Today is the feast of St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusians. The Carthusians are said to be one of the most ascetical monastic orders, with much of the monks’ lives spent under the Grand Silence. Chanting the Divine Office is a very important part of their daily life, as well as daily celebration of the Holy Mass. They live a simple life, filled with prayer and work (ora et labora, as St. Benedict put it).
A good way to celebrate St. Bruno’s life and work might be to watch Into Great Silence
Last week, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) formally approved the new translation of the Ordinary of the Mass. This has been a long time coming, as I remember seeing a early draft almost five years ago. Today, the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship released the recently approved parts of the order of the Mass. In my opinion, the new translation will be well worth waiting for. The language is far more poetic, while also maintaining consistency with the original Latin. The imagery within the prayers is far more vivid. The Roman Canon almost looks like a completely different prayer, with a translation that seems to flow better and connects more evenly as a whole.
One example of the improved imagery within the prayers comes in Eucharistic Prayer II. In the Sacramentary, the epiclesis is translated, “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” In the new translation, the same line is translated, “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” I love the imagery of the Holy Spirit coming upon the gifts like the dew on the grass, very gently and peacefully.
I’m looking forward to being able to celebrate Mass using this translation. It’s very much worthy of the dignity and beauty of the Mass, and I pray that the rest of the translations are as beautiful as this one is!
Over the last couple of years, I’ve become increasingly uneasy with a lot of mission statements that parishes and diocese have adopted. Most of these statements sound good, talking about walking the Gospel walk and talking the social justice talk, but there always seems to be something missing. For a while I couldn’t figure out what it was, but I realized this weekend what seemed to be missing: many of these mission statements don’t have any sort of evangelization aspect. These statements are often filled with statements like: “We are committed to living the Gospel values”, “We will work for justice and peace”, and so on. What these statements often don’t have is a clear indication of any desire to spread the Gospel: “We commit to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world, both in our words and actions.” Here’s a rough draft of how I think a truly Catholic mission statement should be written:
As members of the Catholic Church, we believe in all that has been revealed to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ, whether through Scripture or Tradition. We are committed to fulfilling Our Lord’s commands by spreading the Gospel to the whole world, inviting all peoples to receive Our Lord’s gift of salvation, both within the Church and outside of her. We do this by gathering as a community for worship through the Holy Mass and regular devotions, through our commitment to social justice, and by living the Gospel values in our daily lives.
Now, this probably needs a lot of work, but I hope this draft can be a starting point for further discussion on a framework on a truly Catholic mission statement. Then again, maybe we can just use Mark 16:15 as mission statement: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” (RSV:CE)
