Pope Leo XIV delivers his homily at the first Mass for the Care of Creation in the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo (@Vatican Media)
Pope at Mass for Care of Creation: Ecological crisis
requires contemplative gaze
Pope Leo XIV celebrates the first Mass for the Care of
Creation at the Laudato Si’ Village in Castel Gandolfo, and urges Christians to
embrace our mission to bring peace and reconciliation to our world and all
creation.
By Devin Watkins
Just a few days after beginning his summer holidays in
Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the first Mass for the Care of
Creation,” a new formulary of the Roman Missal.
The Mass took place at the Laudato Si’ Village, an
educational center located in the Papal summer residence near Rome, and was
attended by the center’s staff.
In off-the-cuff remarks at the start of his homily, the Holy
Father said the Mass was being celebrated surrounded by beauty in “a kind of
‘natural’ cathedral.”
He noted that the layout of the Laudato Si’ Village, which
has an altar in the front and a water basin nearby, recalls the ancient
Christian churches, which placed the baptismal font near the entrance to
symbolize that Christians have passed through water to be cleansed of our sins
and weaknesses.
Pope Leo lamented the many natural disasters that afflict
people around the world, which are “often caused—at least in part—by human
excess and our way of life.”
“We must also pray for the conversion of many people, both
inside and outside the Church, who still do not recognize the urgency of caring
for our common home,” he said.
Pope Leo celebrates
Mass, which was concelebrated by Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the
Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (@Vatican Media)
Turning to the prepared text of his homily, Pope Leo XIV
noted the tranquil setting of the Laudato Si’ Village stands in contrast to the
global warming and armed conflicts that afflict our world.
“Yet, at the heart of the Jubilee we confess: there is
hope!” he said. “We have encountered it in Jesus, the Savior of the world. He
still, sovereignly, calms the storm.”
Reflecting on Jesus’ calming of the storm on the sea, the
Pope said Jesus’ parables of the Kingdom of God frequently pick up the rhythms
of life and seasons inherent in nature.
In rebuking the wind and sea, Jesus “reveals His power of
life and salvation, which towers over those forces before which creatures are
lost.”
Staff of the Laudato
Si' Village attended the Pope's Mass (@Vatican Media)
Pope Leo said our mission as Christians to care for creation
was entrusted to us by the Lord, so that we might bring peace and
reconciliation to our troubled world.
“We hear the cry of the earth and of the poor,” he said,
“for that cry has reached the heart of God. Our indignation is His indignation;
our work is His work.”
The Church is called, therefore, to speak truth to nations
in order to turn evil into good, injustice into justice, and greed into
communion, since the Church bears witness to the “indestructible covenant
between Creator and creatures.”
He recalled St. Francis of Assisi’s focus on God’s love for
all of creation, which gives everything life.
“Only a contemplative gaze can change our relationship with
created things and lead us out of the ecological crisis caused by the rupture
of relationships—with God, with our neighbor, and with the earth—resulting from
sin,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV said Pope Francis wanted the Laudato Si’
Village to be “a laboratory” in which to embody harmony with creation, while
finding new ways to safeguard nature.
In conclusion, Pope Leo invited Christians to spread harmony
throughout the world, drawing inspiration from St. Augustine.
“O Lord, your works praise you so that we may love you, and
we love you so that your works may praise you.”
Pope Leo celebrates
Mass at the papal summer residence (@Vatican Media)
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