Third Sunday in Lent Year A 27th March 2011 v.2

NEW TRANSLATION OF THE MASS – begins September 4th
2. The Greeting - “The Lord be with you” (part 1)

One of the major changes in the people’s responses this September will be to say “And with your spirit” instead of “And also with you”. Below is the 1st part of a reflection upon this.

Have we ever thought that this greeting is little more than a liturgical exchange of ‘Good morn-ing’? But if we understand this greeting from a biblical perspective, then it should change the way we approach Mass. At one level these words convey the reality of Jesus’ presence among us. Jesus said ‘For where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there among them’ (Matt 18:20). At another level it recognises Jesus presence within us by virtue of our Baptism.

But the greeting ‘The Lord be with you’ also recalls to us the words spoken to a host of biblical heroes (Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, Jeremiah and of course the Blessed Virgin Mary). All of these people heard these words at pivotal moments in their lives.

Let us consider two examples. In the Book of Judges we read how the Israelites called out to God because they were being continually attacked by the Midianites, and so an angel appeared to a man called Gideon, and told him that he would lead his people and overcome the enemy. Gideon responded that his clan was the weakest, and he himself was the least important in his family, to which God replied “I will be with you..” (Judges 6:16). Similarly when Moses was told that he was to go to Pharaoh and lead his people from captivity, he tries to tell God that he is not up to this task, God responds, not by sending him on a leadership skills course, but by saying “I shall be with you” (Ex 3:12). We need to realise that these biblical heroes fulfilled their missions, not because they had great human skills or were natural leaders, but because they trusted in God and in his reassurance that He would be with them.

So when we hear the priest say “The Lord be with you” it should have an impact on us. When we hear these words we should realise we are standing in the footsteps of biblical greats and be reminded and greatly encouraged that we have access to a higher power – the power of the Holy Spirit – that can support us through the trials and challenges of life whilst remaining faithful to God – if we let him. The greatest enemy that we face is the devil who will tempt us to do wrong. We can trust that God’s strength will make up for whatever in us is lacking, and so we will be able to carry out the task God has given each one of us.
Shortly we will look at our response which will change from ‘And also with you’ to ‘And with your Spirit’. Based on a chapter in a new book ‘A Biblical Walk through the Mass’ (by Edward Sri, Ascension Press).

THIS FRIDAY 25th March 2011 Feast of the Annunciation

7.30pm – Refreshments and cake afterwards

This talk, fully illustrated, tells the story of John Henry Newman's life, from his London childhood and Ealing schooldays right through the Oxford years and on to his reception into the Catholic Church and the founding of the Birmingham Oratory. It introduces Newman's key ideas and his continuing influence today.

The talk will be followed by cake and coffee. £3 donation, profits from which will go to the work of the Maryvale Institute.

Dr Andrew Nash read English at Trinity College Cambridge. He taught for over 30 years in Catholic schools including the Oratory School founded by Newman. He gained a PhD in Newman studies and has published a major edition of Newman's Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England.

Quotes from Newman:
• “A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.”
• “Calculation never made a hero.”
• “Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather that it shall ever have a beginning.
• “From the age of fifteen, dogma has been the fundamental principle of my religion: I know no other religion; I cannot enter into the idea of any other sort of religion; religion, as a mere sentiment, is to me a dream and a mockery.”
• “Growth is the only evidence of life.”
• “If we are intended for great ends, we are called to great hazards.”
• “If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable... we must be content to creep along the ground, and never soar.”

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

To begin our preparation for the new translation of the prayers of the Mass we print a summary of the first section of A Guide to the New Translation of The Mass by Edward Sri, Ascension Press

How often do we make a sign of the cross and say ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’. But do we really understand the power and significance of this prayer?
This short reflection will explore the biblical roots of the sign of the cross; the better we understand this prayer the better we will be prepared to receive the treasures God has in store for us each time we say this prayer. There are two aspects – the ritual of making the sign, and the words we say.

The sign: This goes back to Old Testament times. The prophet Ezekiel was given a vision of the dreadful sins being committed in Jerusalem and the judgement that would occur (Ezek Ch 8), but then he was told that an angel would mark all the righteous with a mark on their forehead (the Hebrew letter tav – which looks like a cross). And like the blood on the doorpost that protected the Israelite families from God’s punishment on Egypt at the first Passover, this sign would set them apart from the corrupt culture and would serve as a sign of divine protection when God’s judgement fell on the city (Ezek Ch 9).

Early Christians soon adopted this sign, now the Cross of Christ, which was traced over their bodies. So when we make the sign we are expressing our desire to be set apart from the corrupt ways of the world, and in addition we are invoking God’s protection for our lives, especially in times of temptation or suffering.

The power of God’s name. In the Old Testament we read of many occasions when people call on God’s name. In Scripture, a name is not just a way of identifying or referring to a person, a name mysteriously represents the essence of a person and carried the power of that person. So to call on God’s name is to invoke his presence and his power. So at the very start of Mass we solemnly call on his name, invoking his divine presence and power. It is if we are consecrating the next 40 or so minutes of our lives to the Lord, saying that everything we do in the Mass, we do in his name, asking for his help as we prepare to enter the sacred mysteries.

So let us make the sign of the cross with careful attention and great reverence. Given all that this ritual means, let us not make the sign of the cross in a hurried or sloppy way.

Ninth Sunday of the Year A 6th March 2011

NEXT SUNDAY ALL THE SERMONS WILL BE ‘KICKING OFF’ A DIOCESAN PROCESS CALLED “PRAYING THE MASS”.

This process is to help the Church in Westminster prepare to receive and use fruitfully the new edition of the Roman Missal and its new English translation. We introduced in this space last week the fact that from September we will using new prayers AND NEW RESPONSES during Mass.

There will be sermons every four weeks, accompanied by leaflets, focuses on our understanding of the Mass and how we pray it. Then, from July, Praying the Mass will begin to introduce the new translations and musical settings of the Missal texts. A DVD and other resources will also be made available. A video introduction to the process can be seen on the internet at http://vimeo.com/19384083

Praying the Mass seeks to
• promote worthy celebration of the Roman Rite in the parishes and schools of the Diocese
• provide a very clear explanation of forthcoming changes to the Missal (especially to the Ordinary of the Mass)
• ensure that this clarity of explanation and depth of reasoning is shared with the faithful by way of a gradual process of introduction.

During his recent State Visit to the United Kingdom Pope Benedict said
I encourage you now to seize the opportunity that the new translation offers for in-depth catechesis on the Eucharist and renewed devotion in the manner of its celebration. “The more lively the eucharistic faith of the people of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples”(Sacramentum Caritatis, 6). 19th September 2010

Praying the Mass resources can be accessed at www.rcdow.org.uk/liturgy
N.B. If you have interest in resources being provided in a particular language then please contact Fr Allen Morris at 020 7432 1358.

Eighth Sunday of the Year A 27h February 2011

CHANGES TO THE PRAYERS OF THE MASS:
NEW TRANSLATION OF THE MISSAL FROM SEPT 2011

You may have heard about changes soon to be introduced to the way we celebrate Mass, following the publication of a new translation of the English Missal, later this year.

The Missal contains the texts which are prayed by the priest and congregation during Mass. A new version of the Latin edition of the Missal was published in 2002, and work on the new translation from Latin into English has been ongoing since then.

The translation of the Missal is now complete and the Holy See has given its approval to the text. The bishops of England and Wales have decided that from September 2011 the new Order of Mass (those texts spoken by the priest and congregation, which are unchanged in every Mass) will be used in our parishes. It is expected that the full Missal, including the prayers that are not constant at every Mass, will be introduced in Advent 2011.

In due course we will announce how we will prepare for these changes in this parish. It is bound to be a significant change in the way we experience Holy Mass, but Bishop Arthur Roach of Leeds, the bishop in charge of the translation, has said:

“The new translation is a great gift to the Church. The Mass is at the heart of what the Church is, it is where we deepen our faith in Christ and are nourished by him so that we can glorify the Lord by our lives. In the new translation we find a text that is more faithful to the Latin text and therefore a text which is richer in its theological content and allusions to the scriptures but also a translation which, I believe, will move people’s hearts and minds in prayer.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for the Church in England and Wales to learn about our faith and the Mass… When the completion of the text was first announced Pope Benedict said: ‘I pray that… the change will serve… as a springboard for a renewal and a deepening of Eucharistic devotion all over the English-speaking world.’ I invite people to unite their prayers with those of the Holy Father for the introduction of the new translation.”

Seventh Sunday of the Year A 20th February 2011

ENCOURAGEMENTS TO SWIM AGAINST THE FLOW
Back in September Pope Benedict spoke explained to the British people that our great traditions and values were being seriously undermined by increasingly powerful anti-God and anti-life ideas and values. This means we all need to take some particular actions to step away from this “post-Christian” flow. In considering this the below two stories from an even more anti-God and anti-life culture, namely Nazi Germany in the 1930s, might help.

ANTI-GOD: An excerpt from an email from the Dominican religious sister, Hildegard Weinrich, a parishioner of ours who was a child in Nazi Germany.

“When I was primary school age, we had to stand with outstretched arm and shout: "Adolf Hitler, battle hail, victory hail!", and then sing the German national anthem: "Germany, germany above all other nations...." and then the Horst Wessel Lied: "SA is marching..." If our arms got slack and fell down, a teacher would come up and shout that we should show proper respect to our Fuehrer. The younger children in Kindergarten were told in the morning: "Fold you hands and bow you head, and always think of the Fuehrer who gives us our daily bread." There was, of course, no crucifix in the room, but a large photo of Hitler.”

ANTI-LIFE: Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen became Bishop of Muenster in 1933, the same year Hitler came to power. He opposed Nazi policies, for instan-ce in education & religious freedom. His most important challenge was to the Act-ion T4 program—the Reich’s effort to eliminate the physically & mentally disabled.
So, in July and August of 1941, he delivered a series of sermons which argued that if the disabled could be killed with impunity, “then the way is open for the murder of all of us, when we become old and weak and thus unproductive.” If a regime could disregard the commandment against murder, it could do away with the other nine commandments as well.
The sermons caused an international sensation: Copies were sent to fighting German soldiers; the BBC read excerpts on the air. Von Galen expected to be martyred. But something extraordinary happened: The Nazis backed down. The sermons had galvanized the public: nurses and orderlies began to obstruct the program. So Hitler issued an order suspending the gassing of disabled adults.
While the Nazis did continue to kill the disabled, especially children, they killed fewer and they took pains to hide it. As Evans has written, but for von Galen’s actions, the Nazis would have continued unhindered in their quest to rid German society of “those they continued to be a burden to it.” from www.breakpoint.org

Sixth Sunday of the Year A 13th February 2011

ENCOURAGEMENTS TO SWIM AGAINST THE FLOW
Back in September Pope Benedict spoke explained to the British people that our great traditions and values were being seriously undermined by increasingly powerful anti-God and anti-life ideas and values. This means we all need to take some particular actions to step away from this “post-Christian” flow. In considering this the below two stories from an even more anti-God and anti-life culture, namely Nazi Germany in the 1930s, might help.

ANTI-GOD: An excerpt from an email from the Dominican religious sister, Hildegard Weinrich, a parishioner of ours who was a child in Nazi Germany.

“When I was primary school age, we had to stand with outstretched arm and shout: "Adolf Hitler, battle hail, victory hail!", and then sing the German national anthem: "Germany, germany above all other nations...." and then the Horst Wessel Lied: "SA is marching..." If our arms got slack and fell down, a teacher would come up and shout that we should show proper respect to our Fuehrer. The younger children in Kindergarten were told in the morning: "Fold you hands and bow you head, and always think of the Fuehrer who gives us our daily bread." There was, of course, no crucifix in the room, but a large photo of Hitler.”

ANTI-LIFE: Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen became Bishop of Muenster in 1933, the same year Hitler came to power. He opposed Nazi policies, for instan-ce in education & religious freedom. His most important challenge was to the Act-ion T4 program—the Reich’s effort to eliminate the physically & mentally disabled.
So, in July and August of 1941, he delivered a series of sermons which argued that if the disabled could be killed with impunity, “then the way is open for the murder of all of us, when we become old and weak and thus unproductive.” If a regime could disregard the commandment against murder, it could do away with the other nine commandments as well.
The sermons caused an international sensation: Copies were sent to fighting German soldiers; the BBC read excerpts on the air. Von Galen expected to be martyred. But something extraordinary happened: The Nazis backed down. The sermons had galvanized the public: nurses and orderlies began to obstruct the program. So Hitler issued an order suspending the gassing of disabled adults.
While the Nazis did continue to kill the disabled, especially children, they killed fewer and they took pains to hide it. As Evans has written, but for von Galen’s actions, the Nazis would have continued unhindered in their quest to rid German society of “those they continued to be a burden to it.” from www.breakpoint.org