Pope Leo presides the inaugural Mass for the Care of Creation in Castel Gandolfo. Credit: Vatican Media
Following the celebrations of Laudato Si’ Week in May, various Catholic networks will co-convene an important webinar on June 9 to support the celebrations of the next big milestone in the calendar: the ‘World Day of Prayer for Creation’ in early September, and the extended ‘Season of Creation’ it has inspired, leveraging the new Mass that Pope Leo added to the Missal. See: www.bit.ly/webinar-june-9
This online event will feature church leaders and liturgical scholars who will unpack the significance of these two gifts that the last two popes made to the universal Church.
On one hand, the ‘WHEN’: the ‘World Day of Prayer for Creation’ is celebrated annually on September 1st or the following weekend, inspired by an ancient Orthodox tradition commemorating God’s act of creation of the world. As Pope Francis wrote in his 2015 letter instituting the observance, the day of prayer should be “properly celebrated with the participation of the entire People of God: priests, men and women religious, and the lay faithful.” Moreover, an extended ‘Season of Creation’ (Sept 1 – Oct 4) is inspired by and flows from that special day.
On the other hand, the ‘HOW’: Pope Leo enabled our liturgical celebrations of the September observance by promulgating the ‘Mass for the Care of Creation’, which was recently added to the Missal – something unprecedented since 2002. For the first time, we have a Mass with a dedicated set of creation-related biblical readings (lectionary) and prayers (formulary) that make our September celebrations much more meaningful.
Ultimately, the Eucharistic celebration of this special day is an opportunity to celebrate God as Creator and appreciate the sacred gift of creation with a new lens, while inspiring us to care for it more fervently at this time of ever-growing ecological crisis.
We hope you are able to join the webinar and encourage your networks to participate, so we raise awareness about the huge opportunity and pressing urgency of celebrating the world day of prayer – and the extended season – with the new Mass.
Webinar details are available at: www.bit.ly/webinar-june-9