Priest Assembly Days: ‘Fall in love all over again’ with Mass

Photo Caption: Priests of the Diocese of Peoria sing during a morning Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral on the second day of Priest Assembly Days.

By: By Tom Dermody

Like a married couple rekindling romance, priests of the Diocese of Peoria were encouraged to see the new translation of the Roman Missal as a gift that will help them “fall in love all over again with the Mass.”

“Be open to it. Meditate on it. Be excited about it,” urged Msgr. Michael Heintz, rector of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in South Bend, Ind. Msgr. Heintz was keynote speaker for the opening day of Priest Assembly Days, a gathering of priests from throughout the diocese Oct. 26-27 at the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria.

This year’s assembly brought priests together just one month before they would guide their flocks through the first major changes in the prayers of the Mass in nearly a half a century. The revised English translation of the Roman Missal is to be implemented on the First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 27.

While Msgr. Heintz predicted a few “awkward” moments as Catholics become familiar with new responses and music, he does not subscribe to a “the sky is falling” attitude of some who fear change.

“They’re smart,” he said of faithful Catholics. “They have to learn a few new words. By Easter we’ll have it down.”

For all Catholics, but perhaps for priests especially, the new translation is a chance to take a fresh look at a longtime love, said Msgr. Heintz, who is director of the Master of Divinity Program in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.

“How many of us roll out of bed and prepare for the liturgy with the same enthusiasm we had when we celebrated our first Mass?” he asked the priests.

Throughout his presentation, Msgr. Heintz compared the relationship between a priest and the church to the spousal relationship between husband and wife. For a married couple, conjugal love is the deepest form of communion with their spouse. For a priest, they are most intimately joined to the church during Mass, during which “Christ gives himself totally” as he did on the cross.

He likened the approaching Mass changes to a married couple returning to the place where they first fell in love. While priests may know the current Missal “backwards and forwards,” the new translation presents an opportunity to think anew about the words and their meaning, and to recapture the “joy and enthusiasm” of their love for the Mass.

If priests share that love with parishioners, the changes will go more smoothly, according to one pastor.

During a question and answer period, Msgr. John Prendergast said that at St. Patrick’s Parish in Washington they began their introduction of the changes by “first talking about what the Mass meant to us as priests and how much we loved it.” That approach changed the focus from fear of change to “we want to love the Mass like that.”

That moment would never have happened without the new translation, said Msgr. Prendergast.

LIVING STEWARDSHIP
The second day of Priest Assembly Days featured a presentation on stewardship by Msgr. Bill Schooler, pastor of St. Pius X Parish in Granger, Ind.

Msgr. Schooler shared with the priests how he came to not only promote stewardship — a way of life based on the belief that everything is a gift from God — but personally embrace and live it within his parishes. He now gives 10 percent of his income to the church and charity. His parish in Granger returns 8 percent of its income, with 5 percent assisting a needy nearby parish and 3 percent to the poor.

Msgr. Schooler debunked several “myths” about stewardship, including that “it’s just about money” and that it only works in wealthier parishes. He suggested that the stewardship messages of time, talent, and treasure be repeated throughout the year and that parishes appoint a director of stewardship.

The priests began the day by joining Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, for Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

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