I will admit that I was a little unsure about mass this morning. I find comfort in the well known and familiar prayers and responses in the mass. I know that wherever in the country I attend mass I can expect the same thing. Even if I had never been there before I know what the priest is going to say and I know how I am meant to respond. I am suddenly part of a larger community even if I don't know a single person in the church.
All of this was to change today. The new translation of the mass was starting today. Many of the prayers and the responses were changing. They would all be unfamiliar and strange. I was a little concerned that this comfort and sense of community would be lost.
But this is not what happened. The word were different but the mass is still the mass. Yes the word were unfamiliar and new but the mass was not. The mass is not the words. The mass in the miracle of the Eucharist. The words changed. The Eucharist did not and it never will. How ever the practices and customs may change over the years the truth of the Church will not change.
The words may change the the truth will not.
This is comforting.
Dear Lord, Help me to always find comfort in the truths of the mass.
