Shall we all gather by the river to sing a Te Deum? Finally, after work that began and soon got way off track in the late 1980's, the revised English translation of the Roman Missal is complete and the Bishops of our country have approved it overwhelmingly, despite a last ditch effort by one bishop who seems to think that the 1970's was the apex of liturgy in the 2000 year history of the church. It is to laugh!
It is my opinion that toward the late 1990's and early 2000's those in Rome, meaning Pope John Paul II and then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger were becoming alarmed by the totally off the wall liturgical translations and suggestions that were coming out of the International Committee for English in the Liturgy (ICEL). These were horrible translations. Thankfully the document from Rome "Liturgical Authenticum" demanded that the translations of English be faithful to the Latin Edition of the Roman Missal and that the English be a literal translation of the Latin, not some silly dumbed-down equivalency. At the heart of those who want a dumb English version of the Mass is an intellectual elitism that suggests the laity are just too stupid to understand big words. They are so stupid in fact, they can't add big words to their vocabulary. I call this elitism, clericalism and sinful.
Now almost twenty years after the revisions began, we have what the Vatican wants. It will not be perfect, but it will be much better, more sacred and less banal than our current English Mass. It will take some getting use to especially the laity's parts which are changing. But I would venture to guess as an amateur sociologist that after a year, it will become natural.
I would also predict that after about ten years, the way people pray will be the way people believe. We'll believe in God, have awe and reverence for Him in His presence and we'll know we are Christians, not only by our love but by the grace of God! We'll know it is all about God and not just about us. We'll know that when we receive Holy Communion, Jesus does not become a part of us, but we become a part of Him--His suffering, His death and His resurrection.
I hope the bishops of our country will allow individual parishes to experiment now with the new Translation. There is no reason why the priest's parts can't be introduced now. If you want to learn about the new English Mass visit the Bishops' website on it. It is at the following link:
http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/
The revised Mass should be officially implemented by Easter or Advent of 2011, but I'm not clairvoyant.
Let me know your feelings about implementing some of the re-translated parts that the priest prays. God bless you.
3 comments:
Let you know my feelings? Alright Father, my feelings are that the sooner we are introduced to the changes, the sooner we will become comfortable with them. Take the time via the Bulletin (and this blog) to explain why the changes are made; introduce the changes incrementally; and by Advent of 2011 you could easily have the whole Parish ready to switch to the improved texts without a hitch.
Having said that, I will echo what I read elsewhere recently. I will stand with you Father. As long as you stand with the Pope, I will stand with you. So, my opinions are provided because you have asked for them, but in these matters I, and I believe the majority of the congregation, will follow where you lead.
It's great to hear of such positive changes in the Church. Keep us updated!
The sooner the better.
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