Here is the homily I shared with parishioners this Sunday as we began Advent and using the new translations of the Roman Missal.<\/p>\n
1st Sunday in Advent, Year B Today we start a new church (liturgical) year.\u00a0 One might think we would start a new year on Christmas or Easter.\u00a0 Well, we do start the new year based on Christmas.\u00a0 After all, the way we count the years is based on the year of Jesus\u2019 birth for it marked a new beginning.<\/p>\n But before we get to Christmas where we celebrate the first coming of Jesus, we need to get ready for it.\u00a0 So we have Advent as time to get ourselves ready.\u00a0 The word advent comes from Latin meaning coming or arrival.\u00a0\u00a0In Advent, we prepare for our celebration of Jesus\u2019 first coming at Christmas but also it is a time to prepare ourselves for the second coming.\u00a0 We are to ask ourselves \u201care we ready?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Whatever makes us not ready needs to change.\u00a0 Advent is a time for that.\u00a0 We don’t know when the\u00a0Second Coming will be.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why Jesus says \u201cBe watchful!\u00a0 Be alert! . . . for you do not know when the lord of the house is coming.\u201d\u00a0 So, get ready today.<\/p>\n Are we going to change overnight?\u00a0 Probably not.\u00a0 What we need is what is asked for in our opening prayer today, \u201cthe resolve to run forth to meet your Christ.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We may not be perfect but we are to always seek Christ.\u00a0\u00a0Advent is a time to begin.<\/p>\n Today, as we begin this new church year, we also begin using our new translations of the prayers we use at Mass.\u00a0 This is not a coincidence.\u00a0 The bishops intentionally picked this time as a time of new beginning.<\/p>\n It also fits what Jesus says in today\u2019s gospel, \u201cBe Watchful!\u00a0 Be alert!\u201d\u00a0 If we don\u2019t pay attention today we will end up saying the wrong prayers!\u00a0 Knowing that using the new translations is going to take some effort we might ask\u00a0why even change the prayers?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Well, I hope you have been reading the articles in the bulletin<\/a> (since I wrote them) that talk about the changes.\u00a0 There have also been several articles in the Catholic Courier.\u00a0 There has even been stories on the news about the changes.\u00a0\u00a0One of those stories\u00a0on the local news referred to \u201cmajor changes.\u201d\u00a0 I know because a couple of weeks ago I went into the store wearing my collar and the cashier said\u00a0that she had something about major churches coming in the Catholic Church and wondered what they were.<\/p>\n I told her they weren’t really major<\/em> changes.\u00a0 Nothing about how we celebrate Mass is changing, just the words.\u00a0 And a lot of the words aren\u2019t changing.\u00a0 It just seems major because we are so used to the words we have been using it seems so different.\u00a0 I would even bet if 30 years ago I had put these new translations in front of you next to what we were just starting to use and giving you a choice you would pick some of the new.\u00a0 Now, it just seems strange because it is new.<\/p>\n Advent is about coming close to God, not just for Christmas, but for our whole lives.\u00a0 We have new translations for the same reason, because we seek to come closer to God.<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t that something was wrong with the old translations.\u00a0 It\u2019s more a matter of refining them.\u00a0 Some of the prayers like what we say at Communion come from scripture (the story of the centurion) but you won\u2019t realize it because of translations differences.<\/p>\n The words articulate our faith.\u00a0 Getting the words right can help us appreciate the scriptural origins of some of our prayers such as the Sanctus<\/a> where we now sing Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts or the words we will now say at Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”\u00a0 It sounds strange to us because it is not what we are used to but it comes from\u00a0Luke 7:6-7<\/a>, the story of the Roman Centurion who comes to Jesus because his servant is about to die.\u00a0 He believes that Jesus has the power to heal the servant but he also believes that he is not worthy to have Jesus enter under his roof but that Jesus can heal the servant without even going to him.\u00a0 Is our faith as strong?<\/p>\n People don\u2019t understand the word consubstantial<\/em> in the Creed but it needs to be a special word to signify the relationship between the Father and the Son.\u00a0 Consubstantial <\/em>is certainly not a word we use in everyday language.\u00a0 This week I checked\u00a0a dictionary on the Internet and consubstantial is in the dictionary.\u00a0 But then I thought maybe they just added it to the dictionary because we are using it at Mass so I checked a Webster’s dictionary I have had for 24 years and it’s in that dictionary too.\u00a0 It means of the same substance.\u00a0 We use the word consubstantial in the Creed to describe the relationship between the Father and the Son.\u00a0 That is something so unique it should be described by a word that we don’t use in everyday conversation.\u00a0 When the Creed was originally written in the 4th century, they realized this and developed a new word.<\/p>\n At least one of you is probably think, \u201cWell, what will happen if you say the old prayers or totally wrong words because you get confused?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Will you burn in Hell?\u00a0 Absolutely . . . not.\u00a0<\/p>\n I don\u2019t believe God is going to condemn us if we get mixed up.\u00a0 Matter of fact, I think God will have a good laugh watching us when we get confused.\u00a0 But I think it is important to learn the new prayers for two reasons.<\/p>\n First, to be open to God speaking to us and, secondly, because it will get us to think about what we are actually praying.\u00a0 We have saying the same words for a long time.\u00a0 How often do you stop to really think about what you are saying?<\/p>\n So we pray with open hearts that God always help us to draw closer to him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here is the homily I shared with parishioners this Sunday as we began Advent and using the new translations of the Roman Missal. 1st Sunday in Advent, Year B Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:33-37 November 27, 2011 Today we start a new church (liturgical) year.\u00a0 One might think we would start …<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
\n1 Corinthians 1:3-9
\nMark 13:33-37
\nNovember 27, 2011<\/p>\n