BIS #2657 EUCHARIST - THE SOURCE AND SUMMIT

Francis Sam

NORTHERN ARABIAN VICARIATE, OCTOBER 18, 2011: The New Roman Missal will be introduced from the first Sunday of Advent, 2011. This is the beginning of the new church year. All masses celebrated in English throughout the world will then use the new translation. At the parish of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Fr. Franco Pereira, the Vicariate Director of Catechesis, conducted two sessions on October 11 and October13, 2011 on the changes introduced in the New Roman Missal and the reason for these changes. Each session was of the duration of one hour and thirty minutes.

Fr. Pereira explained that the Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Christian life. The new Roman Missal is not in fact new. It has been existing for centuries. Now the church has given a new translation to bring out the richness of the liturgy. It is drawn from the church's rich traditional theological meaning of words. It takes us back to the original Latin text, and is more biblical.

Many may wonder why the church is changing things. Fr. Pereira gave us three reasons. The purpose of the new translation of the missal is -To deepen our faith, to nurture our hope and to celebrate life.

He also gave a brief history of the Roman missal and explained the evolution of the mass, which the people found so informative. He explained in detail the meaning of every part of the mass and the new changes in responses and prayers, at every point giving us the rich theological and biblical background to the changes. Father also explained the meaning of our actions at the Eucharist and set many guidelines for the congregation. These two sessions were very enlightening, well presented and eloquently explained. It has helped the laity immensely in understanding and appreciating the Eucharist. We do not wonder any more why all these changes, instead have come to love the mass even more and are able to respond with greater meaning and participate with our whole heart and soul.

We thank and appreciate Fr. Pereira for sharing with us his knowledge and drawing us closer to the Eucharist.