The long discussed changes to the Mass are upon us with the beginning of Advent 2011 and we, the Mass Chaos group, gathered again as a group to support each other through these changes. There will be people who don't like the changes, and those of who are living should and do have a say in the ways of the church, but we belong to the church, not the other way around. The church belongs to God and all generations of believers. I like the ancientness of the church. I like that changes take place and are tweaked on century long time frames. Forty years has passed, and two generations of believers got to try out the changes coming out of Vatican II to see how it works. A good amount of time has passed, and now is the time to check the translation against the original document, and improve on the way we do things.
My first thought is: I appreciated the cue cards in the pews to help us through the Mass, now if I actually read them. I don't think that the changes are that significant, other than trying to get through saying "and with your spirit" instead of the old way. I really like the ending to the Nicene Creed.
"...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."
Beth, Ben, Maggie, Nancy, me, and Joe.
I only took a few photos, because we have been to this church before. I'll be compiling all of the photos from this mini-tour here. I also added a visit to the Holy Family Shrine on Saturday, December 17.
Gospel:
"What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” Mark 13:37
Jesus tells us to watch.
As I read through the Gospel, I ran through what I have been taught about this reading, but then I considered something a little different. We need to be ready to watch for Jesus in every encounter that we have, in every person. He will come again in glory, but we can encounter him in the here and now in Communion and in the people we meet. We treat everyone else with dignity and respect because Christ came to save those people equally as much as He came to save us. He is here. Are we watching? Are we ready?
Lord Jesus, help me to be watchful for you in all that I do.
Next week: Sun, Dec 4 @ 11:00am - Saint Bridget - 4112 South 26th Street, Omaha
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