New Translation of the Roman Missal

For quite a few years now there has been a lot of work done in order to offer the English speaking people of the world a new translation of the Roman Missal. The Missal is the liturgical text which the ministers of the Church use for the celebration of the Mass. There have been various versions of this new translation and it is nearing completion. Why is this being done? That's a good question. In short things are always lost in translation and when the prayers of the Church were translated during the transition to the ordinary form of the Roman rite, things were done with great haste and because of that some parts were not translated as well as they could be. One of the principles of translation that was not used as well during the transition was keeping quotations from Sacred Scripture as accurate as possible.

Here is an example:

In the current translation the following is said before the priest receives communion:

Priest: This is the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sins of the world.
Happy are those who are called
to his supper.

All: Lord, I am not worthy
to receive you,
but only say the word
and I shall be healed.

The following is the proposed translation:
Priest: Behold the Lamb of God,
behold him who takes away
the sins of the world.
Blessed are those called
to the supper of the Lamb.

All: Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.

The differences may seem minor but they stick closer to the Scripture references which are made to both the story of the healing of the centurion's soldier in Matthew chapter 8 and the reference to the supper of the Lamb found in Revelation chapter 19. This is one of many moves to have a more authentic translation of the Mass.

This new translation has a big impact on us. The hopeful date for implementation is sometime in 2011, which God-willing is the year that I will be ordained a priest and therefore I would begin my priesthood celebrating the Mass with different liturgical books. It is something to keep in mind and to give some time to study some of the proposed changes.