Monday, October 10, 2011

Week Three ~ October 9th

When we start using the revised order of the Mass, one of the biggest changes we will see is in the Gloria.  Take a look at the words.  Over 70% of them have changed.  Do you find that hard to believe?  If you look at the old version and the new, you’ll see the differences. 
The rules governing the use of this prayer haven’t changed.  We’ll sing it on all Sundays of the year, except for those of Advent and Lent and on other occasions that don’t call for a Gloria, like when All Souls Day falls on a Sunday.  We can sing it all together, the choir can sing it alone, or we can alternate with the music ministry.
It can be started by the priest, the choir, or a cantor, or like we do most of the time… all together.  We can learn many different musical settings, but we must use the newly translated words.  The text has changed so much that composers have written new settings for it.  It’s a little longer than the previous version, but the one Dan wrote is quite singable, regardless of your musical ability, so sing out, please.  The very same text repeats Sunday after Sunday, so it should be easy to learn.
The revised translation is much more biblical.  It changed “his people on earth” to “people of good will.”  The guiding principle for all translations is to let the English express more literally the sentiments of the Latin.  In this case, the previous wording describes to whom the people belong… “his”… where the new one describes the quality of the people… they are… “people of good will”… not only is this faithful to the Latin prayer, but it better connects with Luke’s gospel… we see hints of it in the familiar Christmas story.
We hear in the opening line of the Gloria an echo of angels announcing peace at the birth of Jesus.  We are also reminded that it rests in our freely given love whether we shall belong to God, and enjoy on earth a measure of his peace that surpasses all understanding.
In the newly translated version we sing: “We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you.”  This spilling of verbs is like water flowing over the sides of a fountain.  We show in a number of ways our love for God.  We show his greatness in our praise, and proclaim his holiness in our blessing.  We adore him.  We literally seek his face… we long to look upon him with awe.
The one we were singing was abbreviated because it seemed excessive to the early translators.  Now, all the descriptions for God have been restored.  The result is excessive ~ but that’s the point.  We’re so overcome with awe in the presence of God that we sometimes stammer.  We keep searching for words to describe the experience.  The result ~ word upon word ~ seems the best way to express the sometimes overwhelming experience of meeting God in prayer.
“We give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God heavenly King, O God almighty Father.”  We don’t simply give God thanks, but we thank him for his great glory.  We do more than say that God is glorious.  We raise the roof in his glory.  We see that the glory of God is a great gift to us, because he has made us to enjoy that glory, and enjoy all that is beautiful and holy.
The words, “Only begotten Son” represent only a slight change from the previous version that says, “Only son of the Father.”  The earlier version chose an economy of words to express the same belief that Jesus is the only Son of God.  The text is meant to echo Psalm 2 which says: “you are my son; this day I have begotten you,” as well as the prologue from John’s gospel that says: “we beheld his glory, the glory as that of the only begotten of the Father.”
Jesus isn’t created by the Father, but begotten, with the word expressing the eternal relationship between the Son and the Father.
At the words, “you take away the sins of the world,” the phrases appear in a different order in the new translation, to imitate the order of the words in Latin.  A small change appears in this line.  We have been singing about “sin” in the singular, but the new translation has “sins” in the plural.  The difference shows that Jesus takes away not just generic sin from the world, but individual sin.  He forgives people their personal sins.  In Latin, the word for sins is in the plural.
Jesus the Lamb of God, takes away our sins by sacrificing himself for each of us, the innocent for the guilty, and shows us in reality what its like to be God…  The book of Revelation says: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.”
The new translation faithfully follows the order of the original prayer.  We address Jesus three times, not twice, reflecting that our prayer is to the trinity, and preparing ourselves for the prayer before communion… the “Lamb of God” in which we will address the Lord 3 times.
Repetition is a prime feature of poetry and can stir our minds to contemplation.  The words, “receive our prayer” and placed between two utterances of “have mercy on us” since our prayer must begin and end with an appeal to God’s freely given grace.  After all, God is the one who begins our personal salvation, and the one who freely brings it to completion.
All in all, the revised translation of the Gloria reflects the long tradition of this hymn, while making it suitable for singing.  It roots us in the scriptures, gives us words to praise God, and is an occasion to reflect on the forgiving power of Jesus Christ.
In the Acts of the Apostles, it is written that the apostles were all persevering in prayer with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus.  The bible emphasizes that the early church acted and prayed in union of mind and in action.  Explaining this in reference to the liturgy handed down from the Apostles, Saint Cyprian writes: “They were with one mind continuing in prayer, declaring alike by their unity in prayer that God, who makes us of one mind to dwell in a home, does not admit into the divine and eternal home any except those who are of one mind in prayer.”
The newly revised translation gives us a chance to purify and deepen our communion in the Body of Christ and in the Catholic Church in two ways.  First, it invites us to listen more closely to the words and spirit of the tradition of the apostles in our sacred liturgy.  Second, it confronts us with the need to really work at our common prayer and approach the liturgy as disciples.
Human words can’t of themselves deliver salvation and the new life of God’s kingdom.  The words we use together in prayer and in the liturgy do matter a great deal, though.  Since we no longer know Latin ~ the mother tongue of our Church, a good translation is valuable for putting us in touch with the mind of the church.
The revised translation can deepen our communion by forming us more closely to the apostolic heritage of the Latin Rite.  To some extent this will happen without us even realizing it, as we incorporate the words and meanings of the words we use at Mass.  Our progress can also be deliberate… taking care to study and appreciate the words we use at Mass.
The second advantage is the word it asks us to do.  For priests and other ministers of the liturgy, the new missal is an opportunity to re-learn and then to do what the Rite requires.  Without being too rigid, we need the reminder that in the liturgy we are ministers…we are servants.  We have our roles in the mass in obedience to Jesus the Master.
For all English speaking Latin Rite Catholics, the new missal is a challenge that demands our time, and our patience.  Its true that praying with the new words, “active participation” can happen right away.  Praying with one mind and heart at Mass is the fruit of faith, not of translators.  To sing or recite the new words with one voice is going to take a little time.  Love and patience are necessary if we are going to relax into the new rhythm of words together.
St. Cyprian said: “When we meet together and celebrate the divine sacrifices with God’s priest, we ought to be mindful of discipline.”
For all of us, the new Missal gives us a chance to encounter the words of the liturgy once again… to become liturgical novices once again… and to learn from Christ and his apostles once again.  

No comments:

Post a Comment