A LITTLE CONFUSION, BUT CERTAINLY NOT CHAOS: Like most parishes, ours has a new hymnal with everything you need to follow along. We've even added the follow along, "red letter marks the changed language" script and the Mass Music Assembly Booklet. Its all there, and its probably a tad too much to navigate, but it seemed to have taken only a small portion of the hour for folks to figure out where to look and what to follow. The fun part was watching the faces of many, many well intended people simply fall back into the routine... "The Lord be with you"... And also with y--, oh.. um... your... And with your spirit!" :)
EVERY BIT OF THE PREPARATION WAS WORTH EVERY SECOND: I'm sure many parishes within the Church worked very hard for many, many months to prepare for the weekend debut of the New Missal. Some chose to begin practicing months ago, and others have been studying the reasons behind the changes for a year. Our parish, like many others, worked throughout the last year praying and deciding on what to do, but began the using the new translation only within the past few weeks, focusing on the Gloria, the Confiteor, and the Nicene Creed. We made the decision not to debut any new music until this past weekend as well. I believe that like us, the parishes who waited until the official start time of this past weekend to "do the new Mass" were treated to the value of what comes with that newness and how it compliments the season of Advent.
"WHAT ABOUT THOSE BELLS?" There a certainly a few nay-sayers in the pews, and some people that just aren't happy with the changes in the New Roman Missal. Our parish has maintained a relatively "middle of the road" approach when it comes to celebrating the Mass. The ringing of the bells has not been a usual practice at my parish. While the use of the bells is certainly NOT part of the change of the Roman Missal, in other words, it is not a required element within the liturgy; adding the ringing of the bells at the two "elevations" of the Eucharistic Prayer came as a little bit of a shock to many in our congregation. I would say that 85%-90% were pleasantly shocked, and enjoyed or could live with their return. But like the usual "Bell Curve" (no pun intended), 10% just couldn't believe it. When confronted by the unhappy, I was challenged to have to defend their re-placement within the liturgy because frankly I don't lose too much sleep over such things, but this is a great example of just how much we have to respect the 10%. No, this isn't some "Occupy Rally", it's just a simple fact. Many of our faithful, truly thought through, and have owned their style of worship. No amount of training or prep classes in understanding the "New Stuff" was gonna make things any easier for these folks. Their Mass was giving way to a new Mass! One of our staff members put it quite nicely. "I am now feeling what some of the older folks must have felt when I was younger, and those changes in the Missal "turned everything around".
So, I'll end by saying that while change is difficult, it is a part of growth, and that is exactly what's happening here... We, the living Body of Christ continues to grow! We seek to perfect our worship because that's what is asked of us... Not by the Vatican, but by God. We were created to love and worship Him. He who fashioned us from the dust, and gave us the breath of life, has given us a chance to express our faith in the best way we know how... And that is what we'll do!
