DIOCESAN NEWS
09/16/11
................................................................................................................
Communion lets us share in Real Presence
By Mary Woodward
This series of articles on the new translation has focused on our responses as a congregation at Mass. We are called to active, conscience participation in the liturgy, therefore for the next two months we should strive to study these new responses so when the First Sunday of Advent comes, the day we can officially use all the new responses, we as a diocesan church together will be ready to join in the mystical voice of praise and worship. 
As said before in previous articles, we as people in the pews will have some adjusting to do with this new translation, but this is what the church is asking of us at this moment and so we should apply ourselves in a positive way.
The most difficult transition will be for our priests, who — many after 40 years — will be learning entirely retranslated prefaces, Eucharistic prayers, and collects, along with the Confiteor, Gloria, and Creed. This is a time when our clergy will really need our support, prayers and cooperation.
In bringing this series on the new translation of the Mass to a close in terms of these weekly articles, I would like to share my favorite of the newly translated responses for the congregation - the Invitation to Communion - because our liturgy itself is an invitation to join with the communion of saints in an act of union in order to sing praises to God and participate in the food sent down from heaven.
At first I did not like this new translation but the more I reflected on it the more I realized how rich in imagery and ancient custom it truly is. Currently we say: Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed. Beginning in Advent, we will be saying: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
This comes directly from the Roman centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant in Matthew 8:8. Jesus asks the man to bring him to his servant and the man answers Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant shall be healed.
 This is such a beautiful image of someone truly knowing Whom he is encountering and from Whom he is asking for assistance. Would that we all could enter into the sacred moment with such a profound understanding of Whom we are truly and really present with.
The faith of the centurion impressed Jesus so much he praised him in front of all gathered: When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel* have I found such faith (Mt 8:10).
The Invitation to Communion gives all of us the opportunity to boldly express our faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. We build on the faith of that centurion and the entire communion of saints in our response to this invitation.
The Eucharist is the most important prayer we as Catholics will pray. The Mass contains words and gestures, song and silence, praise and thanksgiving.
As we approach the First Sunday of Advent, we all should be turning our hearts and minds to the new words and reinstituted movements of the Mass – the striking of the breast in the Confiteor, the bowing at the words of the incarnation in the Creed, the significance of words such as “consubstantial,” the ancient teaching brought to life in our words and actions. 
I have often heard the Mass described as a dance with God. For some this may sound trite, but when you really think about the long tradition of liturgy in the church, the importance of movement and phrasing, the concept of the Mystical Body of Christ uniting with the Body of Christ and being swept away in the sacred moment it truly does invoke an image of human encountering divine in a multitude of sound, sign and gesture as in a dance.
We should all remember when we journey into the heart of the Mass we are embarking into a mystery and when we take the sacred host in our hands or on our tongue and the sacred chalice in our hands we are holding something not of this world. They may appear to retain the elements of this world but indeed they have been transformed into the Real Presence.
Is this not enough to make us want to respond more actively in the liturgy? For a short time we are holding something not of this world and it engulfs us and unites us as the Body of Christ with the Mystical Body of Christ.
Let us all look forward to the First Sunday of Advent when we as a church family will enter a new liturgical moment in the 2000 year tradition of our Catholic Church – one, holy, catholic and apostolic.
(Mary Woodward is diocesan director of the Department of Evangelization, which includes the Office of Liturgy.)
TOP
HOME 
Back to Diocesan News
|
