English Roman Missal, RIP 1963-2011

Way back when in 1962  when Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council he told the world and hundreds of clergy and theologians that “We are not on earth to guard a museum but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life.” Vatican II roled out a series of reforms, including the creation of pastoral councils, female lectors, no longer requiring the laity to kneel as they received communion and the biggest, and most welcomed change–Mass said in the vernacular. In 1963 the Mass was translated into the languages of the world but the translation into English, as explained in this fantastic NPR article, was hastily done. Before his death in 2005 Pope John Paul II comissioned a ‘re-translation’ of the Latin Mass into English.

Now, some 48 years later the New Roman Missal has rolled out and I am cringing.

I’ve talked about the New Roman Missal here before. And I have truly been preparing myself for this day but I sat in my pew today on the verge of tears. I learned to pray and worship in a certain way, always reciting loudly and murmuring Eucharistic Prayers to myself during the consecration. Things were not so different that I did not know where I was or who I was, it just was not that homey, ‘I’m here for peace’ feeling.

Is this translation more accurate? Of course, however, I am having trouble viewing this new translation as purely for the strength of the Mass and English speaking Catholics, religious and laity.

The NPR article I linked to above brought on particularly salient point that is popping up even in the Mormon circles I run in we are all wondering is this translation a move to reign in the American Catholic Church. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have notoriously given local parishes and archdioceses control over the laity in their respective areas. The USCCB is not a liberal organization, they stick with the Vatican on a wide range of topics but do not micromanage American clergy, a notion that makes plenty of conservative Catholics uncomfortable. In Mormonism there is complete ‘correlation’ of material being handed down from the General Authorities in Salt Lake City. The lessons for LDS Sunday school and the wording of Sacrament Meeting prayers in Logan, UT are the same ones people are hearing in Ghana or Samoa. I am becoming willing to see these new translations as the Vatican’s move to correlate American Catholics.

The only good thing I am slowly starting to see in this whole translation Mass is that it is forcing all of us to focus in on the importance of the things we do in and say during Mass and why. Essentially, we can not be on auto-pilot. We have to pay attention.

RIP ‘Old’ Roman Missal 1963-2011, I’ll miss you and tell my children all about you.

Stuff I’m thankful for in 2011

I’m pretty sure that gratitude equals happiness.

I’m thankful for…my family,  my 5th graders and brow beating them, my 12th graders, that I teach Economics but really I teach ‘how not to be stupid with money,’ Brittany, Megan, Tatiana, Mark, Abby, Jourdan and my fellow social studies education folks, words like folks, pioneer and saying “oh, my word” and “that girl needs Jesus,” pie, having time to cook, having time to bake, having time to clean up the mess  from the baking and the cooking, my new laptop battery,my monthly planner, my weekly planner, fierce young women, that Caleb has returned and he’s still inspiring me, breaking up fights about why exactly lil’ Kim went to prison, UbD, Adele and that you can count on hearing her at least 3 times a day, for my 12th graders renditions of Adele songs, a clean kitchen, babies, professors who know their stuff, daily mass, the Early History of God, good movies, female altar servers,Mormon Stories Podcast Community, expo markers, when students ‘get it,’ for my 12th graders reviews of my fashion choices, Yips, Flavors, my mommy, warm blankets, socks, sweaters, when GAP has crazy sales, Traveling with Pomegranates, Hilary Clinton, Joanna Brooks, sister-in-law, brother-in-law,my twitter followers, blogging, good books, Ryan Gosling (feminist and typographer), history, my 32 oz water bottle, the color green, nap time, down time, me time, knitting after a stressful day, running ahead of schedule, waking up on time, caprese salad, headphones, Bobst 4th floor, cold rooms, Texas (minus Rick Perry), feminist theory, my daddy and my Almi, Mormonism, Arizona Tea, Zebra pens, mugs, soup, men in coats, The Jewish Study Bible, Lion Brand Yarn Studio, my brother, my nephew (he does the best cover of Biz Markie ever), meaningful arguments, Rev. James Martin, American Magazine, historiography, NYT, vacuum cleaner, zebra lunchbox, grading in pencil as to not invoke bleeding, gin and tonic, drinks with social studies people, B.’s couch, Halls vitamin C cough drops, the 6 train, movie giftcards, Trader Joes, avoiding Canal street on the weekends, Sister Wives, art magazines, Everyday Food, tall glasses of milk, breakfast cereal, watches, comfy shoes, lotion, light math,

and sermons about love and the actual teachings of Jesus Christ.

Justin Bieber, a lost Catholic voice?

Just days ago Justin Bieber (yeah, I’m writing about Justin Bieber) discussed his faith in God, the power of prayer and his pro-life stance on abortion, making the Huffington Post wonder if Justin Bieber could be the go-to evangelical of the rising generation. I read his statements, appreciated his stance on abortion in the case of rape (“I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.”) and put it to rest. Little Justin Bieber is young and exploring his faith. I think he has a thing or two figured out and has a lifetime of prayer and reflection to figure out heaps more.

What I do not think Justin Bieber or his mother Pattie Mallette had in mind when they shared their Christian beliefs was to be featured in this week’s installment of RealCatholicTV. The RealCatholicTV website seeks to promote ‘pure’ Catholicism and, according to the segment I watched about The Biebs, fight against “modernist, liberal, progressive trash” within the Catholic Church.

Oh and how could I forget? RCTV is also where “lies and falsehoods are trapped and exposed.”

How did Bieber and his momma come into the fold? Here’s the link.

Mallette was raised Catholic and enrolled Justin in Catholic parochial school (well, according to RCTV at least). Mallette  now considers herself a Christian Non-Denomination Evangelical, even asking Bieber’s Christian fans to pray that she and her son use the gifts of “wisdom and discernment.” What is troubling for the folks over at RCTV are people who are “deeply committed non-Catholics.” RCTV sees Bieber and Mallette as “lost opportunities,” that somewhere along the way these ex-Catholics were not shown the “true beauty of The Church.” They are a “lost opportunity” because host Michael Voris sees someone with Bieber’s notoriety as an opportunity to share a Catholic story in a positive, faith promoting way.

Voris asks us to  ”Imagine if at the end of a concert Bieber said something like ‘I’d like to thank the Glorious Virgin Mary for her ‘yes’ that brought about salvation.’”

Voris says “The world stage needs Catholic voices.”

What RealCatholicTV wants is a specific brand of Catholic voice, that definitely is not mine or most of the Catholics I know. To a certain extent, a very small extent, I can see Voris’s issue with Catholic voices today. They tend to be of the comedic variety, although not all of these hilarious voices take shape in a George Carlin “I used to be Irish Catholic” way.

There is beauty within my faith tradition but there are plenty of things that make me shake my head at good ol’ Mother Church. I embrace the creeds and doctrines I do not understand and the ones I want changed. One of my favorite things to ask my deeply devout father is “Don’t you think Mom would make a fabulous deacon?” I ask partially in a joking manner because I know it irks him but I ask mostly because I think my mom would enrich our parish with her love of the Gospel and The Church. I have a strong, proud progressive Catholic feminist voice, but it is Catholic nonetheless.

See, we Catholics have been around for 2,000 years so we have splintered off, officially and unofficially, into varying degrees of belief and practice, with differing results but we are all still brothers and sisters and we are all still Catholic. More importantly we are still sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father.

I see our ability as Catholics to embrace one another’s differences as a good thing. A healthy step in a wonderful direction, a way we’ve been speed walking for generations. Voris, though, says that people like me practice our faith with “cowardice and reluctance” not obedience and faithfulness.

Shutting down the liberal wing of the Catholic Church does not serve the Body of Christ. In fact St. Paul says “there can be no division in the body.”

Mr. Voris, you and me, “we were baptized into one body.”

You need me. And, begrudgingly, I admit I need you.

Tradition

I’ve never really cared what other people focus on this holiday season. What other people ‘keep’ in their Christmas has no bearing on my celebration.

It’s Christmas Eve so I’m thinking of the ham my dad’s cooking, staying out of my mother’s way as she takes care of last minute stuff and going to Mass and the beautiful music.

I’ll be soaking in my family, making mental pictures of my nephew’s excitement,  as I  think about Jesus, my Heavenly Mother and St. Joseph–my Holy Family.

Whatever your traditions are Merry Christmas!

A testimony

If you’ve ever meandered around this blog you know I have a special place in my heart for Mormonism. Not that long ago one of my Catholic friends told me to stop with the Mormon stuff, that I made Baptismal vows, that I partake in the Eucharist, that I’ve made myself Catholic, that I made a choice when I was Confirmed and that studying Mormonism so in depth was denying my Catholicism and thus breaking my vows–heavy stuff.

She told me I had to choose one religion and stick with it. I couldn’t have it all.

Obviously I’ve entertained the idea of conversion. Even nutty people like me can’t sift through the Book of Mormon, make sense out of General Conference talks and pour over the Doctrine and Convenants and not ask “Is all this stuff true?”

Yep, I’ve taken the time and hashed it out. I’ve asked half a dozen times, was pretty content not knowing the answer and then I got a resounding “No.” And when I got my answer I knew it was the right one. It didn’t mean Mormonism was false it meant it wasn’t where I belong.

My answer was “No” because I’ve only ever been truly and deeply moved to tears at Mass, not in Sacrament Meetings or at evangelical services.

I’m at home in Catholicism. When I sit, stand and kneel, when my right knee hits the tile in genuflection, when I place my right hand under my left and receive the Body of Christ I am home. When I sing “Heaven and Earth are full of your glory…” I’m home.

But I’m also a questioner so God gave me a home and He gave me Mormonism too–the religion of questioning. I can point to passages in the Book of Mormon and say “that sounds like home to me.” I can read Our Search For Happiness and learn about the pre-mortal existence and say “that’s home.” I can fathom it and I can fathom Heavenly Parents.

I can say when God didn’t send me a divine sign when I was eight and had just received Holy Communion He was sending me on a journey. I believe God always intended me to stray. God wanted me to flirt with atheism, to feel His presence and not understand it, to dive head first into Catholicism, to get hurt and cry, to feel dishonest and then leave doctrine behind.

Heavenly Father wanted me to feel insurmountable heartache and then to kneel in prayer. To take a cue from Mormonism and really pray. To allow my heart and soul to fill to the brim with confusion.

He wanted me to get answers and more answers. To process and reflect, to accept the unanswered questions with humility and peace.

And then my Heavenly Parents lead me home, back to the faith of my forefathers. So I pray my Our Fathers, my Hail Marys, and my Glory Bes and I let God’s grace wash over me when I sit, stand and kneel, when I genuflect, put Christ in my hands and in my heart and when I cross myself and when I go about my day and then I give endless thanks, promise to work hard and ask for help and guidance all in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.