Despite my overall misgivings about the translation principles involved, I have been making a gradual, uneasy peace with the new Missal. But one thing has been increasingly bothering me that I had not anticipated: the more frequent appearance of the memorial acclamation that says, “When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again.” Wait – what happened to the resurrection?
This acclamation was there before, but I guess the reduction of options leaves us stuck with it more often. The old standby “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” is off the books, against the request of the U.S. bishops to keep it. Gone too is my personal favorite, rich with Christological meaning: “Dying you destroyed our death; rising you restored our life; Lord Jesus, come in glory.” I have a really hard time seeing how these acclamations can be less canonical than one that skips over the resurrection altogether. Isn’t the memorial acclamation supposed to mention the death, resurrection, and second coming of Christ? The conspicuous absence of resurrection seems odd enough in ordinary time, but in the Easter season (and at the Easter vigil, no less!), it’s just too much.
I’m trying, really I am. I have no desire or determination to remain bothered. I do have difficulty understanding how a memorial acclamation without the resurrection can really be fully orthodox, but if anyone has an explanation that can redeem this one, I’d love to hear it.
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