First Sunday of Advent

The First Sunday of Advent came and went with a yawn. The priest officiating at the Mass I attended noted the introduction of the New Roman Missal. He asked us all to be patient as we learned - or re-learned - the responses. I will note here only one of the changes: The Priest says: The Lord be with you The response, since 1972, has been: And also with you. It is now: And with your spirit. From the reading I have done, this change (back to "and with your spirit) reflects the language most commonly used by Paul in his Epistles. So this phrase is to bring us closer to the original wording. And it is biblically rooted. I will later refer to some other changes which are rooted in the Rite of the Mass but not the Bible. Here are two comments I heard after Mass: With all the Church should be dealing with, is this really worth the energy? Didn't we say all those responses years ago and now we have to learn them again? What do you think?

Why a new Roman Missal?

The Missal Catholics have been using in the English world came into effect in March, 1975. The New Roman Missal that will come into effect this Sunday (November 27, 2011) has been a work in progress since 2002. On March 25, 2010 the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments gave its approval for the new English translation of the Missal (ie, the prayers used at Mass). The saying of Mass in the vernacular (a reform that was sanctioned by the Second Vatican Council) began on the First Sunday of Lent, 1965 and was completed in December, 1968. Pope Paul VI referred to Mass in the vernacular as the 'praying voice of the Church' and it was both a symbol and a reality of reform which began with Vatican II. Why a new translation? A new edition of the Missal in Latin was published in 2002. The sanctioned Latin edition is used for translation into all languages to ensure its fidelity to the Latin. We will begin to explore some of those changes after the introduction on Sunday. Question: Is this a good use of the Church's time and resources? (Background note) The Vulgate, the translation of the Bible into Latin by St. Jerome, is usually credited as being the first translation of the Old Testament into Latin directly from the Hebrew, rather than Greek. St. Jerome's extensive use of material written in Greek, on the other hand, as well as his use of other texts , makes it difficult to determine exactly how direct the conversion of Hebrew to Latin was.

The cycle of the Missal

The Lectionary (or Missal) follows a Sunday and Weekday Cycle. The Sunday Cycle is 3-yearly and denoted by the letters A, B and C. Each year follows through one of the Gospels: A-Matthew, B-Mark, C-Luke. The Gospel of John is proclaimed on particular Sundays in each of the years. The readings include a Psalm, Old Testament passage, Epistle and Gospel from the New Testament. As of the First Sunday of Advent, 2011, we will have the cycle for Year B. (Year A is determined from those years divisible by 3; B follows and then C).

First Sunday of Advent

The Christian Liturgical calendar is considered a moveable feast so from year to year the dates of events, feasts etc can change. Some dates, for example, Christmas Day are fixed. Moveable events include Advent, Easter, Pentecost. These are set by the lunar calendar and based the Gregorian Calendar (introduced by Pope Gregory XIII) The First Sunday of Advent for the 2011-12 liturgical year is Sunday, November 27. Advent marks the beginning of the Christian Liturgical Year. The new Missal will be introduced on the First Sunday of Advent. Note on Pope Gregory XIII: Pope Gregory XIII (7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.

The Blog Explained

When the Vatican Council was called by Pope John XXIII, it was said to let fresh air into the Catholic Church. It was a period of great renewal and hope for Catholicism and Catholics and a time of major reforms from within and a period of reaching out to other Christian and world religions. The spirit of ecumenism and renewal continued with Pope John's successor, Pope Paul VI.

Alas! the spirit of reform, examination, change has deteriorated in the past twenty-five years. The introduction of the new Missal provides an opportunity for Catholics to examine faith, liturgy and the church. Please join me as we consider language and other changes and how they reflect the reality of the church in our world. Let's consider: Is it a viable and inviting church? What is its relevance for Catholics today? And any other questions and issue you may wish to examine.