A Biblical Walk Through the Mass: Understanding What We Say and Do In The Liturgy
There are a lot of books on the Mass and most of them concentrate of the Liturgy of the Eucharist or focus on the mass via some lens. This book is more general in that it goes through each part of the Mass and gives a solid overview and touching on theology in a way that will open the Mass to more people. While doing this it touches on how the new translation effects the Mass and explains why the new translation is better and exactly how it more descriptive of the spiritual realities going on at Mass.
I found it to be a good read in that it helped me focus better on different parts of the Mass and give more meaning to parts of the liturgy I had not concentrated as much on before. The audience for this book I judge to be fairly wide and an exception introduction to the Mass for teens and above. Perfect for RCIA and others forms of formation.
The review book I received came with a short booklet that answers questions on the new translation and provides a nice cheat sheet of changes.
6 comments
Our church is doing about a 6 week study using this as the text. There are also accompanying DVDs. We’re going to meet every Wednesday night starting in June and continuing through mid July. I am really looking forward to it!
I’ll bet the DVDs don’t show the Mass celebrated AD ORIENTEM, the way it’s suposed to be!
I read the book and now we are going through it as a family after meals. It has sparked some good discussion and been an excellent help in entering more deeply into the Eucharistic liturgy and having a right disposition. I have to explain a lot to the younger kids but they are getting it. I must confess that I am still a bit confused on just exactly what my focus should be for “and with your spirit”. I need someone to explain that phrase better for me and how it was meant originally. Something seems lost in translation.
. I must confess that I am still a bit confused on just exactly what my focus should be for “and with your spirit”. I need someone to explain that phrase better for me and how it was meant originally. Something seems lost in translation
…the phrase now in use ‘and also with you’ almost certainly refers to a first century Jewish greeting response and is, in fact, quite quotidian in its usage…the phrase in the Pian Mass, ‘et cum spiritu tuo’ or, ‘and with thy spirit’ is not at all a response to a greeting, but a hortatory joining with the priest that he may perform the duties he was ordained for in a most upright and proper way, well wishing, as it were, for his sacerdotal spirit. Because of awful catechesis since 1970, people in the pews now think it’s a ‘back at ya’ moment for the priest…
I hope more people realize the true purpose of a Catholic Mass. I hope this book will give light to its often disregarded meaning.
Rob, thanks for the insight. I am still a bit confused. Priest says, The Lord be with you.” It seems he is refering to us (in the pew). Then we say, “and also with your spirit” So if we are refering to the priest and it is a joining with the first phrase then the “you” gets confused. It almost seems like the faithful should state the entire quote to the priest. Clearly, it is not a “back at ya” with the “and with your spirit”, which is what the previous interaction appeared to be (and also with you) “right back atcha”. But it doesn’t help me to know what it is not. I really want to understand who is the you and what is the spirit. Is it the H. Spirit? Is it his personal spirit, or the “spirit of the priestly vocation or something more vague. I haven’t read anything clear on this yet.