RBWords - Volume 24 - Number 11: November 2011
Something to Think About
The “advent” of the new Roman Missal on the First Sunday of Advent has come and gone and from all that I hear, most folks are taking it in stride. There are plenty of chuckles over the automatic “old” responses from the pews and a few rueful winces from celebrants who also are accustomed to certain cadences and vocabulary. Only time will tell if this new translation will become second nature. Words in worship are very important, even if the worshipers don’t pay a lot of detailed attention to the theology that concerns the more liturgically oriented. For example, the old translation of “for all” in the consecration of the wine has been changed to “for many.” This has caused a lot of comment in theological/liturgical journals and circles, but I don’t think it will be of great significance to the average pew person.
The famous adage, “lex orandi, lex credendi” (the law of prayer is the law of faith) has been the rule of thumb since the fifth century. It means that our prayer can shape the way we understand our faith. This makes it all the more important that prayers which are said in common, as in the official public ceremonies of the church – sacraments, approved devotions, etc. – should be expressed in words and gestures that have a common understanding. Since the English language has a global reach, the new translation has been given to all the “English-speaking” conferences of bishops. Therefore, all the English words we in the U.S.A. use at Mass are being used also in Nigeria, New Zealand, India and anywhere Mass is celebrated in English! Suffice it to say, they are having their challenges of adjustment as well! Since many “international” priests are now serving in the USA, we will not have as many familiar phrases to help us “hear” the different accents. There is much adventure ahead of us! IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!
It Has Been Said
“Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism, or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.”
From MERE CHRISTIANITY by C. S. Lewis