WELCOMING THE NEW TEXTS OF THE MASS

An Introduction to the Changes

Would you like to pray better? Most people probably would. This applies not only to those personal, private prayers of our hearts but also our shared prayer, our “praying together.” Of all the ways our Catholic, Christian tradition has invited people to pray together, the most significant is what we call the LITURGY. Liturgy is by definition the prayer or work of the people. It includes the sacraments, the “Liturgy of the Hours” (or “breviary”) that priests and religious pray, and a couple of other items. By far the greatest experience we have of liturgical prayer is the Mass. This is what we do most often—and which involves the greatest number of us. If we can together pray better at Mass, that would be a good thing.

This is what the church is inviting us to do. Beginning on the first Sunday of Advent (November 27th) there are going to be some changes in the texts of the Mass. Many of those changes are in the words of the priest, and some are changes in the people’s words. That is where we’ll face the challenge that comes with all change. Over the coming weeks, this special insert is going to address those changes…and why there are changes at all. One key to understanding the changes involves looking at what the Mass itself is really all about. We’re all pretty used to “coming to Mass.” Taking a fresh look at something you do all the time can be hard—but can also be very growthful. One of the documents of the Vatican Council back in the 1960’s spoke of the liturgy as “the source and summit of the Christian life.” The changes that are coming present a wonderful opportunity for us together to dig into this greatest and most powerful of our prayer experiences—the Mass. It’s important to note that the Mass itself, the mysteries that we celebrate, is not changing. It is in the words—the English rendering of the Latin text—that we will see some changes. This new translation is being implemented in all English-speaking nations of the world.

Since these changes are about words, let’s start there…with words. But specifically, the WORD. Thanks in particular to the language of St. John, the Gospels often refer to Jesus as the Word of God….the “word made flesh.” This notion is absolutely essential to understanding what we’re doing at Mass. We’re not speaking here of “the Word” as the Scriptures we listen to, but of Jesus as THE WORD which God has spoken to us…and to all of creation. In Jesus we hear THE WORD that God has spoken to us. With Jesus, who became one with us, we speak back to God our greatest words of praise and thanksgiving. Through Jesus, God and the human race are speaking back and forth to one another. That’s awesome (to use a current word)! God is saying (through Jesus), “I love you. I want to be with you. I want you to share my own life. I am your God, and you are precious to me.” WE are saying back to God (through Jesus), “Father, we love you. We thank You for all Your gifts to us. We praise You…we worship You…we will try to live as Your faithful servants.”

Now…I think our “conversation” with God goes on in all sorts of places and times and settings. But our understanding of the Mass is that it goes on most powerfully when we gather to remember and celebrate those events at the very heart of what Jesus did: His suffering, death and resurrection. This is what the Mass is all about—it makes present to us the events we celebrate every year at Holy Week and Easter. But notice—when we come to Mass, it’s not just (or primarily) to say what we have to say to God. It’s about our entering into the dialog between God and the human race that takes place in Jesus. What happens at Mass doesn’t start with us—it starts with God. This is why the language we use at Mass perhaps ought to sound a bit different than our ordinary, everyday language. This is the place for “special” language. Jesus is indeed a special WORD. If we are being drawn into the mystery of who Jesus really is, there might be “special” language we use as we speak to God in and through Jesus.

We know that when we talk about the sacraments, we’re often talking about “signs.” We use water…bread…wine…oil…and we use words. These are not arbitrary signs. Bread and wine all by themselves point to food, drink, and sharing a meal. The words of the Mass also “point”—they point to Christ, the Word. The words of the Liturgy are sacramental signs of the WORD: to speak, hear, sing and pray the words of the Mass is to encounter the Word, Jesus Christ. They guide us to recalling events, statements of Jesus. These signs are meant to help us “open up” the mystery of who Jesus really is (“Who do you say that I am?”) and understand more fully how the events of Jesus life, death and resurrection touch us as we recall those events at Eucharist.

As we look at the coming changes, hopefully we can all hear God’s invitation to come closer to Jesus…to better understand how God’s love for us is celebrated over and over again when we come to Mass. The Eucharist is our most important encounter with the Risen Jesus living among us. Surely we’d like to get all we possibly can out of those moments when we stand together with Jesus in the Father’s presence to praise and thank God for His goodness!

************

KEY POINTS:

1 – The Mass is our connecting point with God speaking to us in Jesus

and our human response—in Jesus—to God .

2 – The changes in the text are an opportunity to take another look at just what we’re doing when we come to Mass.

(This is the first in a series of ten articles prepared by Fr. Ritter and Joanne Denyer. You may wish to save them all.)

All ten articles will be on our parish website: www.stjoesylvania.org