For a dozen months a priest friend and I have greeted each other, “I love the Roman Missal,” emphasizing the word “love” with a tone of voice that puzzled those who overheard us. “Are they being serious or sarcastic?” people wondered. With this playful exchange, I have been helped to make my way through some of my initial resistance to the changes in the Mass prayers that are coming soon. Yesterday my friend called me, using my cell phone number and finding me in Costco, as he knew he would, since it was a Thursday, “Do you know what tomorrow (meaning Friday, August 19) is?” When I admitted defeat, after making a couple guesses, he announced, “100 days until the new Roman Missal.” Of course, my response was, “I love the Roman Missal.”
The English words that we use at Mass today are the same ones I have used since I celebrated my first Mass in 1975. Now I must learn to pray anew, with new words. And you know what? That might be exactly what I need right now, after 36 years of hearing and speaking the same words at Mass.
Those of us in the parishes have not replaced our weary and worn Mass books, because were told, again and again and again, for years, that a new English translation of the Mass was on its way. We kept asking, “When?” Now we know: in 100 days!
I ♥ the Roman Missal.
With Open Doors 
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