Roman Missal Review

After people line up for the midnight shows and new releases, newspapers, blogs and magazines abound with reviews.  In keeping with my theory that we should meet the new Roman Missal with even greater energy and enthusiasm, what follows is my ‘review’ of my first experience of praying with the New Roman Missal.

I’ve been Catholic all of my life, attending Sunday Mass from the womb and daily Mass for over ten years, but yesterday felt like the first time.  Even the priest who was celebrating the Mass noted that he was nervous and felt the same way that he did when he celebrated his first mass almost 20 years ago.

This weekend, we all met the new English translation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal head on.  No more practice and preparation sessions…this was the real deal and will be the real deal for generations to come.  I have been more excited than most people (some would even say I bordered on fanatical) and have spent a great deal of time in study and preparation not only for myself, but also to bring my students deeper into the celebration of the Mass.  But nothing could prepare me for the first run!  It was a matter of jumping in with both feet.  Overall, I’d have to give myself a B since I tripped over the Creed in a few spots and had a lapse back into ‘and also with you.’

It was striking for me to recognize as I prayed the Mass with this translation for the first time last night how automatic my participation in the Liturgy had become over the years.  I’m not sure that ‘automatic’ is the right word as much as ‘imbedded.’  The Mass is so much a part of me, that the responses hardly took thought not because I’m a robot, but because I am Catholic.  This is the language that I was taught from a young age.  It is the language that I speak.  Doctors, lawyers, and sports casters have a language all their own, and so do Catholics.  But ours is the language of the Incarnational God who comes to meet us in these mysteries.  It is not just a collection of any old words, but echoes THE WORD who ‘became flesh and dwelt among us.’  We use this language to meet Him.

Praying the Mass now requires more concentration with each response and thus leads us deeper into the riches of our faith.  While the elevated language may seem awkward at first, it serves its purpose in elevating our minds and hearts to God in a new way.  Despite my occasional stumbles, there were a few points in the Mass that I was moved to tears.  The new translation of the Confiteor stirred my heart with a more concrete sense of sin, and hearing the entire congregation profess Christ as ‘consubstantial’ with the Father and becoming ‘incarnate’ reminded me of the great mystery that we are now preparing for in this Advent season.  I was reminded of the Fathers of the Church who wrote extensively on the beauty of these terms and the martyrs of the early Church who were willing to die in defense of the fullness of the truth. 

The words may have changed, but THE WORD remains and will always remain the same “yesterday, today, and forever.”

For its precision in language, valuable use the transcendental (truth, beauty, goodness, communio), and transformational effects, I give the Roman Missal Third Edition five stars!

-Sister M. Karolyn, FSGM

Gratitude

How can I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me?  The cup of salvation I will raise and I will call upon the name of the Lord.  - Psalm 116:3-4

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.  When we recall and recognize all that God has done for us and in us, we are moved to respond to Him and desire to give back.  Like the blind man who received his sight and responded by following Christ (Matthew 20:34), those of us who have embraced teh Evangelical Counsels also offer ourselves in following Him in gratitude for all that He has given us.  We raise the cup of salvation, the chalice of sacrifice, in poverty, chastity and obedience.

Gratitude is the key which unlocks the vows and helps us to remain faithful.  The paradox is that our gift to Him is really in His gift to us through this way of life, because in it, His life becomes our life.

In poverty, gratitude opens our hands.  It allows us to give and receive, to truly live our form of life.  Thankful for what we have, thankful that we can give even the little we have.  All that we have is gift.  All that we give is returning it to the giver.

In chastity, gratitude opens our hearts.  It allows us to give and receive the ultimate gift...the gift of love.  What we give of our own love fails in comparison to what we have received.  Our love is imperfect until we are wholly like Christ.  Until then, we are grateful for His merciful love that never fails to pour itself out for us.  It can only be given freely and offered...we must receive.

In obedience, gratitude opens our mind and our will and allows us to enter fully into God's perfect plan.  When has He ever failed me?  When has He intended anything but good for me?  Never.  Therefore, we are grateful.  We are grateful that He has a plan and it is perfect, and so we offer obedience in gratitude for all that has been and all that will be, regardless of how it looks with our human eyes on this side of heaven.

To live in gratitude is to move along this road to perfection, giving and receiving, calling upon the name of the Lord with open hand and open heart.  This is our offering.  This is our return.

- Sister M. Karolyn, FSGM

A New Release

"Fans line up for midnight shows."  "Gamers fired up for midnight release."  These headlines are familiar to us in a culture that thrives on novelty.  People get excited about the upcoming release of a movie or video game to such a degree that they camp out for hours, some in costume to get tickets or to be among the first to obtain a copy of a virtual experience, to feel as if they are, in some way, participating in it.  What is underlying motivation of these individuals?  Is it a hunger for something that is beyond them?  Is it a desire to escape from their mundane lives and enter into something great?

I hate to break it to them, but it is not possible to become a part of 'Harry Potter' or 'Star Wars' just by showing up and dressing like a character, nor to be any more than a virtual player in HALO 3.  There is another new release on the horizon that is different.

This new release allows for time travel, active participation in a transformational even, and a close encounter with a force more powerful than the one employed by Luke Skywalker.  It is a new release that offers answers to the deepest questions and participation in the greates of all realities.  It corresponds to the desire of humanity to see great things and answers the request of Philip at the last supper that is echoed by so many today:  "Show us the Father"  (John 14:8).

We are less than a novena away from the release of the new English translation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal.  I believe it's worth the wait and it will not require you to deal with long lines, advanced ticketing or to come up with a costume (although appropriate dress is appreciated!).  It is in the Sacred Liturgy that we are transported to Calvary and plugged into the Paschal Mystery in a manner that can literally change our lives through a close encounter with the God of the universe who comes to us in the Eucharist.  In the liturgy we go beyond ourselves into the deepest vocation of the Church that is 'communio.'  We are given what we need to live lives of greatness, to go beyond the securities we appropriate for ourselves, and the trivial matters which all too often dominate our everyday existence.

This hunger for meaning is particularly evident in the lives of young people.  For this reason, it is a tremendous privilege to walk with them through the implementation of the new Roman Missal.  What an opportunity to explore with them and to help them to "put out into the deep" riches of our Church which we celebrate through the Liturgy.  It is in the liturgy that we encounter Christ in a concrete way and encountering Him, see the Father and come to know our own part in God's story.  Far from just donning a costume for a movie premier, 'full, conscious, and active' participatioin in the liturgy allows students to engage the questions of true identity, coming to the Lord as they are, and to learn who it is they are called to be, with God's grace, in the drama of salvation history.

Personally, I am excited and anxiously anticipating the implementation of this gift from the Church.  This time of preparation has allowed me to reflect on the importance of the liturgy in my own life and has made me keenly aware of my participation in daily Mass.  I am more conscious of my responses and the meaning behind the words, especially the ones that directly echo Sacred Scripture.

The liturgy is the experience of Calvary now.  It is the experience of heaven now.  Past.  Present.  Future.  Better than any video game or movie, the experience of union with Christ and his body, the universal Church is true and real.  I am counting down the days and waiting in joyful anticipation that this moment will mark a time of renewal and rediscovery in the Church.  My hope is that come November 27, all of us will embrace with joy this gift to the Church and be able to heed the commission:  "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by" our lives.

- Sister M. Karolyn, FSGM

Set the world on fire!

"All for the greater honor of God and for the salvation of our souls!"  This prayer is the kickoff for the beginning of our day.  It is an offering to God that everything may be done for Him.  I offer all of myself, that I am 20 years old, from Lake St. Louis, MO and I am now Sister M. Caterina, a Sister of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George.  And Christ is calling me and all of my Sisters to make His merciful love visible today.

We can only do this by being totally open to His love.  When we received the habit and veil we were told, "Over these clothes, to keep them together and to complete them, put on love." (see Colossians 3:12-14)  It was by that love, that union of burning love for Christ that drew me to the example and life of St. Catherine of Siena.  Sancta Caterina said, "If you are who you should be you will set the world on fire!"  Christ's love for her upon the Cross totally consumed her.  She was emptied of everything earthly, filled with His merciful love, and imprinted with His five holy wounds.  Love moved her inmost being, touched by grace, to pray unceasingly, perform works of mercy, live a life of penance, and ardently seek Christ Crucified and the Holy Eucharist with painful longing.  She became a model of sacrificial love in her generosity towards the poor and her materinal care for the sick and remains that model of union with Christ today.  The life of St. Catherine compels me to seek that same union with Christ by responding to the desire He has placed within my heart to love Him totally.

Our canonical year is that response.  It is an immersion into the beauty of a union of love with Christ.  He has called me since the beginning of time to be His alone and to send me as a visible witness to His merciful love.  This year we are embracing the simple daily tasks which teach us that if all is done with love, all is done with Christ.  This must be the foundation of our Religious Life, which can then spread like a fire to touch every person with love for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

- Sister M. Caterina, FSGM - 1st Year Novice