Story by Ashley Gomez
News/Social Media Editor
Bishop Amat will celebrate the first mass of the school year in the Carroll Center on Thursday with the revised responses of the new Roman Missal Third Edition.
The Church will introduce the new Roman Missal Third Edition, a more literal translation of the Latin version. Pope Benedict XVI hopes to inspire Catholics to reflect on the meaning of their words rather than repeating memorized prayers monotonously.
Though the Church will not be using this version until the first Sunday of Advent, Amat will be using the new Missal at the mass.
The audience will respond with “And with your spirit,” instead of responding, “And also with you.”
The new English-language translation of the Roman Missal represents the most drastic changes to the Catholic Mass since the second Vatican Council in the 1960s phased out ancient Latin in favor of modern languages.
Teachers and students are excited about staying true to the original Latin text.
“This is a good time for all of us,” Ms. Pfiester said. “It is a time of renewal and focus.”
Being Catholic her whole life, Pfiester was hesitant about the drastic changes, but accepted the challenge. She believes Amat students will also adapt to the changes.
“Any change is hard, but I believe the students will do well,” said Pfiester.
Senior Michael Lu believes this change will not cause any problems, but even connect Catholics closer to God.
“This change will only benefit us in our relationship with God, since we are only trying to find better ways to connect with Him,” said Lu.
However, Lu wonders if Amat’s Religion Department will revise the materials taught in class.
“The US Bishops have already requested Catholic schools to modify the curriculum,” said Pfiester. “Amat has been including new information little by little each year.”
Lu promised to stay awake this Mass to note students’ reactions.
“This will be an interesting mass for everyone,” said Lu.
Furthermore, changes in Spanish-language Masses will also take place even if direct translations prove to be truer to the Latin version than English masses.
