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SEASON OF CREATION 2020
Jubilee T ime
for the
Earth
A CATHOLIC LITURGICAL GUIDE
2 “Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain. We may well be leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth. The pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has so stretched the planet’s capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes ... The effects of the present imbalance can only be reduced by our decisive action here and now.” – Laudato si', #161 “As never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning ... Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.” – From the Earth Charter, Quoted in Laudato si', #207
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2020 Season of Creation Catholic Liturgy Guide
September 1, 2020
Dear Reader,
Peace be with you! We are pleased that you have received this 2020 learn together through the process of dialogue and to walk humbly on
Season of Creation Liturgy Guide with a view to experiencing the new pathways of transformation as agents of God’s love.
liturgical gifts in this resource.
These resources are brought to you by LISTEN - a global network of
Liturgical seasons invite us to reflect, pray, and practice different universities dedicated to bringing Laudato si’ to life. This Season of
aspects of our faith and the Season of Creation is a time for intentional Creation Liturgy Guide is offered to you as part of LISTEN’s ongoing
reflection, prayer, and practice on care for our common home. While collaboration with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human
the Season of Creation is marked on the calendar from September 1 – Development during this Laudato si’ Special Anniversary Year.
October 4, we are called through each person’s ecological conversion
to carry the prayer, reflections, and practice of this season into our A special word of thanks to James E. Hug, S.J., Sacramental Minister of
everyday lives all throughout the year. the Adrian Dominicans and LISTEN special contributor, for writing this
Liturgy Guide which brings depth to this emerging Season of Creation
2020 is an historic moment in the world and in the Church. The global for the Catholic Church. We thank Ms. Denise Mathias, Music Minister
health pandemic, COVID-19, presents the world with an extraordinary of the Adrian Dominicans for providing hymn recommendations.
illumination of injustice, disease, isolation and systemic breakdown.
In contrast, 2020 also marks the 5th anniversary of Laudato si’ and May your Season of Creation 2020 be abundantly blessed and may
the Laudato si’ Special Anniversary Year which concludes in May 2021 your ecological spiritual journey be illuminated more fully by the grace
(Laudato si’ Week) and will give way to a Laudato si’ decade of integral of God’s loving presence.
healing ahead.
In peace,
This 2020 Season of Creation liturgical guide is shaped by paradoxical Jacqui Remond and Amy Woolam Echeverria
realities. The world is experiencing deep pain and longs for radical LISTEN Co-Chairs
healing. Laudato si’ offers us the opportunity to listen and reflect, toSeason of Creation 2020 Prayer
Creator of Life, CONTENTS
At Your word, the Earth brought forth plants yielding seed and trees of every kind
bearing fruit. The rivers, mountains, minerals, seas and forests sustained life. The 5 Introduction
eyes of all looked to You to satisfy the needs of every living thing. And throughout
time the Earth has sustained life. Through the planetary cycles of days and seasons, 10 First Sunday
renewal and growth, you open your hand to give creatures our food in the proper
time. 14 Second Sunday
In your Wisdom, you granted a Sabbath; a blessed time to rest in gratitude for all that
you have given; a time to liberate ourselves from vicious consumption; a time to allow
18 Third Sunday
the land and all creatures to rest from the burden of production. But these days our
living pushes the planet beyond its limits. Our demands for growth, and our never- 22 Fourth Sunday
ending cycle of production and consumption are exhausting our world. The forests
are leached, the topsoil erodes, the fields fail, the deserts advance, the seas acidify, 26 Fifth Sunday
the storms intensify. We have not allowed the land to observe her Sabbath, and the
Earth is struggling to be renewed. 30 Solemn Blessings
During this Season of Creation, we ask you to grant us courage to observe a Sabbath 31 Music Reference List
for our planet. Strengthen us with the faith to trust in your providence. Inspire us
with the creativity to share what we have been given. Teach us to be satisfied with
enough. And as we proclaim a Jubilee for the Earth, send Your Holy Spirit to renew
the face of creation.
In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation,
Jesus Christ.
Amen.
From the ecumenical 2020 Season of Creation Celebration Guide:
https://seasonofcreation.org/celebration-guide5
Introduction
The Season of Creation is a relatively recent economy, on a scale and at a rate without the anniversary year and the ensuing decade
addition to Catholic liturgical celebrations. historical precedent, can the 1.5C limit be will indeed be a time of grace, a true Kairos
In 2015, Pope Francis added the World Day achieved. It is therefore a time to reconcile experience and “Jubilee” time for the Earth,
of Prayer for the Care of Creation to the ourselves with creation through concrete and for humanity, and for all God’s creatures.
Catholic liturgical calendar to be celebrated on repentance and urgent action. The Season The anniversary year … will proceed with
September 1st each year. In 2019, the Vatican of Creation is a time to acknowledge that several initiatives, realized in partnership
asked Catholic communities and pastors tipping points are being reached, threatening and with a clear emphasis on “ecological
everywhere to join ecumenical communities the lives of the most vulnerable and putting conversion” in “action”. We invite everyone
around the world in celebrating the Season of the lives of future generations in jeopardy. As to join us. The urgency of the situation calls
Creation from September 1st to October 4th. people of faith we are being called to stand up for immediate, holistic and unified responses
against climate injustice in prophetic ways. at all levels - local, regional, national and
The Season of Creation is a liturgical season international. We need, above all, “a peoples’
dedicated to prayer, reflection, and celebration This year, 2020, marks the 5th anniversary of movement” from below, an alliance of all
of God as Creator. It also celebrates and reflects Pope Francis’s important encyclical, Laudato si' people of good will. [pp. 2-3]
prayerfully on the gifts of creation and the and the Church is using this occasion to join the
mission given us by God to care for creation and ecumenical ecological efforts to save the planet Celebration of the 2020 liturgical Season of
respond to its needs and crises today. with great energy and commitment. May 16-24 Creation is a key centerpiece of this anniversary
was celebrated around the world as Laudato year. With this impressive call to prayer, integral
These crises are severe and urgent. In its Season si' Week which, in turn, launched the Laudato ecological conversion, and extensive action
of Creation 2020 Celebration Guide, the Season si' Special Anniversary Year with an ambitious planning, the Catholic Community is making
of Creation Ecumenical Advisory committee global organizing and action agenda that will a major contribution to the global ecumenical
writes: conclude with a conference in May 2021 setting effort to address the ecological crises facing
We are in the midst of a climate emergency. into motion a Laudato si' Multi-Year Action Earth at this time and to restore reverent
Several studies have indicated that the world Program for the global Catholic community for respect and care for the sacredness of creation.
is nowhere near meeting pledged emission the following decade.
reduction rate targets. The latest IPCC The theme of the 2020 Season of Creation,
[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] In its introduction to the booklet on the special chosen by its international steering committee,
report highlights that “only with rapid anniversary year, the Vatican Dicastery for is Jubilee for the Earth. The ecumenical steering
and far-reaching” transitions in the world Promoting Integral Human Development committee explains the theme this way:
expresses its hope that6
Climate change is a result of the intersection The Bigger Picture: Assumptions human-produced climate crisis that is destroying
of greed, inequality and destruction of Behind These Materials vast numbers of species and threatening the
God’s Earth. The theme of Jubilee has been whole Web of Life on the planet. Storms and
Drawing on Laudato si' and the rich background
chosen for this year’s Season of Creation wildfires are already more violent, droughts and
of Catholic Social Tradition, these resources
as it reflects those three interlocking floods more frequent and damaging, sea levels
assume that the human family is not facing
themes. Jubilee is a time to renounce rising and islands disappearing, and human
various separate and distinct crises – social,
overconsumption and economic systems suffering and tragedy more severe, especially
political, economic, cultural, ecological. There is
based on constant economic growth at the among people who are poor and marginalized.
only one complex and integrated socio-cultural
cost of the Earth and those who are poor.
ecological crisis requiring prayer, an integral Ecological Degradation. At the same time, it
Jubilee is a time when those who have
ecological conversion, and action in all the has become apparent, as ecological awareness
consumed the most must make restitution to
interrelated dimensions of human life for the has grown, that the human community is now
those who have suffered the most. Jubilee
healing of the vast Web of Life. Everything is using up more of Earth’s resources in a few
is a time of rest for the land from constant
connected. months than the planet can replenish in a full
exploitation, to restore ecosystems and
people. year. In 1970, the first attempts were made to
Ecological Dimension. The ecological dimension
measure human production and consumption
of this complex crisis has two important facets:
Since the Catholic community is new to against Earth’s regenerative capacities. The
climate change, or what some are calling
the global ecumenical Season of Creation efforts resulted in the birth of Earth Overshoot
“climate collapse”, and ecological degradation
celebrations, it does not yet have seasonal Day, a calculation of the point at which as much
through overproduction and consumption.
liturgical texts proper to it. The materials in this of Earth’s resources will have been used in a
packet have been prepared under the auspices Climate Change/Collapse. Fossil fuel use and particular year as it can replenish in a full year.
of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human industrial production over the last century and In 1970, Earth Overshoot Day was determined
Development and the Laudato si' Institutes a half by what are now often referred to as the to be December 29th. Since then, it has been
Network (LISTEN) to help Catholic communities “developed nations” has, through the emission occurring earlier and earlier. This year, 2020,
read and pray with the scriptures for the of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, produced Earth Overshoot Day was August 22nd. In just
Sundays in Ordinary Time during this period a warming of the planet that is changing the under 8 months, the human community has
through the lens of the Season of Creation. This climate everywhere in dynamic and dangerous consumed what it will take Earth a year to
year, 2020, this period includes the 23rd through ways. Increasingly, scientists and religious replenish: resources such as water, food, forest
27th Sundays in Ordinary Time for Cycle A. leaders are referring to the situation as a products, clean air. For the next 4 months, we
“We are faced not by two separate crises, one environmental and the other social,
but rather with one complex crisis which is both environmental and social. Strategies
for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity
to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.” – L.S. #1397
will be consuming from the reserves built up by Some Basic Inferences to Guide Our dignified human life for all, especially the most
Earth over millennia. This is obviously cannot Responses. These dimensions of the current vulnerable, and care for the environment. The
go on forever. Those reserves are limited. It is a complex crisis support some basic conclusions quality of relationships, commitment to the
death spiral. Earth clearly and desperately needs which will be reflected in the liturgical materials common good, and global solidarity characterize
a Jubilee year of rest and replenishment as well and upon which our responses must be based. authentic human development, the true “good
as some dramatic changes by the human family life,” in Catholic Social Tradition, not the
to bring about more sustainable and just ways of First, the human community must move to accumulation of industrial and political power,
living on “our common home.” clean, renewable energy as soon as possible material goods and wealth.
to slow down and reverse the catastrophic
Socio-political-economic-cultural Dimensions. climate change that threatens the survival of the Fourth, these changes demand what Pope
Socially, inequality of resources is stark and intricately interconnected and interdependent Francis has called “integral ecological
dangerous around the world. A small number of Web of Life of which humanity is one strand. conversion.” Such conversion will require cross-
extremely wealthy people control as much wealth cultural encounter and dialogue that feed a
as half the human community of more than 7.5 Second, even with renewable energy, the human spirituality of global solidarity, freedom from
billion people. Nearly one billion people lack community cannot grow its way out of the consumerism, growing consciousness of the
adequate food and are chronically hungry, even severe poverty and great maldistribution of interconnectedness of all creation, gratitude,
malnourished, and that number is again growing. resources in which so many live globally. Those and contentment with what is really necessary.
The rise of nationalism around the planet, wars, who hold up economic growth as the only way This is a true Jubilee agenda of the type that
fierce international competition for limited natural to overcome poverty and hunger are failing (or Jesus claimed as his mission to proclaim.
resources, wars, violence, racism, hate crimes and refusing) to face the reality of Earth’s resource
a variety of other forms of cruel oppression create limitations and the current death spiral of In short, the human family must reduce its
deep wounds and hostilities. The poor suffer most overproduction laid bare by the data behind global consumption and waste, return to
from climate change/collapse and are increasingly Earth Overshoot Day. As Pope Francis pointed patterns of living compatible with Earth’s
forced to migrate in search of food, security, and out, the technocratic paradigm dominating the resources and regenerative capacities, rethink
other basic essentials. Tens of millions of people global economy “is based on the lie that there is what constitutes the good human life and how
are now climate migrants or refugees, adding to an infinite supply of the earth’s goods, and leads to reach it, and redistribute or redirect available
the social pressures and unrest in so many parts of to the planet being squeezed dry beyond every wealth and resources to meet the basic needs of
the world. limit.” [Laudato Sí, #106] the whole human family, especially the poorest
and most vulnerable, and the full Web of Life.
And as if all this were not enough, the Third, this requires critique and rejection of
coronavirus pandemic is casting a harsh the current dominant economic model with its Diversity of the Communities
light on the cruel, life-destroying impacts of assumptions about “development”, “progress”, of Faith
environmental racism, poverty, discrimination, economic growth, and “the good life.” These
assumptions guide and govern the current Resources prepared for a global Church must
and hate.
destructive patterns of living responsible for be adaptable to many different social, cultural
so much suffering and devastation. The human and economic contexts. No single text can be
community needs instead to give priority to expected to speak to such vast diversity without8
careful and prayerful local interpretation and “progress,” and what their attitudes toward an invitation from God to shape a different
adaptation. poor and indigenous peoples are and need to future for our Web of Life, our common home.
become. Embracing global solidarity, renouncing Different communities, different cultures may
For example, communities engaging the Season consumerism, simplifying lifestyles, and hear different challenges, different invitations,
of Creation this year will include indigenous working for sustainable justice for all people are their particular part of the great work of the
peoples and those marginalized, poor, and elements of their challenging prophetic call from Holy Spirit birthing the new creation in these
struggling to survive. There will be comfortable God. times. Local liturgical/pastoral teams will need
and rising middle class communities eager to be conscious of the characteristics and social
to achieve and enjoy more affluent lifestyles On the other hand, communities living in poverty location of their own specific communities as
of “developed nations.” There will be middle need to find ways to increase their consumption they work to discern God’s Word to them. Only
and working classes in industrial nations to meet basic human needs. But they may need then will they be able to use and adapt the
living in contexts where cultural dynamics to pray over the fact that the lifestyles and materials included here appropriately.
and institutional factors guide and promote wealth of the industrial nations are illusory as a
economic systems built on consumerism, goal, as alluring as they might seem. The way to The Materials
growth, and constant upward mobility defined a better life cannot be through economic growth
by material goods, what Pope Francis has and technological progress as modeled by the The five Sundays of the 2020 Season of Creation
called “throwaway societies.” There will be so-called developed nations of the industrial have a certain thematic flow that integrates
extremely wealthy and powerful economic and world. It must be through greater justice, them as a season.
political elites. There will be communities of sustainability, and solidarity. Their ecological
The first Sunday’s scriptures challenge
people deeply conscious of their connections conversion may entail letting go of unrealistic
Christians to take up the prophetic responsibility
with nature, their place in the Web of Life. material dreams for their future and that of
in love to invite each other gently and
And there will be communities of people their families and communities. It may involve
prayerfully to conversion and care for creation
whose consciousness is bounded by urban efforts to grow in appreciation of and gratitude
in these times of ecological crisis.
life, unconscious of their place in the vast for the values that they, indigenous peoples
interconnected and interdependent web of all and poor communities, have nurtured and The scriptures of the second Sunday recall
life. The list could go on. relied upon – virtues of solidarity and mutual that while the seriousness of the ecological
support, respect and care for nature, living in crisis demands urgent and passionate prophetic
In the case of these notes for liturgical harmony with creation sustainably. Pope Francis action, it must remain non-judgmental and
celebrations, for example, communities in assumes that it will involve their recognizing forgiving. They invite reflection on how much we
wealthier nations or wealthier segments of and affirming their traditional wisdom, cultural have been forgiven and still need forgiveness so
poor nations will be challenged to face their values and ways of living – recognizing them as that we may be patient and forgiving of others.
participation in the lifestyles and assumptions true and essential elements of authentic human
about development, progress and economic development, ready to share them and promote The third Sunday’s scriptures remind us that
growth that are contributing to the current them in dialogue. God’s ways are not our ways and they invite us
crisis. Their ecological conversion will involve to contemplate some of God’s Jubilee ways of
serious reevaluation of how they live day to All communities will find in the liturgies of this living on Earth, giving birth to the New Creation.
day, what they see as “development” and Season of Creation prophetic challenges and9
The fourth Sunday texts put the focus squarely to Jubilee. These introductions could be • Musical suggestions related to the themes
on personal responsibility for embracing the published in a parish bulletin, read as they are for each particular Sunday are offered
integral ecological conversion essential to or adapted for brief introductory comments for consideration by music planners and
healing Earth, caring for the Web of Life. at the beginning of a liturgy. musicians.
The fifth Sunday continues to invite us to prayer, • Suggestions for the penitential rite. It Following the entries for the five Sundays of the
petitions, and thanksgiving while issuing strong should be noted that although the Roman Season of Creation, you will find two Solemn
warnings to the leaders of faith communities Missal gives various optional formulations for Blessings, based upon prayers of Pope Francis
and nations that they have been entrusted with the penitential rite, it also allows for “other for possible use at the end of Mass.
care for Earth, are failing at it, and will be held invocations.” The suggestions included in
these materials help to focus the community’s Musical Suggestions
responsible. It will be taken away from them and
given to those who will produce its fruit. repentance on the issues addressed by the After each Sunday entry are suggestions for
scriptural messages of the day. hymns and psalm settings that can be used
So in simple, summary form, the message of the • Orations. Alternative orations (the opening during the new Season of Creation. Music
Season of Creation for 2020 is this: prayer, the prayer over the gifts, and the planners may wish to have a “theme song”
• You must pass on the prophetic word given to prayer after communion) are offered that and some of the hymns suggested for entrance
you about care of Earth. reflect the themes of the Season of Creation or dismissal would work beautifully for a
and the scriptures for the given Sunday. theme throughout the season. There are also
• Do it with a forgiving heart, as you have been many musical and liturgical resources online;
forgiven. • Points for reflection on the scriptures. hymnary.org is just one example. Many hymnals
These points are not offered as an outline that have been recently published have exciting
• Pay attention to God’s ways of living, Jubilee
or text for a homily. Local contexts, cultures, possibilities and new hymns. It is always useful
ways, in all dimensions of life.
and issues are too diverse to permit that to consider the community carefully, choosing
• Each person is ultimately responsible for his kind of presentation. They are points songs to which they can relate, culturally, and
or her own ecological conversion. for reflection drawn from the Sunday socially, and teach new songs in a way that
• If the human community and its leaders fail in scriptures read against the background of enhances learning. This list is definitely not
this mission to care for Earth, it will be taken the Season of Creation. They are meant exhaustive—there are still many possibilities!
away from them. Pray for God’s peace. to inspire or suggest issues for homilists Creativity can be a large part of musical
to consider in their preparations or for planning for the Season of Creation.
The materials for each of the liturgies of the
anyone’s personal reflection and prayer. The
Sundays of the 2020 Season of Creation that
questions included can help homilists reflect For hymns, text authors only are listed—in some
follow will include these elements:
on their own experience. In addition, they cases the author is also the composer. Some
• Short Introductory Comments setting the may in many cases be fruitfully posed to hymns have more than one tune possibility, as
context and focusing on the messages of their congregations for their own prayerful well. At the end of all of the Sunday suggestions
the scriptures as they relate to the Season consideration. is a complete list of all songs used, with some
of Creation’s theme of Jubilee and focus on additional possibilities.
• A few related petitions suitable or adaptable
integral ecological conversion as essential
for the General Intercessions.10
First Sunday of the Season of Creation
September 6, 2020 | 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
SCRIPTURES Introductory Comments Penitential Rite Suggestion
Ezekiel 33:7-9 The Season of Creation is a new Liturgical Season for (It should be noted that although the Roman Missal gives
the Catholic community globally as it joins the 30-year various optional formulations for the penitential rite, it
Ps. 95:1-2, 6-9 also allows for “other invocations.” These are intended to
ecumenical/orthodox history of celebration under the help shape the community’s repentance in accord with the
Romans 13:8-10 leadership of Pope Francis and through the promotion scriptural message of the day.)
Matthew 18:15-20 of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human
Development. It extends from September 1st, the World Conscious of God’s loving presence and great gifts to us in
Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to October 4th, the creation, let us enter into the quiet of our spirits, praying
feast of St. Francis of Assisi. for prophetic courage, wisdom, and deeper love for God,
for all people, and for creation which gives us life and
The Season focuses on God as Creator of the vast cosmic sustains us. [silent pause]
universe, God’s revelation in Creation, and our calling
Creator God, You have entrusted the human family with
to care for God’s creation, protect its rich diversity and
the richly diverse gifts of creation, asking us to receive
address the urgent, destructive crises threatening its
them with gratitude and care for them wisely and well.
health and future.
Creator Spirit of God, have mercy.
This year’s theme is Jubilee for the Earth. Climate Christ Jesus, You have entrusted us with a mission to
change, currently one of Earth’s most pressing crises, warn those whose actions abuse and are destructive
is a result of the intersection of greed, inequality and of Earth, its life, and its peoples, to invite them and
destruction of God’s Earth. Jubilee is a time to renounce ourselves to more loving, protective and life-giving ways.
overconsumption and economic systems based on Word of God, have mercy.
constant economic growth at the cost of the Earth and
Holy Spirit of God, You are at work in us and among
those who are poor. Jubilee is a time when those who have
us making us more conscious of the sacredness of all
consumed the most must care for those who have suffered
creation, raising up global movements in these times to
the most. Jubilee is a time of rest for the land from
care for Earth and each other.
constant exploitation, to restore ecosystems and people.
Wisdom of God, have mercy.
On this 1st Sunday of the Season of Creation, the scriptures May God, the Creator of all time and space and the vast
call us to accept our prophetic responsibility in love to Web of Life in which we live, have mercy on us, free us
invite each other to conversion and care for creation in from our sins, and guide us into the fullness of divine Life.
these times of ecological crisis. Amen.11
Gloria The cry of the Earth, heard in increasingly St. Paul’s letter to the Romans puts this
powerful storms and fires, melting ice and rising prophetic education and invitation to care
Opening Prayer sea levels, droughts and floods, pollution of air for creation in their deepest context: they
and water, loss of rich biodiversity and ecological are expressions of the great commandments
Our Loving God, in You justice and mercy meet.
degradation. that sum everything up: Love God. Love your
With unparalleled love and forgiveness, You
neighbor.
have drawn us into the circle of your life. You The cry of the poor, heard and seen in
send us to invite our sisters and brothers to turn widespread hunger and malnutrition, in All is interdependent, all is interconnected. We
from their sins into Your ways, ways of love and homelessness and ill health, exploitation and cannot say we love God if we do not love our
care for You, for each other, and for all creation. vast migration and refugee flows, violence and neighbor. We cannot say we love our neighbor
Open our eyes to the wonders Your creation sets ecological destruction of the most marginal if we do not care for the air, the water, the land,
before us that we may serve you free from fear regions where the poor are so often forced to the ecological systems, the intricate Web of Life
and address You with grateful love. We ask this struggle for survival. upon which our neighbors and we depend for life
in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen. itself.
How do we, how can we educate and warn
Points for Reflection on the ourselves and each other about the ecological Nor can we say we love God if we do not care
Scriptures crises facing us and threatening life as we for God’s gift of creation in all its wonders and
In the first reading, Ezekiel describes God’s know it on the planet? richness.
warning to himself and to us: we are responsible How do we, how can we understand and warn How can we, how do we express this prophetic
for each other. If we hear and fail to relay God’s each other about our part, our responsibility love in our families? In our parishes and
Word, God’s call to conversion to those for whom for the destructive forces at work? dioceses? In our religious communities? In
it is intended, we will be held responsible and
What is the conversion in ways of thinking, our schools and universities? In our hospitals
complicit in their sin and in the suffering and
acting, and living together on Earth that and health care centers? In our businesses
punishment it brings.
God is calling us to? What are the changes and farms?
One of Pope Francis’s central beliefs at the heart in lifestyle and relationships with each other
and with creation? In the gospel, Jesus lays out a way to convey
of Laudato si’ is that everything and everyone is
the urgent prophetic warnings in this time of
connected, interdependent. We are responsible What individuals, groups, communities, ecological crisis, an approach that shows respect
for each other. God speaks to us and calls us to parishes, institutions, movements will help for those who need to hear these truths and
conversion in many ways. In the context of the me/us to grow in this mission? invites conversion gently but persistently.
Season of Creation, we need to listen to that
To what individuals, groups, communities,
Word of God in “the cry of the Earth and the cry At the same time, the approach is realistic: there
parishes, institutions, movements am I
of the poor.” (L.S. 49) will be those who will not listen. The prophetic
called to speak out, educate, warn of God’s
prophetic Word in the cry of the poor and the word around these issues is far too important
cry of Earth? and urgent to get bogged down in endless
arguments with those who, in the words of the12
psalm, have hardened their hearts. Move on to Prayer over the Gifts
where the work of conversion and the growth
God of peace and love, may our offering of
of the New Creation can find fertile ground and
ourselves, our energies, and our prayers in these
produce a hundredfold.
gifts bring You true worship and make us one
Christ calls us together too in prayer, promising with You in bringing to birth Your New Creation.
to be with us, promising us that our prayer will Grant this through Christ the Lord. Amen.
be heard. Let our prayer deepen our awe and
Prayer after Communion
reverence before God revealed powerfully in
creation. Our loving God, at the table of Your word and
sacrament, You nourish Your faithful and give
General Intercessions Petitions us life. Grant that through these gifts of Your
That we may grow in consciousness of the great Son, we may advance in holiness, in love of
gift of creation and all of its elements, we pray…. our neighbor, and in reverence and care for
Your creation. May we look forward with joy
That we may deepen our gratitude for nature’s to sharing his life forever. We ask this through
rich Web of Life within which we live and may Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
grow in openness to wiser and more just ways of
caring for it and sharing it, we pray…. Final Blessing
Following the entries for the five Sundays of the
That we may take up our prophetic responsibility
Season of Creation, you will find two Solemn
in this time of crisis to speak God’s Truth to each
Blessings on p. 30, based upon prayers of Pope
other and to call each other into conversion
Francis for possible use at the end of Mass.
and to ways of living within creation wisely,
sustainably, justly, and reverently we pray….
All is interdependent, all is interconnected. We cannot say we love God if we do not love our neighbor.
We cannot say we love our neighbor if we do not care for the air, the water, the land, the ecological
systems, the intricate Web of Life upon which our neighbors and we depend for life itself.13
First Sunday – Musical Selections
September 6, 2020 | 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Hymns Psalm Settings
E – Entrance | O – Offertory | C – Communion | D – Dismissal
If Today You Hear: Psalm 95
E,D Stewards of Earth Lorenzo Florián ©2006, WLP
Omer Westendorf, © 1984 World Library Publications (WLP) If Today You Hear the Voice of God: Psalm 95
E,D Touch the Earth Lightly Ed Bolduc ©1998, WLP
Shirley Erena Murray, ©1992 Hope Publishing Company. If Today You Hear God’s Voice: Psalm 95
E,D God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens Jeffery Honoré ©1996, WLP
Catherine Cameron, ©1967 Hope Pub. Co. Listen! Listen! Open Your Hearts!
O,C Where Charity and Love Prevail ©2005 The Collegeville Composers Group, Liturgical Press
Paul Benoit, ©1960 WLP Psalm 95: If Today You Hear His Voice
O,C Love One Another Michael Guimont, ©1995 GIA Publications, Inc.
Feargal King ©2000, WLP Psalm 95: If Today You Hear His Voice
O,C Many and Great Dakota hymn, para. Philip Frazier Roy James Stewart ©1993 GIA Publications, Inc.
C Life-giving Bread, Saving Cup Psalm 95: If Today You Hear God’s Voice
James Chepponis ©1087 GIA ©2000 Bernadette Farrell, published by OCP
D Here I Am, Lord
Daniel L. Schutte ©1981, Oregon Catholic Press (OCP)
D Christ Has No Body Now But Yours
St. Theresa of Ávila, adapt. Warner ©2003 WLP14
Second Sunday of the Season of Creation
September 13, 2020 | 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
SCRIPTURES Introductory Comments for them wisely and well. Too often we abuse Your gifts
and Your trust.
Sirach 27:30-28:9 On the 1st Sunday of the Season of Creation, the scriptures
Creator Spirit of God, have mercy.
Ps. 103:1-4, 9-12 called us to accept our prophetic responsibility in love to
invite each other to conversion and care for creation in Christ Jesus, You came to show us God’s loving
Romans 14:7-9 these times of ecological crisis. forgiveness and You have taught us to forgive each other
Matthew 18:21-35 as we long to be forgiven.
The readings today remind us not to let our prophetic call to Word of God, have mercy.
others turn into anger or vengeance against them. If we do
Holy Spirit of God, You are at work in us and among
not forgive each other, we cannot expect God to forgive us.
us making us more conscious of the sacredness of all
We are invited to reflect with gratitude on all the failings, creation, raising up global movements in these times to
sins, and abuse of creation that God has forgiven us and is care for Earth and for each other.
now calling us to confront, heal and transform. Wisdom of God, have mercy.
May God, the Creator of all time and space and the vast
The call to be prophetic, yet patient, non-judgmental and
Web of Life in which we live, have mercy on us, free us
forgiving with each other if we hope God to forgive us
from our sins, and guide us into the fullness of divine Life.
extends to all the dimensions of the “integral ecological
Amen.
conversion” which Pope Francis identifies as the prophetic
word of God to our world at this time: the interconnected Gloria
environmental, economic, and social dimensions.
Opening Prayer
Penitential Rite Suggestion
Our loving God most high, human ignorance and sin have
Conscious of God’s mercy, patience, kindness and brought great destruction upon Earth, Your awe-inspiring
compassion in our lives, let us enter into the quiet of our and gracious gift with its vast web of life.
spirits … asking for forgiveness … and for a forgiving spirit
with each other. [silent pause] You are slow to anger and rich in compassion. Keep alive
in us the memory of Your mercy, that our angers may be
Creator God, You have entrusted the human family with
calmed and our resentments dispelled. May we discover
the richly diverse gifts of creation, asking us to receive
the forgiveness promised to those who forgive and become
them with gratitude, share them generously, and care
a people rich in mercy. May Your Holy Spirit continue to15
draw us together into one human family working Still, Sirach warns that clinging to anger and Jesus could not be clearer: We must forgive not
together with urgency and hope to heal and vengeance will bring God’s anger and vengeance 7 times but 77 times – a metaphor in his time
renew our common home. upon us. We must forgive others’ injustice if we and culture for a number without limit. Every
hope to have God forgive our own. time they ask forgiveness sincerely, we must
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your give it from our hearts. If we do not forgive each
Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of Legitimate righteous anger, on the other hand, other when we have been forgiven so much by
the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. can provide energy and courage to speak out God, we will lose God’s forgiveness.
Amen. and work for change, but this kind of anger
seeks conversion and reconciliation, not To recognize how precious God’s forgiveness for
Points for Reflection on the vengeance or destruction. It does not become the misuse of the gifts of creation is, we need to
Scriptures bitter. be conscious of how precious and sacred those
Reading from the Book of Sirach. The gifts are.
mission of relaying God’s call to “integral Psalm 103 celebrates God’s forgiveness, mercy,
ecological conversion” in these times can lead patience, and compassion for us. As we pray this How has God patiently increased our
to frustration and anger when people refuse to psalm in the context of the Season of Creation, awareness of the preciousness of the gifts of
listen, deny the truth and evidence, resist acting, the Spirit is working with us to deepen our felt creation?
and even actively oppose the work of caring for gratitude for God’s mercy and forgiveness for What do we most appreciate, enjoy and rely
and healing Earth and all its Web of Life. the abuse of the gifts of creation. The Spirit on in nature? How can we come to recognize
longs to heal us and redeem our lives from the it more as a gift from God?
When crises are as urgent and destructive as destruction threatening us all.
the ecological/climate crises today, it is hard to How can we contemplate God present in
be patient and gentle with those causing them How have we experienced God’s patience and those gifts? How can we grow in discerning
who do not see the truth and the need or are forgiveness for the ways we receive, live in, God’s Self-gift in and through them?
not willing to change. When we watch families and treat God’s gifts of Earth, of creation? As
a community? As individuals? As we have grown in consciousness of God’s
starve, the Amazon burn, floods ravage, arctic gifts in creation and of our destructive use
regions melt, and crucial waters evaporate in This passage from Paul’s letter to the and abuse of them, we have experienced God’s
rising heat, anger about the thoughtlessness Romans, in its fuller context, serves to patience, mercy, and call to conversion in our
and destruction seems just and called for. encourage Christians not to judge one another. lives – what Pope Francis has called an integral
When people we love suffer from the changing Each one lives or dies for Christ and “each of us ecological conversion.
climate, the desire to strike out against those shall give an account to God.” [Romans: 14:12]
responsible rises quickly. The human costs: to How have we been forgiven in our individual
those alive now and to future generations can Matthew’s gospel answers two questions: How journeys thus far? In our community life? For
be devastating. Earth is even now going through often must we forgive someone who seeks what are we in still need of forgiveness now?
the Sixth Great Extinction with costs to all life forgiveness? And what will happen if we don’t How can we expand our consciousness of
that are massive. forgive each other? the ways we continue to live unconscious
of or unconcerned about waste, pollution, a16
“throw away culture,” overuse of resources, General Intercessions Petitions and service. May what each of us has offered to
inequality and poverty? the glory of your name advance the healing and
That we may grow in consciousness of the great
Acknowledging our sins, failures, slowness to salvation of us all and of the Earth our home. We
gift of creation and all of its elements, we pray….
change and asking forgiveness, we need to make our prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord.
contemplate and give profound thanks to God That we may deepen our gratitude for nature’s Amen.
for this patience, gentleness in forgiving us, rich Web of Life within which we live and may
Prayer after Communion
teaching us, drawing us to work for the New grow in openness to wiser and more just ways of
Creation. caring for it and sharing it, we pray…. Our Loving God, may the eucharist You have
given us nourish us and guide our thoughts and
How can we express and live out our That we may take up our prophetic responsibility actions. May Your Holy Spirit direct us in Your
gratitude for God’s patient forgiveness to us in this time of crisis to speak God’s Truth to each ways in bringing to birth Your new creation. We
personally? As a community? other and to call each other into ways of living ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.
How can we work at deepening and nurturing within creation wisely, sustainably, justly, and
that gratitude of spirit? What type of liturgies, reverently we pray…. Final Blessing
prayers, actions together can nurture this Following the entries for the five Sundays of the
For forgiveness for our own part in the sins
spiritual growth? Season of Creation, you will find two Solemn
against creation and for patience in forgiving
How can that gratitude call forth in us Blessings on p. 30, based upon prayers of Pope
others, we pray….
patience and forgiveness for those “behind Francis for possible use at the end of Mass.
us” in this journey? For those resisting or Prayer over the Gifts
denying the cry of the poor and the cry of the Our loving God, be attentive to our prayers and
Earth? receive with favor these gifts of our energies
Legitimate righteous anger ... can provide energy and courage to speak out and work
for change, but this kind of anger seeks conversion and reconciliation,
not vengeance or destruction. It does not become bitter.17
Second Sunday – Musical Selections
September 13, 2020 | 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Hymns Psalm Settings
E – Entrance | O – Offertory | C – Communion | D – Dismissal
Psalm 103: The Lord Is Kind and Merciful
E,O,D For the Healing of the Nations Marty Haugen, ©1983 GIA
Fred Kaan ©1968 Hope Publishing Co. Psalm 103: The Lord Is Kind and Merciful
E,O,D This Is My Song Michel Guimont, ©1998 GIA
Lloyd Stone, Georgia Harkness ©1964 Lorenz Publishing Co. Psalm 103: The Lord Is Kind and Merciful
E,O,D Abundant Life Charles Thatcher, ©2001 WLP
Ruth Duck ©1992 GIA Psalm 103: The Lord is kind and merciful
E,O,D Creating God, Your Fingers Trace Paul Tate, ©2013 GIA
Jeffery Rowthorn ©1979 Hymn Society of America Psalm 103: The Lord Is Kind and Merciful
E,O,D Prayer of Saint Francis ©1995, 2007 Howard Hughes pub. By OCP
St. Francis of Assisi, adapt. Sebastian Temple, ©1967 OCP Psalm 103: The Lord Is Kind and Merciful
O,D Forgive Our Sins, as We Forgive ©1997 Ricky Manalo, Pub. By OCP
Rosamund E. Herklots ©1969 Oxford University Press Merciful and Tender: Psalm 103
O When We Are Living /Pues Si Vivimos ©2005 Collegeville Composers Grp., pub. by Liturgical Press
Roberto Escamilla ©1989 United Methodist Pub. House
C Gift of Finest Wheat
Omer Westendorf ©1977 Archdiocese of Philadelphia, ILP
C Bread to Share
Marty Haugen, ©1995 GIA
C Pan de Vida
© 1988 Bob Hurd and Pia Moriarty, published by OCP18
Third Sunday of the Season of Creation
September 20, 2020 | 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
SCRIPTURES Introductory Comments Penitential Rite Suggestion
Isaiah 55:6-9 Today we will hear from Isaiah God’s message: “As high Conscious of God’s mercy, patience, compassion, and
Ps. 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18 as the heavens are above the Earth, so high are my ways call, let us enter into the quiet of our spirits… asking for
above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” forgiveness, protection from the crises of this time, and
Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a the grace to see and understand God’s ways for us in these
Matthew 20:1-16a In this Season of Creation, we are being called to recognize times, in this context… [silent pause]
the global climate emergency in which we are living. The
planet is warming dangerously because of our use of fossil Creator God, our ways of living on Earth as a human
fuels and our systems of production and consumption. The family woven into the vast, complex web of life have not
ways our economies function and the values they serve been Your ways and now are threatening all life as we
are depleting and wasting Earth’s resources, creating know it with suffering and destruction.
great inequalities, suffering and injustice, and exceeding Creator Spirit of God, have mercy.
Earth’s regenerative capacity. Earth is crying out, the Christ Jesus, Your teaching is calling us to imagine a
poor are crying out, the existence and wellbeing of future more just way of working and living, one that provides
generations is threatened. justice to all and generosity to those most in need.
Word of God, have mercy.
Climate experts continue to warn of devastating, severe
and destructive changes to all dimensions of life within Holy Spirit of God, You are at work in us, among us, and
a decade unless the global community makes dramatic through us, teaching us Your ways and preparing a time
changes urgently. of sacred Jubilee in response to the cry of the Earth and
the cry of the poor.
In this Season of Creation, we are being called to take up Wisdom of God, have mercy.
our prophetic responsibility in love to spread the word and May God, the Creator of time, space and the vast Web of
to transform the ways we are living upon Earth. We must Life in which we live, have mercy on us, free us from our
acknowledge our failures to care for creation and embrace sins, and guide us into the fullness of divine Life.
God’s ways. Amen.
Gloria19
Opening Prayer Do we call upon God for forgiveness? For In our families? In businesses and
wisdom in living more sustainably, more justly, organizations? In our schools, educational
Our loving God most high, Your ways are not our
and more generously upon Earth? In what institutions and faith communities? In our
ways, for Your kindness and love are lavished
ways do we and our communities contribute to financial activities and organizations? In our
equally upon all and guide all creation. Teach us
the current ecological crises? To overcoming health care systems?
to welcome Your mercy toward others even as
them and bringing healing and new life to the
we hope to receive Your mercy ourselves. Teach The parable of the Landowner and the
communities of Creation?
us to love and care for all creation, Your gift Workers. God’s ways are not our ways. The
to us all, wisely and well. We ask this through Isaiah’s urgent call to seek God while God is near parable in the gospel in which the owner of the
our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and and can be found resonates deeply with the vineyard gives a full day’s wage to all, regardless
reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, warnings of climate experts for these times: that of how long they worked often stirs complaints
one God for ever and ever. Amen. “only with rapid and far-reaching transitions about fairness.
in the world economy on a scale and at a rate
Points for Reflection on the But those who worked the longest, the whole
without historical precedent” can humanity
Scriptures day, received what they had agreed was a just
avoid the tipping points that will bring great
Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. devastation to life around Earth. wage.
God is near to all who call upon God.
Do we understand and feel the sense of The wages of day laborers are often all that their
We are invited to enter into contemplative urgency? Do we see and experience the family has to survive on for a given day; and so
reverence in the midst of creation before the dangers? What study and other ways of the generosity of the vineyard owner served to
greatness of God, the source of Earth and all the growing in understanding do we need to meet the people’s basic daily needs.
universe. Love of God’s creation in all its beauty, undertake?
This parable shows us a compensation system
intricacy, and lavish goodness can spark love in
How do we contribute to the dangers and the based on the agreed-upon value of certain work
our hearts and guide us in caring for creation as
suffering, the cry of the Earth? and care to meet the basic needs of all workers.
it needs to be cared for.
How can we and our communities reconcile It is not based upon comparative, competitive,
In what ways can we grow in consciousness of ourselves with God, with each other, and unlimited accumulation.
God’s gifts and presence in creation? with creation through concrete repentance,
God’s ways challenge us. A central belief of the
How can we grow in an ecological spirituality, conversion and urgent action?
Catholic Social Tradition confesses that the
discover and deepen our sense of wonder, In our lifestyles? Through social outreach, Earth is God’s and everything in it. Creation is a
praise, joy and gratitude before God in social media? By studying the needs of our gift of God to all people and living creatures, a
creation? localities, regions, ecosystems? Through gift to provide for the needs of all for survival,
How might we develop and promote creation- joining peoples’ campaigns and social growth, and flourishing.
centered liturgical celebrations? Retreats? movements locally and globally? Through
political advocacy locally, nationally, globally? The right to private property is not absolute. To
Education programs?
accumulate and cling to more and more than
one needs while others live in desperate poverty20
is a serious sin against creation and the Creator. joining peoples’ campaigns and social Prayer over the Gifts
It is the situation of human life on Earth today: a movements locally and globally? Through
Loving and gracious God, all that we have are
grave pattern of injustice that undermines peace political advocacy locally, nationally, globally?
gifts from You. Receive these gifts of bread
and survival planet-wide. In our families? In businesses and and wine, our energies, our hopes, and our
Climate change today is a result of the coming organizations? In our schools, educational commitments to return our love to You through
together of economic and social systems driven institutions and faith communities? In our our care for and sharing of creation with
by greed and accumulation, governed to protect financial activities and organizations? In our grateful and generous hearts. Grant this in the
inequality, and built upon domination and health care systems? name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.
destruction of Earth. General Intercessions Petitions Prayer after Communion
The biblical vision of Jubilee was chosen as That we may grow in consciousness, awe, and Our loving God, You have nourished us with this
the theme for this year’s celebration of the praise of the mystery of God in creation and of sacrament. Support us with Your unfailing help
Season of Creation because, in the words of the the great gift of creation and all of its elements, that we may embrace Your ways caring wisely
international ecumenical steering committee, we pray…. and generously for the human family and the
“Jubilee is a time to renounce overconsumption family of creation. Grant this through Christ, the
and economic systems based on constant That we may deepen our gratitude for nature’s
Lord. Amen.
economic growth at the cost of the Earth and rich Web of Life within which we live and may
those who are poor.” grow in openness to wiser and more just ways of Final Blessing
caring for it and sharing it, we pray….
Following the entries for the five Sundays of the
“Jubilee is a time of rest for the land from
That we may take up our prophetic responsibility Season of Creation, you will find two Solemn
constant exploitation, to restore ecosystems and
in this time of crisis to speak God’s Truth to each Blessings on p. 30, based upon prayers of Pope
people.”
other and to call each other into ways of living Francis for possible use at the end of Mass.
“The theme of Jubilee affirms the need for within creation wisely, sustainably, justly, and
equality, justice and sustainability, and a reverently we pray….
transition of sustainable economies.”
For a deep sense of urgency in responding to
How can we and our communities embrace the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, we
God’s ways of Jubilee here, now? How can we pray….
do more to heal our relationships with God,
with people, with Earth in ways that respond That the nations of the world will find ways
with love and care to the cry of the poor and together to rebuild from the Covid-19 pandemic
the cry of Earth? and economic declines in accord with God’s
ways, God’s vision of economic, social and
In our lifestyles? Through social outreach, ecological justice, we pray…
social media? By studying the needs of our
localities, regions, ecosystems? Through21
Third Sunday – Musical Selections
September 20, 2020 | 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Hymns Psalm Settings
E – Entrance | O – Offertory | C – Communion | D – Dismissal
Psalm 145: The Lord Is Near
E,D Glory and Praise to Our God ©2004 Tom Booth, pub. by OCP
©1972, 1974, 2008 Daniel L. Schutte, pub. by OCP Psalm 145: The Lord is Near
E,D God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens Stephen R. Janco, ©2001 , WLP
Catherine Cameron ©1967 Hope Publ. Co. Psalm 145: The Lord is Near
E,D Praise to the Lord Michel Guimont, ©1998, GIA
Joachim Neander, trans. Catherine Winkworth Psalm 145: The Lord is Near
E,O,D For the Fruits of This (All) Creation Kathleen Harmon ©2013, GIA
Fred Pratt Green ©1970 Hope Publishing Co. Lord, You Are Close
O Seek the Lord ©2007 The Collegeville Composers Group, pub. Liturgical Press
Roc O’Connor, ©1976 Robert F. O’Connor, SJ, and New Dawn Music
O,C When We Are Living /Pues Si Vivimos
Roberto Escamilla ©United Methodist Publ. Hs.
O,D Touch the Earth Lightly
Shirley Erena Murray, ©1992 Hope Publishing Company
C Take and Eat
James Quinn and Michael Joncas, ©1989 GIA
C Taste and See
James E. Moore, Jr., ©1983, GIA
C Pan de Vida
Bob Hurd and Pia Moriarty, ©1988 by Bob Hurd, pub. by OCPYou can also read
