Hello Everyone. Just a quick post.
1) As per my Catechesis, it's going slower than I've expected. It didn't help that my sleep got screwed up thanks to Night shifts the weekend before and I kept waking up at 330am each day, not able to get back to sleep till 6am and sleep in till late. ugh. I only reclaimed my sleep thanks to a willed effort plus some help from melatonin. You can buy that at a regular drug store under name brands. However I am deciding to start with the Gospels, reading through each. I've found a few quotes for Part 1 as well as a couple for part 2 in dealing with others of specific religions, and even one's own "brother and sister" Catholics (including clergy). When I get through Matthew, I might consider letting you guys see what I have so far ...
2) So, by now everyone's been to a Mass with the New Translation of the Roman Missal, 3rd edition. Unless of course you solely do the TLM. Well, this is how I felt about it and I've been posting on other blogs about this. Do you share the same opinion? Disagree? Agree? Feel mixed? let me know. Also, remember my blog rules? Don't remember them? go to my first posting back in August or September. I don't want virtual firebombs being launched here.
"Coming up to the new mass, I was filled with excitement and curiosity. I’ve seen countdowns for the new translation and read many interesting things from blogs on the blogosphere (Fr Z’s, Catholic Knight, Vox Cantoris, …), got a series of handouts from the internet from my archdiocese that explained the translations, an app from Cale Clarke called “The New Mass” for Iphone (which has a more biblical explanation of the changes for Why’s), and a pew card for the new responses. Fr. Z’s blog especially gave me more to look forward to wordwize as he has masterfully shown how pitiful the 1973 ICEL translation is and how it butchers many of the collects into wimpy feel good “prayers.”
So what happened when I got to my parish? The same old usual. Same old procession, same old 4 sandwich hymns from our current Parish only hymnal (not Gather thankfully!), Homily, consecration, etc. Though it was cool to hear the new eucharistic prayer and collect. Reflecting on the Mass, I didn’t feel at all elevated in soul and body. I felt like it didn’t do what it was being touted to do by everyone, the blogosphere, the diocese, etc. Even with a Catholic colleague at work we agreed the effect wasn’t pronounced as it should have been. Were it not for my lectoring and a decent homily by my priest who usually goes far out into academia land (as he was/is involved in teaching and committees in the Church so that’s his audience 85% of the time), it would have been even more saddening. Mind you my parish isn’t as bad as many of these other parishes when it comes to liturgical abuses post vatican II. The most “out there” things we’ve done is have poor quality sermons and the replacement of the Crucifix on our headstone on the altar be replaced with an Icon of Christ blessed by an archbishop of the Diocese. So maybe since there wasn’t radical changes, maybe there was nothing to notice?
There is a few small gems of hope though out of it today. I helped an older lady in her 40's once with the responses using the pew card. I saw a young elementary school boy and his mother do a simple/moderate bow before receiving the Eucharist. Also, I gained an even further appreciation for the TLM, for even a simple low Mass would have seemed better for me today. While I do acknowledge that as a whole, this is a good start to correcting the damage done to the laity of the Church over the last 40+ years, personally the New Translation was a letdown for me this Sunday and ineffective. That or maybe I should considering transferring to my Mother’s new parish for Novus Ordo things (where there are good traditionally minded Novus Ordo priests)."
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