what the new translation taught me…

… After the congregation stumbled through the mass last night, myself included, with a few “and also with your spirit” responses it became obvious that I wasn’t paying hard enough attention to the mass itself. I wasn’t truly present, just merely on auto-pilot.

I think the start of Advent is a good time to be reminded not to spiritually take mass for granted. There was a time in my formation process during conversion where I knew all the scriptural references and symbolism involved in the celebration of mass. A few years of auto-pilot and a squirmy little boy in the pews will definitely remove your attention from the miracle that enfolds before your eyes each week.

This Advent I’m going to reacquaint myself with the mass.

Oh, and how about that gospel reading; “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come….May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!'”

Photo source: Rome of the West