From the Pews

Resources for the New Translation of the Mass

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1: What Time Is Mass? 1: What Time Is Mass?	2: Coming to Church 2: Coming to Church	3. The Eucharist Is.... 3. The Eucharist Is....
4: You Are What You Eat 4: You Are What You Eat	5: Be What You Have Seen 5: Be What You Have Seen	6: Your Mission "Is-Possible" 6: Your Mission "Is-Possible"

HELP! My kids are asking me...
Explaining the new words at Mass

Before Mass begins...

Our prayer has started before Mass even begins. As
we enter the doors of the church, we dip our fingers
into a holy water font, and make the Sign of the Cross.

This action reminds us that we come into the Church
and become part of God’s family through the waters of
Baptism.

As we find a place to sit, we also genuflect,
that is, bend our right knee to the floor. We do this to
show God that we recognize and respect the presence
of Jesus in the tabernacle.

"And with your Spirit."

Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit.

Catholics around the world use this response. It comes
from the earliest prayers of the Church. The priest
prays for us, reminding us that we belong to the Lord
through the grace of our Baptism. We pray for the
priest, and remember that he has received the Holy
Spirit in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Jesus himself
is offering the Mass through the priest.

I Confess to Almighty God...

I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done
and in what I have failed to do,
We strike our chest over our hearts three times.
through my fault,
through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Some sins are more serious than others, but all sin separates us from God and each other.
Striking the chest over our hearts is a very ancient
gesture of sorrow and humility.
We take responsibility for the wrong we have chosen to
do, and tell God that we know our sins are our fault, not
someone else’s. When we have hurt someone we love,
we usually say “I’m sorry” more than once.
We ask all who love God to pray for us, and we also
pray for others.

Additional words in the Gloria

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

We “bless” God when we express gratitude and
admiration for him.
We worship God. While we honor the saints and
venerate them, adoration is something we give
to God alone.
Jesus is the Son of God in a unique way. He is from God
without being created by God.

Changes in words in the Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial
with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
We bow.
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate
of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
We rise.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day

in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,
the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic,
and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection
of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

We stand together and say a creed, a statement of what
we believe about God and his Church. These beliefs
aren’t just our ideas, but the faith that has been handed
down from the apostles and through the centuries to us.

We begin the Creed with the words “I believe” because
each one of us is making a statement of our own faith.
But the word “I” is also the voice of the whole Church
speaking together as one.

Consubstantial (con-sub-STAN-shul) is a word that
describes the relationship between God the Father and
Jesus who is God the Son. We believe that our one
God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the Holy Trinity.

“Men” used this way means all humanity.

Incarnate (in-CAR-net) means given flesh. Jesus, the
Son of God, became human in the womb of Mary when
she said “yes” to God’s plan of salvation.

“Confess” used this way means to express our belief.
We believe that God forgives our sins through Baptism.

"It is right and just."

Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit.
Priest: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right and just.

We come to Mass to worship God, that is, to show him
both love and respect. But we can and should praise God
always and everywhere, and encourage others to do so,
too. God made us and loves us, so it is only right and fair
for us to worship him.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Hosanna is a word borrowed from Hebrew. It is an
exclamation of joy but also means “Please, save us!”
People shouted “hosanna” when Jesus entered Jerusalem
on Palm Sunday. We use the same word as we prepare
for Jesus to enter our sanctuary.

Mystery of Faith

Priest: The mystery of faith.
All: We proclaim your Death, O Lord,
and profess your Resurrection
until you come again.

OR:

All: When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your Death, O Lord,
until you come again.

OR:

All: Save us, Savior of the world,
for by your Cross and Resurrection
you have set us free.

To profess means to say you believe in something.

Lord, I am not worthy...

Priest: Behold the Lamb of God,
behold him who takes away the sins
of the world.
Blessed are those called to the supper
of the Lamb.

People: Lord, I am not worthy that you should
enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.

We tell God that we are unworthy to receive him. That
is, we admit that we can’t do anything to earn God’s
love. We also recognize that God has the power to heal
us. These are the words of a Roman soldier who once
came to Jesus. His story is told in Matthew 8 and Luke 7.
The commander’s servant was very sick, even dying.
When Jesus began walking to his house, the soldier
asked that he simply “say the word.” The soldier believed
that Jesus’s word would be enough to heal his servant.
It was.

“Enter under my roof ” here means come inside of me.
But merely “saying the word” isn’t all that God wants to
do for us. He wants to be not only with us, but within us.
God wants to live in our hearts and change our lives.
Communion means becoming one.

As human beings created in the image of God, each of
us has a body and a soul. Our souls need to be healed
from sin. Only Jesus can heal us in this way.

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