'New' liturgy starts the Sunday after Thanksgiving
Changes to the liturgy of the Mass could catch some infrequent church-goers by surprise.
The Catholic Church is changing the Mass, starting later this month.
For 'regular' church goers, it's no big surprise: parishes have been practicing the new responses in the liturgy for weeks.
But, for people who only go to Mass occasionally, like for the holidays, and for people who have the words memorized (including priests!), getting used to the changes could be tough.
It's happening because the Catholic Church is updating its translations for the first time since the post-Vatican 2 switch from Latin to English, back in 1964. "Now we've had the wisdom of four decades to say 'aah!' says Archibishop Timothy Dolan, visiting Syracuse to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the diocese here. "Then maybe we could express a few things a bit more poetically, a bit more beautifully, and a bit more in fidelity to the original text, which is in Latin."
Syracuse's bishop, Robert Cunningham, agrees that the new language is 'loftier' and not everyday, but some of the changes will be hard to remember at first, for people who've been reciting them their whole lives. The response to 'The Lord be with you' is changing from 'and also with you' to 'and with your spirit.' Another 'standard' part of the Mass, where Catholics now say 'Lord, I am not worthy to receive you' is changing to 'Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.'
Change is never easy, and in this case it is also not inexpensive: pamphlets explaining the new responses are already out, and missals and more will have to change, as well. But Archibishop Dolan says it's worth it: "When you tend to prayer, when you tend to worship, that's the greatest thing that we do. If we take care of that, if we do that first class, then you know what? We love the poor better. We advocate better. We've got our act together."
The 'new' liturgy begins the first Sunday of Advent, November 27th (the Sunday after Thanksgiving).
