- 05 September, 2025
Bangalore, September 5, 2025 – Responding to the universal call of the Church, the community of St. Peter’s Pontifical Seminary gathered for the Solemn Mass for the Care of the Creation on September 1. The celebration took place in the morning at the Seminary chapel, marking one of the first instances of the newly introduced Mass formulary being observed in India.
On 3 July 2025, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments introduced the new Mass formulary, Missa pro custodia creationis (“Mass for Care for Creation”), to be included in the Roman Missal. This Mass offers liturgical, spiritual, and communal support, inviting the faithful to embrace the mission of healing a creation that is wounded, crying, and dying. Deeply rooted in Scripture, Patristic writings, and inspired by Laudato Si’ of Pope Francis, the Mass highlights the Eucharist as a “sending forth” for the faithful to care for creation in gratitude, wonder, and renewed harmony with God, neighbour, and the earth.
Presiding over the Holy Mass, Rector Fr. Richard Britto explained in his introduction that salvation history has three key kairological moments: Creation, Incarnation, and Redemption. While the mysteries of the Incarnation (Christmas) and Redemption (the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ) have long been celebrated liturgically in solemn form, Pope Francis recognised the absence of a proper liturgical celebration in honour of Creation. Through wide consultation, he initiated the process of instituting the Mass for the Care of the Creation, calling the faithful to love creation as God the Father does, imitate Christ in caring for it, and cooperate with the Holy Spirit in renewing it.
In his homily, Fr. Varaprasad Rao reflected on the beauty and mystery of creation, underlining the responsibility to hear the cry of the earth from Scriptural, traditional, doctrinal, and scientific perspectives. Quoting Laudato Si’, he reminded the congregation that “everything is connected” – the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are one. He urged the faithful to listen not only to the cry of people, but also to the cry of the soil, rivers, forests, and the forgotten. “We are called to be priests of the altar and priests of the planet,” he said.
Fr. Rao described the Mass for the Care of Creation as a sacramental moment, inviting the faithful to rediscover creation not as scenery, but as sanctuary; not as commodity, but as communion. He emphasised Christ as the Cosmic Redeemer, reconciling all things in Himself. To proclaim Christ, he said, is to proclaim the reconciliation of all creation.
Concluding his homily, Fr. Rao explained the concept of “Eucharistic Ecology”, noting that what is offered at the altar – bread from wheat, wine from grapes, and water, the precious gift of God – are fruits of the earth and human labour. “The Eucharist is rooted in creation,” he said. “It is the sacrament of cosmic reconciliation, the place where heaven and earth meet, where the broken are blessed, and where the wounded world is offered back to God.”
The celebration left a deep impact on the seminary community, inspiring them to live eco-friendly lives, embrace ecological conversion, and root themselves in ecological spirituality and the practice of integral ecology, becoming true missionaries for the care of creation.
By Catholic Connect Reporter
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