The New Missal

Late last year, I drove over to my local Catholic bookstore looking for a Roman Missal.  Nostalgia had set in, and I wanted my own personal book to follow along at Mass. You know… the ones we had as young adults when everyone had their own in hand, complete with red, green, yellow, blue and black ribbons that helped you flip back and forth between the different parts of the Mass. Back then, mine had the Latin on the left side and the English on the right. But I digress…

Rather than sell me what was soon-to-be an outdated version of the Missal, the clerk told me it would be better to wait until the new translation came in in 2011.  The new translation?  Pope John Paul II announced during the Jubilee Year 2000 that there would be a revised version of the Missale Romanum, but at the time, I wasn’t aware of it. Your Pastor, no doubt, is publishing Bulletin Articles and speaking to you about what to expect come the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011, when it will be implemented in the U.S.

The USCCB has a more complete run-down on their website. Here you’ll find FAQs, sample texts, general resources, parish resources as well as the Committee on Divine Worship’s home page.  You’ll also have an opportunity to pre-order a Chapel Edition of your own, with shipment promised in the beginning of October.

How long will it take you to not automatically respond “And also with you” or “It is right to give him thanks and praise” in response to the celebrant’s words?  After forty years of what may have become rote responses, this newer translation will soon become second nature. Let’s hope it will never become old hat.

Any thoughts about this you’d like to share? Do you know any online resources that explain the new missal? Let us know in the comments!