Advent is the beginning of the new year for Catholics, and we get a wonderful gift this Advent; a new translation of the Mass. There are a few loud people who are upset with this new translation, claiming the previous one was just fine. Yes, it was just fine, well just not good enough in my opinion. I have been excited about this since the news hit my ears which happened during Lent if I am correct. Especially when I could see where the English was not matching with other languages of the same Mass, how can we say the same Mass is being said all around the world when in fact the English is slightly different?
One of the big things that I love is Nicene Creed, instead of saying we believe, which if you think about it, did many Catholic collective say they truly believe in the creed; so, now we respond, I believe. Quite frankly, I love it; this is where every Catholic can say in their own admittance that they believe in what the creed states, not a collective that many just repeat because others say it. I may be only a baby Catholic, but I would rather in great confidence say I believe than we.
There are other things I love, consubstantial another great, and that bothers some. Why? And what about people getting mad because they cannot say and also with you, come on, have you read the German or for that matter the Latin, they say and also with your spirit. If I seem rude, but get off your high horse and humility would be a good thing for you.
For those on the fence, allow this translation to sink in, know that the new translation was to give a more accurate translation of the Mass of the Latin to English. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you through the Mass, it is alright to make mistakes, but take the effort to read, contemplate, and pray about this new translation before you become like those who are literally going after this new translation like it is a rated M thing or something.
Another gift that I received with the start of Advent is of now saying Liturgy of the Hours in the morning with my godmother, sister, and best friend, Camille. Sitting in the living room with my Advent candle lit, and praying with Camille through the phone is an amazing feeling for me.
As I contemplated this I remind myself that this helps to push myself to pray more often and find the Lord speaking to me through prayers. My only hope is that this continues, for I believe it will help with my spiritual growth, but also help keep up strength with living in an environment that can be toxic for me.
Now that it is December I can use my Magnificat. Great! To be able after almost I think two months of no Magnificat I felt that I was losing touch of my prayers, because the Magnificat was my daily bible readings with the Liturgy of the Hours, plus there are always great writings by the Laity of the Church, Saints, Blesseds, and Religious (Priests and Sisters). Today was no exception.
Today’s meditation was from Fr. Alfred Delp, SJ who was a martyr of the World War II. I remember Camille buying a book by Fr. Delp, but this was to be the first time I actually read any of his work. I would love to re-write the excerpt and I will highlight my favorite lines. (If you all don’t mind)
That God would become a Mother’s son and that a woman could walk upon this earth, her body consecrated as a holy temple and tabernacle for God, is truly the earth’s culmination and the fulfillment of its expectation…
Oh, that this was granted to the earth, to bring forth such fruit? That the world was permitted to enter into the presence of God through the sheltering warmth, as well as the helpful and reliable patronage of her motherly heart!
The gray horizons must light up. Only the foreground is screaming so loudly and penetratingly. Farther back, where it has to do with things that really count, the situation is already changing. The woman has conceived the Child, sheltered him under her heart, and has given birth to her Son. The world has come under a different law. All these are not merely one-time historical events upon which our salvation rests. They are simultaneously the model figures and events that announced to us the new order of things, of life, of our existence…
At a deeper level of being, even our times and our destiny bear the blessing and the mystery of God. The most important thing is to wait, to be able to wait, until their hour comes…
Let us pray for the openness and willingness to hear the warning prophets of the Lord and to overcome the devastation of life through conversion of heart.Let us not shun and suppress the earnest words of the calling voices, or those who are our executioners today may be our accusers once again tomorrow, because we silenced the truth.
Once again, let us kneel down and pray for keen eyes capable of seeing God’s messengers of annunciation, for vigilant hearts wise enough to perceive the words of the promise. The world is more than its burden, and life is more than the sum of its gray days. The golden threads of the genuine reality are already shining through everywhere. Let us know this, and let us, ourselves, be comforting messengers. Hope grows through the one who is himself a person of the hope and the promise.
Advent is the time of the promise, not yet the fulfillment. We are still standing in the middle of the whole thing, in the logical relentlessness and inevitability of destiny…
The sounds of devastation and destruction, the cries of self-importance and arrogance, the weeping of despair and powerlessness still fill the world. Yet, standing silently, all along the horizon are the eternal realities with their ago-old longing. The first gentle light of the glorious abundance to come is already shining above thing…This is today. And tomorrow the angels will relate loudly and jubilantly what has happened, and we will know it and will be blessed if we have believed and trusted in Advent.
God Bless,
Nikita
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