On the New Translation of the Roman Missal

this morning, the loyola school of theology had a theological hour on the new translation of the roman missal. it was delivered by fr. timoteo jose ofrasio sj, my professor in sacraments of initiation and penance, anointing, and marriage. as part of the renewal of the church in its liturgy, he explained that the aim of the new translation was "fidelity" to the original latin text, which contained a lot of important references to the church's faith, the sacred scriptures, and sacred tradition.

last december, i encountered a question from one of our parishioners, asking the need and reason behind the renewal and changes in the rite. the parishioner even quipped with the adage, "why fix if it ain't broken?" back then, i didn't have a ready answer to the inquiry. instead, i referred the parishioner to this series of videos produced by life teen that explains the changes in a nutshell.









the dioceses in the philippines will use the new translation starting december 2012, though some dioceses like legazpi, lingayen-dagupan, and novaliches already started using the new rite. on my part, this will have quite an impact to me as i am preparing for ordination in a few years time, and i will be using the translation for sure in perspective of my diaconal ministry and my first mass in god's time.

in the meantime, my job is to study and understand the text and see how this will give greater meaning and significance to the liturgy we celebrate as a church, the people of god.