by Miles Richard Hoffman

Created on: June 05, 2009   Last Updated: June 08, 2009

I can still remember when my Sunday Missal was in Latin. Although I was not with the Church early on I did come in when the Priest faced the Altar and not the people or congregation. So we in the Laity would front to the back of the priest and assume he was doing his Holy duty. Today we see all the goings on which to us Catholics are quite interesting and we relish witnessing to the full ceremony or rite of the Mass. We see the wine poured. The servers getting ready to go out and feed the multitudes, that's us by the way. The Host or bread of life brought out from the Tabernacle, and so much more to this ancient and sacred ceremony.

Now I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy the Latin missal, because the translation to English was also in there for all to read. And it might have added to the sacrament to witness to the pre-Vatican ruling. But today we have the 'kiss of peace'. Well we don't actuall kiss each other but we exchange greetings like 'peace be with you' and we get to see the joyous look on the faces of those around us as we go through this part of the rite with our neighbors or fellow parishoner that makes us feel so good. Why it makes us so happy is hard to gauge but maybe it's just being in touch with our Catholic fellows that does it. Even the young ones seem overjoyed at this part of the Ceremony or Mass.

The Mass according to our desk encyclopedia is a dismissal service. Like when the Priest says now go out to all the world and peace be with you. In other words he isn't exactly saying 'okay you can go now' or anything llike that but he is telling us that this is all till the next time we meet. Which is next Sunday same time same station. Then we know that people, that our fellow Catholics all over the world are saying the same words and giving the same responses as we are in our Sainted Church. Well with the Latin Mass, if you weren't wide awake or hadn't stayed up throughout the entire ceremony you might not have known that the service was over or ended until you saw your fellows getting up to leave or your partner (spouse that is) nudging you, "come on, let's go the kids are waiting. And we promised them a picnic today."

There are some today who want us to return to the pre-Vatican Mass. Well I suppose that would be okay too. But would we lose some of the affection for each other and the softness of it all that is so much needed in today's world of strife and tension. And of course you would have to go out and purchase a new Missal with the Latin and its translation. And that means looking for a Catholic book store in your neighborhood. Although come to think of it many Christian book stores do carry the present Catholic Mass books or missals.

So I'll go with the present day Mass where I can see the priest as he does his sworn duty to 'God" and his parish. And of course if you prefer to dress it up a bit, why that will be okay too.

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