Didn t just believe in changing injustice Spends enormous amount of time

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1 For this presentation I have used three main sources. The first is the new Roman Missal. Secondly I make reference to the A Biblical Walk Through the Mass by Edward Sri. This five session video series is being offered in our parish. The main outline and content of this presentation was taken from a presentation by Fr. Dennis McManus. Fr. McManus has served on the U.S. Bishops Committee for the new translation and is perhaps the foremost authority in our nation as to the process and final implementation of the new Roman Missal. To appreciate the changes of the Roman Missal you need to understand the differences between JPII and B16 (sometimes he s a vitamin; sometimes he s a bomber) John Paul II A Polish Romantic Philosopher (especially an ethicist) He can t stop asking the questions Benedict XVI A German Pragmatic Ecclesiologist Not concerned with entering into dialogue with modern world Concerned more with what is going on in the interior life of the Church This is central to his approach to liturgy Theologian 2 PHDs in Theology (esp. Augustine & Bonaventure) Wants concrete answers to questions There is a place for everything and everything must be in its place Activist Contemplative Didn t just believe in changing injustice Spends enormous amount of time He confronted it head on alone in prayer and reflection (in a private audience he chastised President Marcos for the political state of his nation What kind of a Catholic are you? ) Charismatic Professor Saw himself as the evangelist This is why his Wednesday Audience to the world talks are so deeply profound The problem with this approach is that when the evangelist dies, the agenda often dies with him He did not concretize his changes and so they were dependent upon his presence These two different worldviews very much affects their individual approach to liturgy. (See next page)

2 Approach to Liturgy John Paul II Liturgy is platform for Evangelization Accepted enculturation in liturgy as doorway to evangelization, even if the particular expression (i.e. ballerinas in tutus in France Priests in loin cloths in Samoa) was not appropriate Benedict XVI Liturgy is the engine of the Church We must do liturgy well and it will evangelize on its own. 1) Does liturgy transform us or our culture? 2) Is the reformed liturgy faithful to the continuity of the Church? Localizes Liturgy: Centralizes liturgy: 1) Saw that the two-track sacramental system (Mass of 1962 & Mass of Paul VI) cannot go on indefinitely 2) There must be a process of mutual enrichment between the two forms 3) After this process, there needs to be a reformed Roman Rite Understanding and appreciating the New Translation. It is important to note that translation projects are cultural projects before they are theological projects. The New Roman Missal is actually early Modern English. It is not Post-Modern American English. The old translation in America was not actually a translation (word-by-word translation). It was more of a paraphrase (What does it say in Latin? What does that mean in English?) One could argue that the prayers were a totally new composition and therefore no longer the ancient texts that have been used throughout the centuries. HANDOUT A nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Father of heaven and earth Hear our prayers, and show us the way to peace. times. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Almighty, ever living God who governs all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our Through Christ our Lord. The prayers have their origin in the ancient pre-christian Roman culture

3 In there original form there was no Christological, Trinitarian reference in them at all The early fathers simply took an ancient prayer and stuck on Through Christ our Lord. This means that to pray these texts we need to learn to pray like an ancient Roman. John Paul II ordered the re-translation. He was the master of inculturation. He believed that the gospel must cut through the culture in a two step process. 1. Anything in the culture that is contrary to the gospel must be rooted out. 2. Then the culture can illuminate the Gospel so that a new Catholic culture emerges. And so the real issue is not the particular English translation and choice of words. Rather it is the confrontation we Americans will have with ancient Roman culture. Comme le prevat (1969) is the document on which the 1969 translations were based. This allowed a broad interpretation by which our current paraphrased texts were allowed. While this document was used as the foundation for the rules of translation, no one signed it. Benedict XVI s Liturgiam authenticum has set the new rules for translation. Note bene! B16 is NOT interested in inculturation. John Paul II, from 1998 to 2005 wrote several things he wanted in the translation 1. Put more scripture into the mass not paraphrased images but literal words HANDOUT B: Why is There a Revised Edition of the Roman Missal? Cf. Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof (Matthew 8:8) The words of the Roman Centurion. It is important to note that the centurion coming to Jesus with a request was an extremely humiliating thing. The centurion was a man of great authority. He told people where to go and when to be there. A Jewish rabbi was a man of little to no significance in his world. And so to come to this Jewish rabbi was an act of profound humility. Likewise, we speak these words immediately before receiving our Lord in communion. To come to our Lord should be an act of profound humility. We are not worthy to have him enter the homes of our hearts, and yet that is what he invites us to do each time we come to communion. 2. Bring the poetry and beauty back to the text HANDOUT: an example of beauty and prose 2 nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Father of heaven and earth Hear our prayers, and show us the way to peace. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Almighty, ever living God who governs all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our times. Through Christ our Lord.

4 HANDOUT: Pg 2 has the problematic translation of the Opening Collect for the Immaculate Conception Lord, accept this sacrifice on the feast of the sinless Virgin Mary Help us by her prayers, and free us from our sins. We ask this in the name of Jesus the lord. 3. Full, precise theological expression Graciously accept the saving sacrifice which we offer you, O Lord, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the blessed Virgin Mary, and grant that, as we profess her on account of your prevenient grace to be untouched by any stain of sin, so, through her intercession, we may be delivered from all our faults. Through Christ our Lord. PRAYING LIKE AN ANCIENT ROMAN When the gospel comes to a culture, the culture is already capable and incapable of hearing the gospel. The culture of Ancient Rome was founded on a father son relationship. Aeneas (the son) left Troy as it was burning with Jupiter (the father) on his back because his father was unable to walk. The two of them founded a new city (Rome) And so, for the ancients to hear of a son who dies for love of father they are capable of hearing the gospel Roman Christians, therefore, took what was already good natural theology and Christianized it. Relationship is synonymous with blood, power, servanthood, alliance Relatio = familias To be Roman, therefore, is to pray through the people to which you are related (i.e. saints & martyrs in the Roman Canon) And to pray through the two virtues of loyalty (fides) and honor (pietas) The challenges we face in praying the Roman Missal are 1. Our relationship with God (our Father) is one of complete dependence (God is not my co-pilot but rather the one on which everything depends) 2. We are praying inside a tradition that is much bigger than we are - The New Translation is about us (congregation, parish, diocese, church) - We don t do Liturgy. Liturgy does us. Let s turn to the handout and look at a comparison and contrast of some of the texts.

5 Let s start at the beginning of the mass. Confiteor I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters that I have sinned through my own fault; in my thoughts and in my words in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; and so I ask the blessed Virgin Mary, all the Angels and Saints and you, my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God. therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God. This three-fold through my fault reminds US of the three-fold temptation of Christ and also the three-fold denial of our Lord by Peter. Some have found themselves very uncomfortable with this text because of its apparent over-emphasis of our sinfulness. In our popular culture we tend to deny the reality of sin. We buy to often into the I m okay! You re okay! mentality. Add to this the moral relativism of our time and we must admit that our society has a big problem with sin. It is not the economy, it is not the fear of terrorism and war that is the cause of our societal problems today. It is the underlying sin that causes these things. The sin of greed and overconsumption that inflates our economy and the sin of prejudice and hunger for revenge that perpetuates terrorism and war. Then there are the many sins of immorality and that are destroying our families and communities. Sin is a very real thing that has very real, sometimes devastating effects in our lives and in our world. Left to ourselves we are powerless in the face of temptation. It is only the grace of God that allows us to resist temptation and choose rightly. This three-fold through my fault intentionally places us in the posture of humility before our God who gives us His grace. Having received this grace of forgivness, in the very beginning of mass, we respond rightly with the song of the angels Glory to God in the Highest. Again, God has given us what we need (we are dependent on God for forgiveness) and we respond in praise and thanks. This three-fold admission of our sin also gives way later in the mass to the threefold Holy found once again in the song of the angels in Revelation 4:8 Holy, holy, holy = ancient Hebrew form of Holy, holier, holiest God of power and might God of hosts. (Angels)

6 This brings us again to the Opening Collect found on your handout 2 nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Father of heaven and earth Hear our prayers, and show us the way to peace. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Almighty, ever living God who governs all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our times. Through Christ our Lord. Father of heaven and earth can simply mean the one who gave birth to the universe... who governs all things... Not only the one who birthed but also the one is in charge. Mercifully hear the pleading of your people once again reflects our utter dependence upon God. It is not simply enough to say hear our prayer.... bestow your peace on our times speaks not only of what we are asking God to do for us but also of our trust that God will do it. This again reminds us of our dependence upon God. Show us the way to peace seems more like we are not asking God to give us peace but rather we are asking God to give us the things we need to make peace happen. This leaves it up to us to make it happen. While it is true that God, on whom we must depend for everything, has chosen to depend on us to establish his Church on earth, our prayer is not about us and what we might do. Our prayer is about God, and what God has done for us. Holy, Holy Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of power and might Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Lamb of God Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed. Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed That you should enter under my roof reflects our belief that by our baptism we became the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. We are vessels (tabernacles) for Christ. We, in our own sin and brokenness; we in our own humble humanity; are not worthy to receive the Lord, and yet the Lord, through the incarnation made the choice to humble himself and become one of us. Not simply I shall be healed but specifically my soul shall be healed

7 Dialogue The Lord be with you And also with you Lift up your hearts We lift them up to the Lord Let us give thanks to the Lord our God It is right to give Him thanks and praise. The Lord be with you And with your Spirit Lift up your hearts We lift them up to the Lord Let us give thanks to the Lord our God It is just. This is a good example of the two different approaches to translation from the 1973 text and the 2010 text. In 1973 the English translators, in an attempt to make this dialogue make sense in English, composed an entirely new text that reinforces well this dialogue approach to our liturgy. The Lord be with you. And also with you. Interestingly, it is only in the English speaking Church that this translation was used. In every other translation in the world, German, Italian, the various Asian and African languages et cum spiritu tuo was translated literally and with your Spirit. Benedict XVI, and those entrusted with the task of compiling this translation knew this was an important error to correct. The correction first and foremost reinforces the fact that we are one universal church, and therefore the prayers that we pray ought to be the same no matter what language we speak. But more importantly And also with you does not mean at all what And with your spirit says. These words, and with your spirit, are spoken only to the ordained ministers, the Bishop, priest and or deacon who is leading us in worship. You will notice that these words occur five times in the Mass, In the Introductory Rites At the proclamation of the Gospel At the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer At the Sign of Peace At the Final Blessing

8 It is important to note also our physical posture in each of these times. Are we standing, sitting, or kneeling? In each of these places in the mass we are standing because we are about to do something of great importance: 1, We are beginning the Mass in which we will encounter Christ 2. We are preparing our hearts and minds not only to hear, but also to experience Christ s presence in the Gospel 3. We are preparing ourselves to experience Christ s presence in the Eucharistic Prayer when the bread and wine become the Body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ 4. We are preparing ourselves to experience Christ s presence in Holy Communion (We do this by acknowledging also, through the Sign of Peace, Christ s presence in one another) 5. Finally we are preparing ourselves to go out in the world and be Christ s presence for our world. Because of this, when the presider speaks the words the Lord be with you, we respond with And with your spirit because we are acknowledging that unique presence of Christ that is bestowed upon a man through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. In the Eucharist, the priest stands impersona Christi in the person of Christ. Having first become a part of the priesthood of Christ through the waters of baptism, the bishop or priest, enters into a new relationship with Christ and with the Church through Holy Orders. When we respond to the presider with the words, And with your Spirit, we are envoking that unique power of the Spirit that flows through the man by virtue of his ordination.