added theme but is always already present in the Catholic liturgy.” In this vein, he cites Pope Francis’s teaching that in the liturgy “the whole cosmos gives thanks to God” and that the Eucharist “joins heaven and earth, embraces and penetrates all creation.” It may sound strange to some, but the notion that all creatures are united to us as fellow worshipers giving thanks to God is not alien to the Catholic tradition.
Just think of Psalm 148, Daniel 3:57–81, or St. Francis of Assisi with his jubilant Canticle of the Creatures: Creation’s chorus of divine praise includes heavenly bodies, weather, the seasons, plants, animals, angels, and mankind—every living and non-living being without exception. As we reflect on this reality, contends Czerny, the Mass becomes “a reason for joy,” as it brings about these transformative effects in our lives:
It increases our gratitude, strengthens our faith, and invites us to respond with care and love in an ever-growing sense of wonder, reverence, and responsibility. It calls us to be faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us—not only in daily choices and public policies, but also in our prayer, our worship, and our way of living in the world.
In this way, Czerny sees this new liturgical formulary of the Mass for the Care of Creation as an occasion for the Church to offer “liturgical, spiritual and communal support for the care we all need to exercise of nature, our common home”—a service which is not incidental to Christian discipleship but indeed “a great act of faith, hope and charity.”
Coda on the Cosmic Arc of Christ’s Mission
As a conclusion to this reflection, I want to take up a few of Archbishop Viola’s remarks that followed those of Czerny at the press conference announcing the new formulary. A summary of these is available in English, but here I’ve translated a few extra highlights from the original Italian of this lovely address.
The commentary begins with a statement that is as unassuming as it is daring: “Every moment of the liturgical year celebrates the mystery of creation’s redemption, renewal and final fulfilment in the Easter of the Lord.” The language of creation being “redeemed” echoes Benedict XVI’s teaching, noted above, that the consecrated host propels creation toward its eschatological transfiguration. We read that in the Eucharist “all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation” and recalls the biblical witness that Christ “inaugurated the new creation and began the process that he himself will bring to fulfillment at the moment of his glorious return, “when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father…so that God may be all in all” (1 Cor 15:24, 28).
Thus, he describes Christ’s work as a “cosmic mission,” whose arc stretches from the dawn of creation to the end of time, culminating in the eschaton. Describing God as having entering the world “through a fragment of matter,” coming “not from above, but from within,” and as “the living center of the universe, the overflowing core of love and of inexhaustible life,” Viola states that in the liturgical celebration “the whole cosmos gives thanks to God” and itself is “an act of cosmic love.” In this vein, he cites John Paul II’s teaching that the sacrifice of the Mass has a cosmic character. The saint exclaims:
Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates all creation. The Son of God became man in order to restore all creation, in one supreme act of praise, to the One who made it from nothing.
It is fitting that the Vatican commentary—and mine along with it—should end here with a reference to the late, great pope’s insight on the cosmic scope of the Eucharist and its eschatological dignity. In light of this, we are reminded that the Blessed Sacrament not only provides nourishment for our souls but also offers “a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment, directing us to be stewards of all creation.”
In saying this, the Church expresses the hope that, by taking up the themes of Magisterial teaching and expressing them in the language of prayer, the formulary of this Mass for the Care of Creation may offer a salutary antidote to any false or superficial ecology, inspiring a liturgically oriented, contemplative gaze on created things. By the grace of God and through the fruits of the Mass, may this renew our relationship with the created order and empower us to better live out in practice the truth we profess in faith.
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In full concord with the new liturgical formulary, and appreciating Pope Leo XIV’s task of retaining the good elements mixed into the so-called Francis magisterium, yours truly particularly appreciates your brief allusion to the earlier Pope St. John Paul II’s and his remarks on creation and ecology…
Three points:
FIRST, avoiding possible misinterpretations of Francis’s neologism–“integral ecology”—JPII still retained a distinction between the “human ecology” and the, yes, very much interrelated “natural ecology, e.g., “[while ‘each of these natural] species makes its particular contribution to the balance of nature in general, too little effort is made to safeguard the moral conditions of an authentic ‘human ecology’ (Centesimus Annus, 1991, n. 37). He writes of such matters as the “family” as “the sanctuary of life,” and much else, and even of “poisoning the lives of millions of defenseless human beings as if in a form of ‘chemical warfare'” (n. 40).
SECOND, so, within and even above the entire and finite created cosmos, rises the mystery of the Mass as both a banquet and as a sacrifice—of infinite magnitude. Our sacramental life within the Triune One. Blurring this theology of ultimate reality is the theo-poetry of Teilhard de Chardin who, as a child, is said to have prayed to a lump of iron. Transcendence? But, in his most reflective moments Chardin himself sometimes clarified: “The Universe takes on the form of Christ [not the other way around!],” and, further, “O mystery! he who makes himself manifest in it, is Christ crucified [!] [….] If I cease to believe desperately in the animation of all things by Our Lord…the World, that hitherto has held me up, will engulf me, or crush me, or simply fall into dust in my hands.”
THIRD, yes, about the wonder of creation and about the natural ecology, the earlier scientist/rationalist, Francis Bacon (1561-1626), pointed us down a dangerous path when he famously tutored us to induce nature—as a sort of harem—to betray her secrets so that they could be used to advance technical domination even over nature (as well as ourselves).
SUMMARY: so, yes to the two books of Scripture and Creation, but always a clear and greater yes to the total mystery of Divinity and of spiritual “good and evil.” And, to the Self-donating redemption of “Christ crucified”—the singular event of Calvary, extended and continued in each celebration of the Mass and every liturgical formulary.
With regard to caring for creation, Man must avoid his perennial temptation to fashion himself as the author of creation – confusing himself with God.
I have written many times on these pages and believe it’s worth repeating again. Creation also includes the womb of a mother wherein new life – a new human creation – is taking shape. And yet, in today’s world, a mother’s womb is the MOST THREATENED ENVIRONMENT IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. A mother’s womb has been assailed by doctors and others who insert chemicals, scissors, vacuums and other instruments of lethality to destroy HUMAN CREATION.
This new Mass of Creation should NEVER be prayed without some reference to an end to the scourge of abortion. There can be NO respect for Creation as long as even one child – one new life- is aborted. More than wars, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods, famines, climate change and all the rest, abortion is the MOST DEVASTATING assault on Creation.
Bravo Deacon Edward.
Where do we find, All creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rm 8 19-23)?
Paul places priority on the rectification of Man before God as the catalyst for creation’s renewal. Certainly, a renewed emphasis on care of our planet in general creation is valid endeavor. Although, if I may be so pointed, isn’t there a trend since Vatican Pachamamma worship to emphasize liturgical cosmos management? A bit high flown while our world burns.
Offering Mass, the Eucharist on the altar of the world transfers the body of Christ to the cosmos – the altar traditionally understood as Christ’s body. There is in this new liturgy the nuance of pleasing Gaia. At the rate things are going in the trenches wouldn’t it be better to restore Man?
There is no more endangered spot on the planet than a woman’s womb. It’s there that an environmental catastrophe occurs every single day when tens of thousands of human lives are ended.
I see a fairly unenthusiastic response to the formulary here: https://praytellblog.com/index.php/2025/07/06/the-new-mass-for-the-care-of-creation-when-better-than-nothing-simply-is-not-good-enough/ But I have not yet formed a view of my own.