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PDF versionNew missal could drive away Catholics at California parish
by Monica Clark on Nov. 28, 2011
On the first Sunday of Advent, Michael Cassidy sat in a pew at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Berkeley, Calif., as he has done most Sundays for the past 35 years. But it is likely to be his last liturgy there for a while.
Because of his strong opposition to the new Roman missal, he is taking "a vacation from the Roman rite," a decision he describes as "very painful."
Cassidy's concerns go beyond the new translation to the motivations underneath the words.
"I believe the whole thing is designed to undercut the ecclesiology of Vatican II, which in turn underlies the prior liturgical changes which followed the council," he said. "The next generation -- assuming that they come to church -- will grow up with a liturgy which denigrates that ecclesiology and glorifies another, older one. So much for 'letting in fresh air.'"
In another pew, fellow parishioner Mary Bucher was offended at the insertion of "I have sinned greatly" into the Introductory Rite.
"I don't go around sinning greatly," she said. "I am not going to say this."
Why the return to such a negative view of faith? she asked. "Are they trying to undo Vatican II?"
Well, she said, "We're not going back."
Bucher, who instructs parents preparing for the baptism of their children, worries that praying such negative words will lead young Catholics to develop "a negative take on life" and miss the marvels and power of faith.
Additionally, she said, "This translation is very retro and a waste of time and money."
Cassidy has spent a great deal of the past year trying to get his parish and the Oakland Diocese to address what he believes is the negative pastoral effect of the liturgical changes.
In a letter to Oakland's Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, he wrote, "This is a serious matter because it affects the prayer life of the people."
He reminded the bishop that Anglicans who become Catholics can keep their liturgy and those who want to worship in Latin can do so, but "ordinary Catholics who have embraced the work of the Spirit in Vatican II are to suffer."
Also to suffer, he said, are the ecumenical strides taken in the last 40 years.
"The process employed by the Curia completely disrespected our ecumenical partners, particularly those Protestant and Anglican bodies which had generously adopted common texts for use in their own liturgies so that more of us could easily pray together," he said.
Te new missal is a disgrace.
Te new missal is a disgrace. It sets back our church sixty years. The guys in the silk robes at the Vatican want thoughtful Catholics to leave. They succeeded.
I'm 32, so not old enough to
I'm 32, so not old enough to remember the bad old days of the "pre-Vatican ii" church. It seems to me thoug that the new translation (which in fact makes the English translation more comparable to the veraculart translations for the romance lnguages in place since the 60s) is very much in keeping with the spirt of the second vatican counil. I want to belong to a church tht will gladly open the dictionary when it encounters words like "consubstantial"; a church with laity empowered to take possession of the vast intellectual and spiritual treasues which give Cathilicism a unique and powerful vice in he world. What was the pointof Vatucan II? To enable everyone to share more deeply in that heritgae passed on to us from time mmemoiall, by educating, challenging and demanding the most of the intellect of every believer? Or do we water down that heritage an keep it at a 6th-grade reading level, so tht it is inaccessible to the ignorent masses( ironically accepting th medieval view of the laity, but simply dealing with it in a more politically correct way)
Moreover, we have all "greatly sinned". Living in a afluent country like the US, I know that my sins of omission in particular are staggering! The woman interviewed above, like all of us, should see this text not as anoccasion of self-flagellation but a confession of our radical need for divine grace in orde for us to transcend our complacency. I agree that this will not sit well with our American "I'm good enough, I'm smar enough, and doggonnit people like me" self-esteem, but perhaps this is precisely the dose of medicine we need. The Mass should not be about affirming how super awesome we are. That is what we sould b doing for each other at school, work etc. Rather the whole point is for us to have the voice of the centurion, "Lord ; am not worthy tat you should enter under my roof". Where else will we get the much needed experience o akingon that voice, if not at Mass?
Very few people will leave
Very few people will leave over the translation by saying: "I hate the new translation! I'll never go to mass again!"
But some, maybe many, will leave like this:
Mr. Catholic: OK, everybody, get in the car! Time to go to mass.
Jr. Catholics: Oh, do we have to go to mass? Can't we skip just once? My soccer team has a hugely important game this afternoon! (etc.)
Mrs. Catholic: Oh, dear, let's skip just this once. Last week was such a bore, all that fumbling around sharing that tiny little card among sixteen of us and the priest not knowing where the sentences end and the kids whispering and fidgeting while he tried to find his place in the book. Let's just go get brunch at the cafe and be on time for Timmy's soccer game for once ...
One week later:
Mrs. Catholic: Well, I suppose we really should go to mass today, shouldn't we? We did skip last week.
Mr. Catholic: Yeah, we really should go to mass. But that's sure some brunch they make over at the cafe, isn't it?! And Timmy has another soccer game today, you know. Let's skip just this once again. We'll go next week for sure ...
That's how most of the people go missing from the pews. And they almost never come back. Brunch or mass? A lot of Catholics thought that was a dilemma back when mass made sense.
Hmmmm -- I don't know many
Hmmmm -- I don't know many who leave the church because of brunch. The people to whom I've spoken typically have reasons that have to do with what's said from the pulpit, be it political or theological, or from the mouths of parishioners, be it inadvertent or conscious. Personally, I've been appalled by much of what's gone on and said in the past 20 years from the leadership of the church, but I've been comforted by the prayers and sacrament of "the source and summit of our faith." With the changes in these very same prayers, however, I find myself saddened -- God is no longer approached as Christ taught us: Abba. Awesome, Overwhelming, to be worshipped: Yes!! But He is also my "Daddy" who loves me as His dear child and into His embrace I run.
The church doesn't want to
The church doesn't want to have that view of God.
Have you been eavesdropping
Have you been eavesdropping in our house?!? Yikes! That conversation sounds all too familiar.
As the "mom", I am usually the one pushing the family to go to mass, but, honestly, the change in this mass has added a whole new layer of temptation not to go.
We've made it our Lenten commitment to attend mass every Sunday and as often during the week as possible. I'm praying that by the end of Lent, we will have assimilated this new and terribly awkward language enough that we will be able to keep going without feeling like the foreigners we feel like now.
This new missal IS a
This new missal IS a disgrace. We, as Church have been disgraced by the self-electing male celibate hierarchy again. They do not wish to serve us as Jesus washed His disciples' feet. They force us to serve them.
It has been known for some time by psychologists and sociologists that people with low self-esteem commit more sins and have more problems with various addictions than people who feel worthy. Jesus ate with the sinners and forgave them to show them that they are truly loved by their Creator. "Our"
hierarchy wishes for us to feel guilty so that we "rely" on them to gift us with their mercy (for $$$$$$$$, of course). (Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault…strike breast!)
The truth is that we do not need, nor should we play into their game of "pray-pay-obey." WE ARE CHURCH.
I have not attended a ROMAN Catholic mass since this new missal was forced down our throats. Benedict wants to make a big deal about inviting Anglicans into the Roman Church. How many of us are leaving the ROMAN Church for the Episcopal Church? The Episcopal Church certainly models the spirituality of Jesus better than Benedict's, misogynistic, sex abuse covering, absolute monarchy!
The Episcopal church welcomes
The Episcopal church welcomes everybody and you don't even have to believe anything to join!! Not exactly an ecclesiastical success story.
Keith, Seriously??? That
Keith,
Seriously??? That would be like saying Jesus did not believe in anything because He welcomed sinners, healed on the Sabbath, and crossed the normative social boundaries of His time.
Personally, I'll take the spiritual teachings of Jesus over the Pharisees who rejected Him and crucified Him anyday!
How do you then explain that
How do you then explain that the Episcopal Church lost more than a third of its membership since the 1960s?
...and Catholics lost
...and Catholics lost two-thirds, and counting!
I hate the new Catholic
I hate the new Catholic liturgy at mass.
I especially dislike how instead of Christ came for 'all',
it is now for 'many'. I refuse to say how I have sinned
so "greviously" (maybe this is appropriate for many priests
to say) because it is not true.
If they can bring back the Latin masses for those
who want the traditional mass, why can't there be masses
in a particular diocese for those of us who want the liturgy
to be the way it has been for the last 40 years. I am a cradle
Catholic, age 59 and seriously thinking of checking out the
wonderful Episcopal church in downtown Denver. I hate how
this new liturgy has been forced down our throats. Why
didn't we have a choice in the matter? This is not the
American way, Rome boys.
I absolutely love the new
I absolutely love the new missal. The language is appropriate for worshipping our Lord and savior. He deserves the best, not the mamby-pamby language of the last 40 years. I have read comments that this missal was jammed down our throats. What about what happened after vatican II? There was no thought or consideration for the Catholic people---the translations were done hastily, and with no preparation of the faithful. The translations were incorrect and void of much reverence and banal. That God for Pope Benedict.
I converted to Catholicism
I converted to Catholicism from non-denominational collegiate Protestant Christianity when I was 23. It was so amazing to come and be a part of a liturgy that was beautiful, pure poetry and pure power. .. After going through years of fundamentalism and the horrible language it inspires, I thought to myself, I LOVE THESE WORDS! They've been missing my whole life. Catholics! Keeping it secret! I would have converted sooner if only I had known! I could have been spared years of indigestion.
Regarding the new missal. . .
"Lord I am not worthy to receive you" -- had so many layers of meaning for me. Now, there's something about roofs worked in for accuracy --I know, I know, it draws from the original scriptural context -- but too bad it isn't a context I can relate to. I don't have a roof. I'm a renter. It's my landlord's roof. I loved it much more when the words expressed receiving God into my world, be it my home, or my body, or my being through Eucharist.
I'm so very sad. I will miss the good cadences of the old text, the balanced turnaround of "The Lord be with you" and "Also with you" -- What a great interpretation of "spirit" as "you". Embedded and lovely.
I joined the Church because of its apparent stewardship of beauty and poetry.
Wahhhhhhh.
Sad, sad, sad.
I am a cradle Catholic but
I am a cradle Catholic but can relate to everything you say. I loved, loved, loved the old liturgy, having studied every word we said over the years, finding several layers of meaning in most passages.
And now? If I can even spit the new stuff out in time with everyone else, it's a good day, but I can relate to none of it.
And, to top it off, I find that I'm more comfortable just keeping my mouth shut for fear of messing it up like I usually do. : (
I think Blessed Pope John
I think Blessed Pope John XXIII would be sadden by the hierarchy of the Church mandating Ethat the English speaking Catholic communities return to the sexist, guilt ladden liturgical language of the pre-Vatican Two era.
The hierarchy offers its own
The hierarchy offers its own perhaps narrowed, systematic viewpoints, as in a corporation or in a government. We can still participate, while not completely agreeing, as we understand God in our individual lives. Varying insights on the truth are as numerous as there are people; such is the vastness of the Kingdom.
My dream is that this
My dream is that this translation will be the "New Coke" of translations. Wishful thinking has me hoping that at some point the hierarchy will realize they need to go back to their previous formula before everyone is switching to Pepsi.
I think Pope John XXIII is
I think Pope John XXIII is disappointed in alot of things coming from Rome and the hierarchy of the Institutional Church. I AM TOO. I really need to figure out what I need to do with my anger. It gets worse every week I go and listen to or an at least exposed to (even if I don't say the words) the negative imagery blatant in this new Romas Missal. I HATE IT. What should we do?
HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jo
KJLCSTL@aol.com
I feel sad for the people who
I feel sad for the people who oppose the new translation. They are filled with anger, acrimony, and hate. I pray that people will see that peace comes from within, and not from without. If you lack peace in your heart, you will hate the new translation. If you already have true peace in your heart, the new translation will not bother you. This conversation is so superficial!!Pray for peace!
I do too. I am one of them
I do too. I am one of them but I do not feel hate nor even acrimony despite the cavalier attitude to the beauty of the English language. I do admit to occasionally be rather angry and certainly discouraged and even hurt, but I try to remember why I came back to the church (simply, eucharist) despite its tendency to oligarchy, misogyny and literalism. I naively thought that when we revised the words of liturgy it would acknowledge the dignity and worth of 50% of humanity and perhaps continue the challenge of expressing our encounter with God in the age in which we live (hence the need for change). How wrong I was. It is not a superficial conversation because words and our language are absolutely and fundamentally important to humans, and many of us prefer to pray in our own language in the norms and poetry of that language rather than a superficially (if I may use that word) "correct" translation of a language which, unlike my own, is not living and breathing, adapting and dynamic, expressing the lived reality and perplexities of NOW! Will however continue to pray for peace, understand and compassion.
I am not sure how many people
I am not sure how many people will walk away from the Eucharist because of these changes, but I have to admit that I can't stand them and cringe. Anyone (read: me) who may struggle with their faith from time to time and comes back to the church will not feel like it is home any longer. The awkwardness of the phrasing is awful. The foreignness of it is cold and distant.
As an English major in college, the one that really bugs me is the "and with your spirit" business. If someone says, "peace be with YOU", you would naturally say "and with YOU, too". You would not respond to "peace be with YOU" with "and with YOUR ANYTHING". It's not parallel; it's not natural; it's certainly not the common language where I live.
If someone says "have a great week", I don't say "you have a great Christmas, too". It doesn't flow; it's strange and awkward. It just doesn't feel like MY church any more. It's like I've wandered into another denomination where they are trying to sound all high and mighty with the language rather than focusing on what is really going on in the mass.
Sending up lots of prayers that everyone acclimates to the new weirdness and that I, personally, will stop feeling like a foreigner.
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