On the first Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011, we will begin using the third edition of the Roman Missal for Mass.  In order to prepare for a proper reception of our new liturgical texts, I will be using this column in the weeks ahead to offer a catechesis on the words that the Church gives us to pray when we come together to celebrate the Liturgy.

How profound, therefore, are the simplest greeting and response used by priest and people at Mass!  When the greeting is given in the Liturgy, “The Lord be with you” and the response “And with your spirit” is made, both priest and people are expressing our faith that God is active among us in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When the priest greets the people at the beginning of Mass with these words, he is using the last words of St. Paul's second letter to the Church of Corinth. Since St. Paul refers to God the Father, simply as "God," this blessing is clearly Trinitarian. It expresses the Church's belief in one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the longest blessing used by the Apostle to end any of his letters. And, it briefly sums up the very essence of the Christian life.

On October 17, 2006, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments sent a letter concerning the words of consecration used at the present time in the liturgy.  Specifically, he said two things.  First, the words of institution spoken over the chalice at the time of consecration were to be changed.  Second, there was to be a catechesis to help everyone understand the change.  To this purpose, as we prepare for the introduction of the new translation of the Roman Missal, I would like to examine with you this change and its meaning.

By faithfully keeping for many in the words of consecration, the new missal is not denying the universal salvific will of Jesus who died for all. Rather, the new missal is returning us to the Last Supper and helping us to recapture the inner dynamism of Jesus’ own words. In giving the Eucharist, Jesus is identifying himself as the Suffering Servant. He is calling us as individuals to the obedience of faith that joins us to the New Covenant. Thus, the expression for many reminds us of the personal choice that we make to be one with Jesus and truly be his Church each time we celebrate the Eucharist.

One of the most beautiful prayers in the Mass is the Gloria. Monks chant it. Composers today, like Vivaldi and Bach in the past, set it to music. Christians echo its sentiments when they sing the popular Christmas carols Angels We Have Heard on High and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.

The Gloria that we now use at Mass was originally prayed outside of Mass.  The Apostolic Constitutions, a manual for clergy coming from Syria, contains the Gloria as a morning prayer.  As the sun was rising, Christians would voice their praise to God who sent his Son to dispel the darkness of sin.

What’s in this word consubstantial?  A safeguard for the teaching of faith!  A reminder that, through his Incarnation, his Suffering, Death and Resurrection, the Son of God elevates our human nature and makes us partakers in the divine life of God himself.

The famous 19th century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, "Praise is the rent which God requires for the use of His mercies." Since God is all merciful and always gives us more than we deserve, praise should always be on our lips.