In case you didn’t know, we are going to Mars.
In our lifetime.
When humanity flings itself into the inky blackness of the nearby heavens, will the silly songs of contemporary worshiptainment be an adequate musical expression of this endeavor?
When the first priest arrives on Mars, and says the first Mass on another world, what sort of music could possibly match the profound human accomplishment, and the divine inspiration, that got him there?
Canticle of Mars !! perhaps a new composition??
As Pope Francis observes, "The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth." Might we do well to rectify this matter before turning our baleful influence loose on the moon, the planets, the stars?
Where is our theology of space? Already we have left our garbage on the moon, and littered near-space with our satellite debris. And what if we are asked, "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?"
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
How about the paraphrased hymn of St. Francis–All Creatures of Our God and King?
O burning sun with golden beam,
and shining moon with silver gleam,
O praise him, O praise him,
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
New rising dawn in praise rejoice;
you lights of evening find a voice:
O praise him, O praise him,
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The theological writings of Benedict XVI, with his repeated emphasis on the word “Cosmos,” directly challenge earth bound near-sightedness. As to a musical reflection of expanded interplanetary knowledge and exploration, there is “Earth and All Stars.” It would be a stretch however to claim that hymn gets much use. When contemplating the incomprehensible immensity of space, silence might just be the better option.