Pastor's Page: November 20, 2011
First Sunday of Advent
""Persevere in prayer, be attentive and filled with thanksgiving." (Colossians 4. 2)
Personal Prayer: the core of our faith life as Christians is our relationship with God. The word we use to
describe this friendship with the Lord is "prayer." Prayer can be defined as a conversation with God, but it
involves more attentive listening than it does words. Entering into prayer, opens our hearts and minds to the
God who is within us and whose Spirit animates us. In personal prayer, we adore and praise God, giving thanks
for our very existence and the love of God that sustains us in this world. In meditative prayer, we use our
imaginations to enter into the Bible stories and discover what God may be revealing to us in our journey
through life. In the highest form of prayer, contemplative prayer, we are silent in the presence of the God of
infinite love, conscious of our sinfulness and unworthiness yet also aware that we have been made worthy
through Jesus Christ. We are silent and filled with awe as we unite our entire being with the God of love.
Communal or Liturgical Prayer: our gathering for worship as Christians is the action of a community of
believers. We are called by the Spirit to adore and praise and give thanks; and to express sorrow and petition as
God's holy people. As a community we feast upon God's word whenever we gather for liturgy. All seven
sacraments begin with a Liturgy of the Word. In the central faith action of our assembly, the Eucharist, we also
remember the death and resurrection of the Lord, and feast upon the bread and wine that have become the
Body and Blood of Christ.
Next week, we begin a new church year and the first Sunday of Advent. We will be using a new book of
prayer, formerly called the Sacramentary, and now named the New Roman Missal. For decades, we have been
using a dynamic translation of the Latin Mass prayers. The new missal introduces us to a more literal
translation, and as a consequence more complex sentences and a loftier style. Most of us have become
comfortable with the words we have been using, including me. We do not need the printed aids that we once
had when the present Mass prayers were introduced after the Second Vatican Council.
The new translation will initially require that everyone have a Pew Card, along with their music book. This will
be awkward at first, but we will get used to the new style of prayer. We will find ourselves listening more
attentively I think.
It may take a year for us to feel at home at Mass again. We will know the responses by heart. We will be
singing the new memorial acclamations full throatily. You and I will have adjusted. And we may also find
ourselves praying with more concentration and deeper enrichment of our faith life. It is certainly the hope of
the church that this will be true.
What is not changing? Our hymns from our music book will be the same. The lectionary proclaimed by the
readers and clergy will be untouched. The music, vestments, and liturgical decorations will still continue the
cycle of the church season. Gifts will still be brought up during Mass at the offertory. We will still be looking for
more ministers in faith formation, liturgy, outreach and administration.
Peace and love,
Father Bruce
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