The celebration of the liturgy is the summit and source of our life as Christians. The Easter Triduum celebrations have been outstanding proof of this. Liturgy is a reflection and an expression of our faith and shapes us as the people of God.
It is so important that we experience the liturgy as the source and summit our faith, that the Church has challenged itself to the significant task of reviewing the liturgical documents used for the celebration of the Eucharist. This has involved the following major projects:
- Revision of the Roman Missal, resulting in a new third edition; this was released in Latin in 2002 and English translations are currently being reviewed and approved by bishops
- Revision of the General Instruction of the Roman Misssal, the “directions” for celebrating Mass; this has been translated and approved for Australia and now needs to be implemented
- For a number of English-speaking countries, including Australia, a project is well underway to produce a new Lectionary (book of readings) based on the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
The revision of the Missal and Lectionary are still awaiting completion. On the other hand, the Australian Bishops have asked all dioceses to implement the new General Instruction of the Roman Missal from Pentecost Sunday. While the Australian version of this document was approved last May, the bishops wanted to make sure we were all well prepared for this implementation.
Over the coming weeks we will explain the changes here. For most people, there are only two very small changes that will simply become habit once we’re familiar with them. We will also speak to parishioners at all Masses shortly before Pentecost, as well as letting our liturgical ministers of any changes that may affect their service during Mass.
… stay tuned!
Liturgy 