Liturgical Renewal and Re-Evangelization

As you read this column, I would be in Manila, attending our Provincial Chapter of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the Philippine Province. As you know the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart is a world-wide religious missionary congregation founded in France in 1854. Its General House (main administrative nerve center that oversees the whole congregation worldwide) is in Rome. The MSC congregation is divided mainly into “Provinces” – that is, the MSC presence in some countries is large enough to run its own community life, mission, governance and formation program. The MSC Philippine Province is a daughter of the MSC Dutch (Netherland) Province. The MSC US Province is a daughter of the MSC German Province. A Provincial Chapter is the highest ruling body of the Province that charts the course of the Province in the next six years or so. In September, the MSC General Chapter will be held to plan the course of the whole congregation worldwide for the next 6 years as well.

Today, we begin reflecting on the Liturgical Renewal and the need for Re-evangelization of our church community, occasioned by the new translation of the Roman Missal.

The Roman Missal is “the collection of prayers, chants, and instructions (rubrics) used to celebrate Mass. This includes prayers such as the Sign of the Cross and opening greeting; Opening Prayers; Gloria; Creed; Eucharistic Prayers; Holy, Holy, Holy; Memorial Acclamations; and the final blessing. The majority of the prayers we recite or sing at Mass are .. in this book and … (are) retranslated from the original Latin into English” (Jill Maria Murdy).

 “Because the amount of scripture proclaimed at Mass increased following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the Missale Romanum (Roman Missal) was divided into two separate books: The Lectionary for Mass (four volumes of Sacred Scripture) and The Sacramentary (prayers, chants, and instructions [rubrics] for the celebration of the Mass). The Lectionary texts for the dioceses of the United States were revised in 1998 and are currently used in the liturgy. The texts that are found in the current Sacramentary have been retranslated and will eventually be used in English-speaking countries. With this translation, the name of the book will change from The Sacramentary to The Roman Missal, an English translation of the Latin title, Missale Romanum” (Murdy).

Realizing the difficulties Catholics will experience with the new translation, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI said: "Many will find it hard to adjust to unfamiliar texts after nearly forty years of continuous use of the previous translation. The change will need to be introduced with due sensitivity, and the opportunity for catechesis that it presents will need to be firmly grasped. I pray that in this way any risk of confusion or bewilderment will be averted, and the change will serve instead as a springboard for a renewal and a deepening of Eucharistic devotion all over the English-speaking world.” – Fr. Ben Alforque, MSC