On Ash Wednesday, we are marked with ashes in the form of a cross.  Wearing ashes is a penitential practice that finds its origins in early biblical times.  Ashes serve as external sign of our internal penance, and desire for a change of heart.  Traditionally, the ashes are make by burning the palms from Palm Sunday the previous year.

As in previous years, we invite you to bring your palm from last year back to the church and place it in the basket in the parish centre.  We will burn these palms and use them for our Ash Wednesday celebrations.

Related links:

• Paschale Solemnitatis: Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts.
  Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 1988
• General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar
  Sacred Congregation for Rites, 1969
• Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
  Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 2001

It has not always been this way, however.  For a long time the same readings were proclaimed every year.  In the first half of the 20th century, biblical scholarship began to develop once again in the Church.  This was reflected in the proceedings at the Second Vatican Council, which began fifty years ago this October.  The Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy spoke of the importance of scripture in liturgical celebrations, and called for the larger, more extensive collection of readings we use today.

Sacred scripture is of the greatest importance in the celebration of the liturgy. For it is from scripture that lessons are read and explained in the homily, and psalms are sung; the prayers, collects, and liturgical songs are scriptural in their inspiration and their force, and it is from the scriptures that actions and signs derive their meaning. Thus to achieve the restoration, progress, and adaptation of the sacred liturgy, it is essential to promote that warm and living love for scripture to which the venerable tradition of both eastern and western rites gives testimony… In sacred celebrations there is to be more reading from holy scripture, and it is to be more varied and suitable.  (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 24, 35)

The answer is there isn’t one.  The Christmas Season typically concludes on a Sunday, with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  As Christmas and Mary, the Holy Mother of God both fell on Sundays this year, this meant the Baptism of the Lord was celebrated on Monday, and Ordinary Time began on Tuesday – Tuesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time.

So to make sense of why there isn’t a First Sunday, it might help to think of today as Sunday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Sunday of course being the first day of the week.  It is from these numbered weeks that Ordinary Time gets its name (think ordinal numbers); not from any suggestion that it is not a special or interesting time.

This year, I ask every one of us to work on getting the new responses to Mass right.  It’s clear that we’re trying to remember them, but there are still some parts where the assembly’s collective response is a mix of old and new, sounding something like “It is right and just to give you thanks and praise”, or “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you enter under my roof…”

It does take some effort to try and learn new words when we’ve used the old ones for decades, so we need to be proactive!  Pick up a pew card on you way into the church, keep it on hand in case you need it, and let’s work on making sure we’re speaking with one voice once again in 2012.

The committee consists of members of the Liturgy Committee and the former Guiding Concepts Committee.  Both these committees have been involved in the process so far and are familiar with the project’s requirements and progress.  Also on the committee is Jenny Rickard in her position as the chairperson of the Pastoral Council.  Each meeting will, as a minimum, involve Fr Paul, Jenny, Clieve Lennon (Chairman, Finance Committee) and myself.

At this initial meeting, some review was undertaken of the maintenance report commissioned by the Diocese and undertaken by Paynter Dixon Facilities Management.  From this, the committee began to determine the major items of church maintenance which need to be included in any proposed work.  The following matters were determined:

1. That suitably qualified professionals be sought as soon as possible to inspect the foundations and cracks in the walls of the church building.  They will be asked to report on the structural integrity of the building and provide an estimate for any necessary repairs
2. That Peter Abood, in his role of coordinating maintenance of the parish plant, be invited to join the committee to assist with the progress of the project.

The committee believes the matters of structural integrity, internal painting and renewal of floor coverings and finishes need attention in the immediate to short term and will be of significant expense.  As such, estimates for these are required in order to determine the extent to which other works can be undertaken.

The committee will meet again early in the new year.

Robert Barden
Liturgy Coordinator

To assist parishioners in becoming familiar with the new Order of Mass, we included the people’s responses that changed on the projection system for people to follow.

The danger with constantly putting everything ‘up on the screen’ is that it is easy to become reliant on it.  For many years we were able to respond and pray throughout the Mass from memory, and with time, we should be able to do so again.

For this reason, the changed responses and prayers of the Mass will not be included on the projection system from next weekend.  For those people who are still not completely confident with some of the longer texts (such as the Creed, Confiteor and Gloria), the pew cards of the Order of Mass will still be available at the church doors, and we encourage you to use them when needed.  Of course at some Masses our projection system is not used as frequently, so people are used to referring to the pew card.

There may be some occasions (such as Christmas this year) when there will be a large number of people present who are not confident with the responses during Mass, and we may use the projection system again for the purpose of displaying responses if we consider it necessary.

So from next Sunday, make sure you take a pew card if you think you’ll need it to get through Mass.

Perhaps your old Sunday Missal is getting a bit tired and worn out like these ones?

A number of people have asked when a Sunday missal will be available to purchase.  There are several missal options becoming available during this month and beyond.  As I mentioned before, it is understandable that people would like to have a copy to refer to until the new words “roll off the tongue”.

A personal missal or Mass book can be useful when we are not familiar with the texts and need a copy to follow.  When Mass was still celebrated in Latin, many people followed the Mass through the pages of a missal.  The Latin texts were printed on the left-hand side, with an English translation on the right.

For the majority of us who can hear and understand what is said at Mass, a personal missal or Mass book should ultimately be used as a preparation tool.  Once we’ve managed to memorise the new translations of our responses and prayers at Mass, we should leave the missal at home.

It is at home where a missal is particularly useful.  We can use a missal at home as a tool for our own personal preparation, reflection and prayer.  We can spend the week reading and reflecting further upon the scripture readings we have heard proclaimed on Sunday.  We can read over prayers such as the Collect (Opening Prayer) and use them in our own prayer during the days that follow, coming to a deeper understanding of the messages they are communicating.

Given that we have now been using the new translation of the Order of Mass for almost six months now, we will soon look at removing the prayers and responses from the projection system at Masses so that we do not become dependent it.  We will, however, continue to make the pew cards available at the church doors for those who require them.

Some of us will remember the date as All Saints Day.  This year it is also Melbourne Cup Day.  It’s also the date that’s been chosen for the mandatory use of the new translation of the Missal in Australia.

Starting Tuesday, the new translation of the Missal is the only English edition of the Missal that can be used.  The transition to this edition, however, started at the beginning of this year when we were encouraged to begin singing the new translations of the Mass texts such as the Gloria, Sanctus (Holy, Holy), and Memorial Acclamations.

Through material here in Carmel and video excerpts at Masses, we have tried to come to a deeper understanding not just of the new translations, but of the celebration of Mass as a whole.

We also invite you this week to learn more about the new Missal translations through the information session on Tuesday night or Saturday morning.

There are a number of reasons why those of us in parishes are not more directly involved in the process of preparing new liturgical translations such as the Missal.  One of the obvious ones is the practicality issues related to working within such a large organisation as the Church.  How we work with these new texts, however, is up to us.  As such, I encourage as many parishioners as possible to join us at the sessions this week.

A few years ago now, a new edition of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal was introduced.  When it was implemented, it required us to make two changes to our practice as a liturgical assembly during the Mass.  One of these involved our posture after the priest has prepared the gifts of bread and wine.

After the priest prepares the gifts, he invites the assembly to pray.  Although it seems to be a routine action, this invitation is not without its significance.  The priest invites us to pray.  Our affirmative response makes clear our wish that the priest continue to lead us through the Eucharistic Prayer and the rest of the Mass.

Nowadays, we are required to stand immediately after the priest says “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.”    For many people, it seemed to be far more practical to do as we did previously, and stand after we responded to the priest’s invitation.

To stand immediately after the invitation, and then respond, makes our posture more consistent with other times of the Mass.  Standing is generally the posture the Church adopts when it prays.  While we also kneel at times, the Church does not pray sitting down – at least not during its liturgical celebrations.  We stand because we accept the invitation to prayer and now pray together once again as the body of Christ; this time in certain hope that Christ that is present within each of us will make himself present to us once more through the bread and wine that become his body and blood.

Last week, we looked at some of the gestures and postures that are used during the first part of the Liturgy of the Word, primarily the scripture readings.

After the homily, we stand for the Profession of Faith and the Prayer of the Faithful.  This is another time during the Mass where we stand as an assembly because we are actively engaged in the role of praying.

Given that we are often told to “stand up for what we believe in”, it seems to make sense that we stand when we profess our faith.  Outside of the Church, standing is a posture used for important occasions related to our beliefs and values, such as the national anthem or a minute’s silence on Anzac Day.  To sit for such things (unless we are unable to stand, of course) is considered inappropriate and disrespectful.  Standing can be interpreted as a sign of commitment, resolve and pride – all feelings that should exist within us when we profess our faith through the creed.

The creed has within it another gesture to acknowledge an important element of our faith.  Again, this is a gesture that has always been included in the missal, but has fallen into disuse.  During the Profession of Faith, when we recall the incarnation and Jesus becoming man, we bow.  Like other times when we bow, this is a sign of reverence, and is included in the rubrics of the missal for both the Niceno-Constantinopolitan and Apostle’s Creeds.  Furthermore, when we celebrate this aspect of our faith at Christmas time, the missal asks us to genuflect instead; thus requiring of us an even more profound sign of reverence on such an important occasion.

Finally, much of what I’ve written in Liturgy Links this year has been related to the introduction of the new English translation of the Roman Missal, which has gradually taken place since January.  This week, our parish finally received its copy of the new edition of the Missal, meaning we can now celebrate the Mass in its entirety according to the new translation.  You will notice differences to the Collect (Opening Prayer), Prayer over the Offerings and Prayer After Communion from now on.  Use of the new translation is mandatory in Australia from All Saints Day.